Dublin Bikes [many] months on.

worded

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

If the roads are slippy in Dublin would DB lock the system?

They are lethal in this part of the country.

Are winter bike tyres an idea?

Enii

Aard wrote: »

I think that the one-way system should apply to motor-vehicles only. As long as the streets are wide enough, there should be contra-flow bicycle-lanes throughout the city-centre.

Yes, this is managed well in Amsterdam.

Capt'n Midnight

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

Be carefull in icy conditions on those bikes. The tyres are non puncture ones that have little or no threads and no grip on even moderate icy roads.

The paving around the bike stands at City Hall is lethal in this weather

AMontague

petermijackson wrote: »

Also imagine how handy it would be to finish your shopping in Grafton Street pick up a cycle and head for O'Connell Street/Henry Street area but because of the one way systems it is quicker to walk.....I think before the scheme was rolled out there should have been infastructure changes made in the city to make cycling more appealling and safe.

As I said I like (maybe love was too strong of a word) but some small changes would make it so much better and popular

Some good suggestions here. One of the advantages of the scheme is that it highlights to a whole new cohort of cyclists how awkward it can be to get around the city by bike. We need to change a lot of our one-way systems, if we want more people to cycle. The more people looking for changes like this, the better.

AMontague

Gonzales wrote: »

let's not get carried away now , from what I read here about bike accidents the regular bike lanes are not very safe.

There are definitely problems with some of the bike lanes in Dublin, but it has never been safer to cycle in the city. The number of accidents and injuries to cyclists has dropped by about 75% in the last 10 years. This isn't some sort of statistical blip because we have also seen a similar reduction in the number of injuries to pedestrians.

Here's some of the things that I have been working on in the council to improve safety for cyclists:
1. Reduce HGV numbers (There has been a 95% reduction in HGVs on the quays since Port Tunnel opened)
2. Reduce speed limits (The city centre will become a 30kph zone on 31st January 2010)
3. Increase the numbers cycling (The numbers cycling is up 60% in the last 4 years up to 2008 - and we are expecting a big jump in 2009 thanks to Dublin Bikes)
4. Improve junction design (ongoing work)
5. Provide cycle training (Dublin City Council are providing cycling training for schools around the city. We hope to develop an initiative for training adults in 2010)
6. Cycle lanes (the new cycling manual will hopefully provide us a high standard that we can start to implement)

dolliemix

AMontague wrote: »

There are definitely problems with some of the bike lanes in Dublin, but it has never been safer to cycle in the city. The number of accidents and injuries to cyclists has dropped by about 75% in the last 10 years. This isn't some sort of statistical blip because we have also seen a similar reduction in the number of injuries to pedestrians.

Here's some of the things that I have been working on in the council to improve safety for cyclists:
1. Reduce HGV numbers (There has been a 95% reduction in HGVs on the quays since Port Tunnel opened)
2. Reduce speed limits (The city centre will become a 30kph zone on 31st January 2010)
3. Increase the numbers cycling (The numbers cycling is up 60% in the last 4 years up to 2008 - and we are expecting a big jump in 2009 thanks to Dublin Bikes)
4. Improve junction design (ongoing work)
5. Provide cycle training (Dublin City Council are providing cycling training for schools around the city. We hope to develop an initiative for training adults in 2010)
6. Cycle lanes (the new cycling manual will hopefully provide us a high standard that we can start to implement)

great news

petermijackson

there's no way it's quicker to walk. What one way system is stopping you?

There are two one way systems that come to mind.....

If I were in Grafton Street and wanted to get to O'Connell Street, I would need to collect a bike from Grafton Street area (Clarendon St - I think is the best bet....please correct me if I'm wrong). I then need to cycle away from the city centre following the one way system around to Georges Street - Dame Street - West M Street and then O'Connell Street. Allowing for the fact that you are supposed to stop at lights I think it would def be quicker walking

My second example is - IFSC to Kildare Street : Pick up a bike from the IFSC @ James Joyce Bridge, do you cycle across a pedestrian bridge? If you do, your heading towards Pearse street station, get to the top of Westland Row, you have to go left, you have to keep heading south up by the back of the Dail (Upper Merrion Street) then cross at the lights and make your way around to the Green. Continue around the Green (Passing Kildare Street), right down Dawson Street till you meet Nassau Street - Right and then you should find the bike station on your right along Nassau Street. Again quicker to walk.

