bob armani
Well-Known Member
Hello- Anyone in these cities have any experience with renting these ebikes? https://jumpbikes.com/
JUMP- ebike Share Company in San Francisco and DC -coming to Chicago?
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Dewey
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- Arlington, Virginia
DC checking in. There is a short description of the rental process on the GGW website. JUMP's pricing is twice that of the other Dockless Bikeshare (DoBi) companies, but I haven't seen reports of any JUMP bikes being vandalised compared with other DoBi bikes so it may be a deterrent, also the JUMP manager has responded to complaints about DoBi dumping by pointing out theirs is the only DoBi bike that requires you lock up with the supplied U-lock before you can end a rental, I had anticipated this lesson learned might make a U-lock a requirement for the DoBi companies to continue operating beyond the trial period, but the feedback from cyclists on this GGW article shows they really don't want DoBi bikes crowding the downtown bike racks so I don't know what the answer is. Unlike the other DoBi companies JUMP actually enforce the trial geofenced operating area fining riders $50 if they leave JUMP bikes elsewhere. JUMP reported they need to on average 'touch' each bicycle every 2-3 days (to charge batteries) compared with every 7 days for Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) docked bicycles so it is more manpower intensive.
For many riders this appears to be the first time they have ridden an ebike and as a pedelec with no throttle it is a great ambassador to wary pedal cyclists. JUMP are reported to be interested in exploring cargo ebikeshare like Donk-EE in the City of Cologne Germany, this would be fantastic as none of the DoBi or CaBi companies permit alteration to the bikes such as adding a child seat or towing a trailer, and it would also boost cargo ebike sales at DC area bike shops, but it is unlikely to happen in DC before the end of the DoBi trial in April/May. To their credit JUMP have made their data API available so third party transit apps can identify their location, and Uber is partnering with JUMP to add ebike rental to their app.
There are regulatory and infrastructure issues that affect operating e-bikeshare and ebikes in general in the District of Columbia:
- The recent change to DC Code repealing contributory negligence in bicycle-car collisions to provide fairness to crash victims made no mention of "motorized bicycles" as an exception to the motor vehicle definition so e-bike riders remain subject to the unfair contributory negligence provision exploited by drivers lawyers.
- DC DoT has chosen to mis-interpret 18 DCMR §§ 1201.18 by claiming motorized bicycles are not permitted on DC "bike lanes", but that rule applies to "off-street" sidewalk, bikepath, or bicycle routes. Rule 18 DCMR §§ 1201.19 states "a motorized bicycle may be operated on any part of a roadway designated for the use of bicycles".
- There is no safe way for cyclists to cross any of the Potomac bridges except on the bridge sidewalks/paths but 18 DCMR §§ 1201.18 prohibits ebikes from using them. If as seems likely DC continues with DoBi then Arlington County Virginia will want to join in, but DC jurisdiction extends all the way to the Virginia shoreline. This is less of an issue during the trial as the geofenced operating area does not include Arlington or Park Service land such as the National Mall.
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bob armani
Well-Known Member
Thanks for sharing. A wealth of information here. I really like the BikeArlington forum!
Dewey
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Me too, I love the annual Bike Arlington Freezing Saddles (BAFS) competition, they agreed to let ebikes count towards team mileage. It's a great idea to build camaraderie and get people out riding during the winter, they have some funny team names, happy hours, and pointless prizes like the Michigander - You call THAT a snow day?! -prize for riders who ride furthest on the most official OPM (federal govt) snow closure days - current official snow days are NONE so this year they used Michigan's birthday: January 26th. The official competition website is https://freezingsaddles.org. There's also quite a few commuter cyclist coffee meetups.
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bob armani
Well-Known Member
Dewey-Crazy cyclists out in the cold having fun-Looks like a nice meet!
Joseph Green
New Member
I use Jump e-bikes almost daily in DC. They are super fun when they work, but they've had a lot of software issues on their bikes that cut off the motor and basically make the bike inoperable (especially up hills). I've had this issue happen on about 35% of my rides, and while they're great at refunding the ride when I report it, it is still a hassle and makes their service less dependable. It's unfortunate that some people will have a bad first e-bike experience because of these software issues.
The dockless model is a huge leap forward as I can usually find an available Jump about as close as a Capital Bikeshare dock (DC's very large docked bikeshare network). That's a pretty amazing feat considering Jump only has ~120 bikes vs CaBi's 3,700 bikes.
Jump bikes are very well thought out, and constructed with quality components - I've never had a non-electric mechanical issue in my 85 rides. The bikes have a very low step-thru height, a useful front basket with a cupholder (although steering requires a bit more force since the basket turns and the hub motor is in the front wheel), the integrated U-lock can't be easier to use and stow, the plus-sized tires make the ride smooth, the brakes are smooth and strong, the seatpost height is very adjustable and the alignment is fixed forward so you don't have to adjust it left or right, and the riding position is upright and comfortable (so you can chat with your friends, as Court would say
). One big bonus that has kept me from buying an electric bike in DC is that you don't have to worry about damage or theft after you lock it up. Jump's bike quality is leaps and bounds above the non-electric dockless bikeshares I've tried - LimeBike, Mobike, and ofo.