I think that the one-way system should apply to motor-vehicles only. As long as the streets are wide enough, there should be contra-flow bicycle-lanes throughout the city-centre.

The above shows why a contra-flow would work, this would need to be official i.e. marked out on the road instead of cyclists just taking it on themselves to go against traffic

markpb

petermijackson wrote: »

The above shows why a contra-flow would work, this would need to be official i.e. marked out on the road instead of cyclists just taking it on themselves to go against traffic

They would need to be physically segregated to prevent a repeat of the farce that is the cycle contra-flow on St. Andrew St.

dolliemix

petermijackson wrote: »

There are two one way systems that come to mind.....

If I were in Grafton Street and wanted to get to O'Connell Street, I would need to collect a bike from Grafton Street area (Clarendon St - I think is the best bet....please correct me if I'm wrong). I then need to cycle away from the city centre following the one way system around to Georges Street - Dame Street - West M Street and then O'Connell Street. Allowing for the fact that you are supposed to stop at lights I think it would def be quicker walking

My second example is - IFSC to Kildare Street : Pick up a bike from the IFSC @ James Joyce Bridge, do you cycle across a pedestrian bridge? If you do, your heading towards Pearse street station, get to the top of Westland Row, you have to go left, you have to keep heading south up by the back of the Dail (Upper Merrion Street) then cross at the lights and make your way around to the Green. Continue around the Green (Passing Kildare Street), right down Dawson Street till you meet Nassau Street - Right and then you should find the bike station on your right along Nassau Street. Again quicker to walk.

The above shows why a contra-flow would work, this would need to be official i.e. marked out on the road instead of cyclists just taking it on themselves to go against traffic

Grafton St to O Connell St: Get a bike at exchequer street. Cycle on to Dame St and straight down to O Connell st

IFSC- Kildare Street:

Cycle to O Connell Bridge along the quays. Go straight up towards Trinity and around to Nassau Street. Cycle up Dawson Street and park the bike. There's a station on molesworth Street.

I reckon those journeys would be quicker than walking

petermijackson

Cycle up Dawson Street

You cannot cycle up Dawson Street....

But you can cycle up Kildare street so ok I'm wrong :rolleyes:

Even so I still like the idea of the Contra Flow

loyatemu

petermijackson wrote: »

Even so I still like the idea of the Contra Flow

It's being introduced in London I believe. One location I would suggest is Lombard St East, it would make it a lot easier to get back to the IFSC from the southside - remove the car parking from the west side of the road and there would be plenty of space.

One-way systems, traffic-lights etc are all in place to facilitate the flow of cars and trucks, they do nothing for cyclists and pedestrians.

I quite like the idea of shared space but probably not practical in a busy city-centre. Nonetheless as much as possible should be done to allow cyclists and peds to make decent progress through the city-centre, even if it means a corresponding reduction in speeds for motor-traffic. Contra-flow would be a good start.

Ste.phen

Other good candidates for contra-flow cycle lanes (I admit my own commuting requirements have shaped these) are Baggot St Lower / Merrion St/ Stephens Green and Leinster St / Nassau St

antoinolachtnai

I do not speak for the council, thank god, but:

Some of these involve taking out parking and loading. The problem with taking out parking is that it is important (both in perception, and probably in reality) for local businesses to have parking nearby. It is not rarely practical to take out parking in a residential area (like Lombard St East).

Merrion Row is the one where there is no parking issue, however, there isn't a clear path for cyclists to go once they get to the Green, unless you want to drop them into the right hand lane of a road where traffic moves quite quickly. This could certainly be remedied, but it is a fair amount of work.

Run_to_da_hills

Perhaps Dublin Bikes should lock the system now before someone breaks their neck.

If Dublin Bus is suspending its urban services this evening roads must be bad.

dermot_sheehan

Actually no problem cycling today provided you're careful.

I cycled out from town (on my own bike) and other then a bit of rear wheel spin on hills and a small bit of fishtailing when braking it worked well enough. Got home quicker then driving or (non-existent) bus anyways.

monument

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Perhaps Dublin Bikes should lock the system now before someone breaks their neck.

If Dublin Bus is suspending its urban services this evening roads must be bad.

should we lock down roads to cars now too? And bar people from using footpaths?

Run_to_da_hills

monument wrote: »

should we lock down roads to cars now too? And bar people from using footpaths?

In areas where they are not treated they should certainly do.

ArmaniJeanss

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Perhaps Dublin Bikes should lock the system now before someone breaks their neck.

monument wrote: »

should we lock down roads to cars now too? And bar people from using footpaths?

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

In areas where they are not treated they should certainly do.

RTDH - kinda ironic that you post this when about 50% of your posts seem to be complaining about NWO and Nanny State interference potentially encroaching on personal freedoms.
Yet now you want them tell us what footpaths we can walk on.

Run_to_da_hills

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

RTDH - kinda ironic that you post this when about 50% of your posts seem to be complaining about NWO and Nanny State interference potentially encroaching on personal freedoms.
Yet now you want them tell us what footpaths we can walk on.

Just having a dig at the Council.

Capt'n Midnight

they should just ban the cars, bikes and pedestrians are ok on lightly packed snow , it's only on really packed snow that has been wheelspun into melting that it's really slippy in the main

Micilin Muc

Have a look at this woeful parking I found last night: car parked right inside the DB station!!

Carawaystick

how come the terms and conditions force a user to obey the rules of the road, yet when the bikes were introduced they had illegal flashing lights?
Is this part of the thorough planning that Dublin City council did when introducing the scheme? or just a minor oversight?

Also the brakes on the bikes are a) very poor and b) on the wrong side.
What muppet agreed to allow the rear brake on the right handlebar?

Capt'n Midnight

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Have a look at this woeful parking I found last night: car parked right inside the DB station!!

IIRC this is an actual parking spot , have often seen cars parked there,

Micilin Muc

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

IIRC this is an actual parking spot , have often seen cars parked there,

The station is on Ormond Quay. There was no way for me to enter the station without lifting the bike over the concrete island separating the station from the road, or without entering via the exit at the far end of the station (where another car was blocking last night).

If it is an actual parking space, why ... ??!!

Cookie_Monster

Carawaystick wrote: »

Also the brakes on the bikes are a) very poor and b) on the wrong side.
What muppet agreed to allow the rear brake on the right handlebar?

:eek: that actually very very dangerous and stupid. How they let it slip through is beyond me.

monument

Carawaystick wrote: »

how come the terms and conditions force a user to obey the rules of the road, yet when the bikes were introduced they had illegal flashing lights?

Did they have flashing lights? I don't remember that.

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

IIRC this is an actual parking spot , have often seen cars parked there,

Just because cars are parking there does not mean it's an actual parking spot. I see cars often parked on footpaths, bus and cycle lanes in operation times, (non-timed) contra flow cycle lanes etc -- it does not mean that these are actual parking spaces.

From the design around it, it looks as if it's part of the cycle retail station, but maybe it's not?

howiya

monument wrote: »

Just because cars are parking there does not mean it's an actual parking spot. I see cars often parked on footpaths, bus and cycle lanes in operation times, (non-timed) contra flow cycle lanes etc -- it does not mean that these are actual parking spaces.

From the design around it, it looks as if it's part of the cycle retail station, but maybe it's not?

Had a look passing it this morning and the signage looks like its a space for motorbikes to park

-Chris-

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Carawaystick wrote: »

Also the brakes on the bikes are a) very poor and b) on the wrong side.
What muppet agreed to allow the rear brake on the right handlebar?

:eek: that actually very very dangerous and stupid. How they let it slip through is beyond me.

I don't understand this - what's wrong with back brakes on the RHS?

I agree the brakes are crappy and underpowered, but there's nothing dangerous about what side their on.

Carawaystick

-Chris- wrote: »

I don't understand this - what's wrong with back brakes on the RHS?