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bob armani
Well-Known Member
I use Jump e-bikes almost daily in DC. They are super fun when they work, but they've had a lot of software issues on their bikes that cut off the motor and basically make the bike inoperable (especially up hills). I've had this issue happen on about 35% of my rides, and while they're great at refunding the ride when I report it, it is still a hassle and makes their service less dependable. It's unfortunate that some people will have a bad first e-bike experience because of these software issues.
The dockless model is a huge leap forward as I can usually find an available Jump about as close as a Capital Bikeshare dock (DC's very large docked bikeshare network). That's a pretty amazing feat considering Jump only has ~120 bikes vs CaBi's 3,700 bikes.
Jump bikes are very well thought out, and constructed with quality components - I've never had a non-electric mechanical issue in my 85 rides. The bikes have a very low step-thru height, a useful front basket with a cupholder (although steering requires a bit more force since the basket turns and the hub motor is in the front wheel), the integrated U-lock can't be easier to use and stow, the plus-sized tires make the ride smooth, the brakes are smooth and strong, the seatpost height is very adjustable and the alignment is fixed forward so you don't have to adjust it left or right, and the riding position is upright and comfortable (so you can chat with your friends, as Court would say
Great, thanks Joseph. So what you are saying is with Jump available in DC, it is not worth your $$$'s to invest in an ebike, correct? I have always had the same thought when say for example: going out and enjoy riding snowmobiles, boats, jet skis, etc. Why buy them, when you can rent, however, I have found with ebikes with a custom fit, I opted to own.
How do they keep the Jump ebikes charged if they are dockless? Perhaps the crew from Jump visits the bike and does a battery swap? Just curious.
Thanks for sharing your experience with them. Hope to see them in my city sometime in the near future. Sounds encouraging.
Joseph Green
New Member
So far I haven't felt the need to buy an electric bike because of Jump's current offering. But I work from home (near the city center, where there are plenty of Jump bikes) and have a flexible schedule. I'm sure there are plenty of DC commuters who currently take the bus/metro/Uber/Lyft/etc. that would find investing in their own e-bike worthwhile. The fit of the Jump bike is good enough for my wife and me to use on a daily basis, and I'm 6'6" and my wife is 5'2". I'm sure I would enjoy the fit of certain e-bikes more, but Jump is a good balance of simplicity, features, and comfort for a bikeshare bike.Great, thanks Joseph. So what you are saying is with Jump available in DC, it is not worth your $$$'s to invest in an ebike, correct? I have always had the same thought when say for example: going out and enjoy riding snowmobiles, boats, jet skis, etc. Why buy them, when you can rent, however, I have found with ebikes with a custom fit, I opted to own.
How do they keep the Jump ebikes charged if they are dockless? Perhaps the crew from Jump visits the bike and does a battery swap? Just curious.
Thanks for sharing your experience with them. Hope to see them in my city sometime in the near future. Sounds encouraging.
If I needed to commute I think I would consider purchasing an e-bike for the reliability. Jump (or a competitor) can solve that issue by adding many more bikes, but that might not come for a year or two, and even then they would probably only be readily available in the center 4-5 mile radius of the city (they tend to cluster there, at least for now).
I think Jump swaps out the dead batteries with charged ones. They have about 7 hubs around the city, which are areas marked on the map in the app where you can end your ride to get $1 off your trip. I think that helps them swap batteries and service the bikes more efficiently. I heard they are currently expanding to two other cities (in Texas, and Rhode Island or Connecticut, I believe), and I hope they expand to many other cities soon.
Dewey
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- USA
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- Arlington, Virginia
Yes that is my understanding, also they discount your ride if you return the bike to a ‘hub’ location.
bob armani
Well-Known Member
Shareable electric bikes are likely coming to Seattle.
Looks like Limebike Electrics are getting in on commuter offerings:
Limebike Electrics
Looks like Limebike Electrics are getting in on commuter offerings:
Limebike Electrics
Dewey
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- Arlington, Virginia
As an immigrant from England, I was tickled they chose to call their bikeshare Lime-E
J.R.
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- Piedmont Highlands
First thing I read today that gave me a smile. Thanks! Self depreciating humor, funny! All the sudden I heard "septic" in my headAs an immigrant from England, I was tickled they chose to call their bikeshare Lime-E
Chris Nolte
Well-Known Member
The Jump bike headquarters is across the street from me in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and it’s been cool talking with the guys and watching them progress. I do hope that they’re able to work out those bugs described above as I agree that it could have a real impact on the growth of the ebike market.