I agree the brakes are crappy and underpowered, but there's nothing dangerous about what side their on.

Every bike I've owned, the right hand side brake is for the front wheel.

Hard braking on the rear wheel will cause it to lock up and skidding. If this is unexpected a fall or worse could occur.

Imagine driving a car where the right pedal was the brake and the left/middle pedal was the accelerator?


They still have flashing lights on the front, but the law was hurriedly changed by our glorious minister for transport just after he agreed not to cut the pay of the high earning civil servants and before he left the country to get away from the snow.

-Chris-

Carawaystick wrote: »

Every bike I've owned, the right hand side brake is for the front wheel.

And every bike I've owned the right hand side brake is for the rear wheel. Which one of us is right? They were bound to be criticised no matter what they did.

Carawaystick wrote: »

Hard braking on the rear wheel will cause it to lock up and skidding. If this is unexpected a fall or worse could occur.

I'd be more worried about braking hard and putting myself over the bars than skidding tbh, but "luckily" the brakes on these bikes aren't strong enough to do that :P:D

monument

Carawaystick wrote: »

Hard braking on the rear wheel will cause it to lock up and skidding. If this is unexpected a fall or worse could occur.

Not a problem, the breaks are not strong enough for this to be a major problem, or a problem at all.

Carawaystick wrote: »

Imagine driving a car where the right pedal was the brake and the left/middle pedal was the accelerator?

Comparing both is widely invalid.

Carawaystick wrote: »

They still have flashing lights on the front, but the law was hurriedly changed by our glorious minister for transport just after he agreed not to cut the pay of the high earning civil servants and before he left the country to get away from the snow.

I'm nearly sure the bikes have a solid light. The light may flicker sometimes, but it's solid, not flashing.

dolliemix

None of the lights I've seen are flashing. They're just super bright and really distinctive if they're coming towards you.

I don't have a problem with the breaks. Didn't even notice to be honest - it's not like you're doing any major speed on them anyway

ArmaniJeanss

Anyone felt a 'slidey sensation' on DBs when going over shores/metal grilles etc.

I'm not a newbie cyclist by any means and I can't remember it being a problem on previous bikes, but I always get a sensation that the back wheel is slipping when going over metal shores especially when they are wet.

And Dawson St in particular is a menace, over 40 grilles or shores of various sizes on the bus lane heading towards town (yes, I've counted them over a period of time ) so its either go over a few of them, or weave around them which can be a bit dodgy depending on other drivers.

RedPlanet

Carawaystick wrote: »

Every bike I've owned, the right hand side brake is for the front wheel.

Hard braking on the rear wheel will cause it to lock up and skidding. If this is unexpected a fall or worse could occur.

There is no international standard regarding what lever connects to which brake.

Which Brake Which Side?
There is considerable disagreement as to which brake should be connected to which lever:
Some cyclists say it is best to have the stronger right hand (presuming a right-handed cyclist) operate the rear brake.

Motorcycles always have the right hand control the front brake, so cyclists who are also motorcyclists often prefer this setup.

There are also observable national trends:
In countries where vehicles drive on the right, it is common to set the brakes up so that the front brake is operated by the left lever.

In countries where vehicles drive on the left, it is common to set the brakes up so that the front brake is operated by the right lever.

The theory that seems most probable to me is that these national standards arose from a concern that the cyclist be able to make hand signals, and still be able to reach the primary brake. This logical idea is, unfortunately, accompanied by the incorrect premise that the rear brake is the primary brake.
For this reason, I set my own bikes up so that the right hand controls the front brake, which is not the norm in the U.S.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

North American setup is usually different from European in this respect. I actually prefer the N.American.

Fabritzo

I got the impression that both brakes levers do the same thing, that is they apply the brakes to both wheels if either lever is pulled.

RedPlanet

Must be a long time since you've been on a bicycle!

Cookie_Monster

-Chris- wrote: »

And every bike I've owned the right hand side brake is for the rear wheel. Which one of us is right? They were bound to be criticised no matter what they did.

Irish/UK bikes rear brake is generally on left, on the continent is usually other way around.