We were working on developing an ebike with another share company a couple of years ago. The conditions of use and logistics around charging can be quite challenging. The other big obsticale is there aren’t really many parts made specifically for this use scenario, so you have to just go with the best you can get. Hopefully some of the manufacturers will introduce parts more suited for these environments, but many are actually divesting in these areas, Shimano is discontinuing their roller brakes, SRAM is stopping their internal hub business. Their big challenges is having the quantities necessary.
Nuvinci seems a little more ambitious here and I think we’ll see more share bikes in the future with their system. But ultimately I think we’ll see systems that doesn’t require shifting by the user.
Some bike shops are against bike share, we welcome and embrace it as one piece of the bigger pie. Continuing with that metaphor I think we haven’t even begun baking the pie, it seems we’re just testing ingredients for freshness and taste at this point
We were working on developing an ebike with another share company a couple of years ago. The conditions of use and logistics around charging can be quite challenging. The other big obsticale is there aren’t really many parts made specifically for this use scenario, so you have to just go with the best you can get. Hopefully some of the manufacturers will introduce parts more suited for these environments, but many are actually divesting in these areas, Shimano is discontinuing their roller brakes, SRAM is stopping their internal hub business. Their big challenges is having the quantities necessary.
Nuvinci seems a little more ambitious here and I think we’ll see more share bikes in the future with their system. But ultimately I think we’ll see systems that doesn’t require shifting by the user.
Some bike shops are against bike share, we welcome and embrace it as one piece of the bigger pie. Continuing with that metaphor I think we haven’t even begun baking the pie, it seems we’re just testing ingredients for freshness and taste at this point
Dewey
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Arlington, Virginia
That's disappointing, Roller brakes are used on Capital Bikeshare pedal bikes as well as JUMP ebikeshare here in DC, I guess they will have to switch to using drum brakes like CitiBike NYC, they're also popular on Dutch town bikes for their sealed low maintenance reliability.
But it's great to read as a bike shop owner your positive response, I think there is an opportunity particularly for the mobile wrenches to bid for service contracts with city funded bikeshare systems.
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Dewey
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- Arlington, Virginia
The Greater Greater Washington blog just reviewed the Lime-E ebikeshare bike and compared it to its competitor from JUMP. Wow what a piece of garbage: single speed, weak motor assist that can't climb hills ( I wonder if they went with the cheapest 24v hub motor?), mushy brakes that are worse than the JUMP ebike's roller brakes.
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Dewey
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The city council of Davis, California, this week approved an ordinance permitting ebikeshare, and JUMP looks to launch there in May, Davis is near Sacramento and home to UC Davis with nearly 10,000 students. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments selected JUMP as the dockless ebikeshare provider for Davis, Sacramento and West Sacramento, as well as UC Davis, Sacramento State University and Sacramento City College. What is interesting about this development is Sacramento determined there should be a 15mph speed limit on bike share electric bicycles so Davis has followed suit presumably to simplify logistics for the ebikeshare companies. Presumably this ordinance does not affect private sales of ebikes so the Sacramento area is in the unusual position of having a lower 15mph speed limit for ebikeshare bikes than the state's 20mph (Class 1&2) and 28mph (Class 3) speed limits for privately owned ebikes.
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Dewey
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- Arlington, Virginia
Uber has bought the JUMP ebikeshare company for $200 million.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/09/uber-acquires-bike-share-startup-jump/
https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/09/uber-acquires-bike-share-startup-jump/
I rent Jump bikes a couple times a week. 2 bucks / 30 minutes through the uber app. I love the riding position of this bike and try as I may, I haven't been able to find anything in retail stores with the same riding position. If there were a 28mph version of this bike with a bit more torque, I'd pull out my credit card so fast it would melt.
Anyway, back to the experience - mostly positive. The only complaint I have is much of the time, a bike isn't around when I need one. In the evening all the bikes disappear from downtown as people rent them and ride them towards their homes. I'm a bit surprised nobody messes with them overnight. If you were to leave a normal bike out overnight in San Francisco, it would be stripped down to the bare frame, have its ulock buzzed off with a portable grinder, or bike rack would be ripped out of the sidewalk (I've seen all of these).
Apparently the docked bikes in this city (of which there are a dock every few blocks it seems, Ford-branded) are getting electrified at the end of this month.
Anyway, back to the experience - mostly positive. The only complaint I have is much of the time, a bike isn't around when I need one. In the evening all the bikes disappear from downtown as people rent them and ride them towards their homes. I'm a bit surprised nobody messes with them overnight. If you were to leave a normal bike out overnight in San Francisco, it would be stripped down to the bare frame, have its ulock buzzed off with a portable grinder, or bike rack would be ripped out of the sidewalk (I've seen all of these).
Apparently the docked bikes in this city (of which there are a dock every few blocks it seems, Ford-branded) are getting electrified at the end of this month.
bob armani
Well-Known Member
Yeah, seems like bike theft in any major city is at an all time high. I simply will not park and leave my ebike in any of those danger zones, no matter what kind of lock I have. If I know in advance that I'll be in those high risk areas, I'll simply ride a non-electric there instead. Not worth the risk of losing your E-bike IMHO.