Maybe in the case of these bikes the brakes aren't good enough to matter but I've seen a friend of mine go over the bars and have the bike land on him cause the brakes were backwards.

Fabritzo wrote: »

I got the impression that both brakes levers do the same thing, that is they apply the brakes to both wheels if either lever is pulled.

I've never seen a bike in my life that does that

Fabritzo

Ah I was only on the dublin bikes twice, I knew there was something up with the brakes on them alright, they're not that good for a start, the bikes being heavy doesn't help either.

bloomfield

When are we going to see an expansion of the Dublin Bikes scheme? 40 bike stations is pathetic, and they only cover a portion of the city centre.

The Paris bike scheme launched in 2007 covers the entire city, and has 1,450 docking stations. And a news report from yesterday reports the launch of the London bike scheme this summer, with around 400 docking stations.

While I realise Dublin is a smaller city than Paris or London, I believe we deserve a much larger network to let Dublin Bike stations to allow the scheme to reach its full potential. And I can't help feeling that the city council sold us short in only requesting a few hundred bikes in return for all that advertising space.

Stark

My hybrid has left-hand/rear wheel and my road bike has right-hand/rear wheel. Hasn't caused me problems yet thankfully (though I am a bit skittish for a while when switching between the two).

Don't see the brakes being an issue on the Dublin Bikes. The brakes are weak to begin with and you'd be doing well to get enough speed to flip the bike on one of those!

Cookie_Monster

bloomfield wrote: »

While I realise Dublin is a smaller city than Paris or London, I believe we deserve a much larger network to let Dublin Bike stations to allow the scheme to reach its full potential. And I can't help feeling that the city council sold us short in only requesting a few hundred bikes in return for all that advertising space.

London is only doing it in advance of the 2012 games I suspect. We (DCC) have no reason to expand it in such a hurry apart from the fact it one of the greatest success in public transport in Dublin in a long long time and that counts for little in their eyes I suspect

Vim Fuego

I've heard through the grapevine that Vodafone are soon to be sponsoring the Dublin Bikes. Unfortunately, I think that means they're getting changed to red in the near future.

whosedaddy?

Guys, just signed up to the scheme.

What happens if I cycle from station A to station B within the free 30min. And after a short break I want to go back. Can I just pick up another bike and the free 30min start again? Or is there an waiting time to avoid ppl abusing the free 30min by just locking the bike in one station, pick up another and cycle on, exchange bikes after 29 min, etc...

Alun

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Maybe in the case of these bikes the brakes aren't good enough to matter but I've seen a friend of mine go over the bars and have the bike land on him cause the brakes were backwards.

That happened to my wife once. We lived in Holland at the time and had German bikes over there, but we hired some bikes when on holiday on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. She went straight over the handlebars when she braked on a steep downhill section, broke her arm, had scrapes all over her shoulders and was narrowly missed by a car that was just behind her.

Stark

whosedaddy? wrote: »

Guys, just signed up to the scheme.

What happens if I cycle from station A to station B within the free 30min. And after a short break I want to go back. Can I just pick up another bike and the free 30min start again? Or is there an waiting time to avoid ppl abusing the free 30min by just locking the bike in one station, pick up another and cycle on, exchange bikes after 29 min, etc...

There's a 5 minute waiting time before you can take out another bike. After that you can take out a bike for another free 30 mins.

seamus

Stark wrote: »

There's a 5 minute waiting time before you can take out another bike. After that you can take out a bike for another free 30 mins.

And it's not really that big a deal. I've fallen foul of it when I cycle to one station, run into a shop, come out to the same station and have to wait a minute for my account to be opened up. Since you can make the trip between the furthest stations in well less than 30 minutes (except in extreme circumstances), there's not really any need to be bike hopping in order to hold onto it for longer.

I've heard through the grapevine that Vodafone are soon to be sponsoring the Dublin Bikes. Unfortunately, I think that means they're getting changed to red in the near future.

That would be odd since the colour of the bikes is more to do with the Dublin colours than anything about JCDecaux. I would imagine that Vodafone my put stickers on the back wheel as rebranding the bikes completely would involve replacing all of the "fairings" on every bike. Unnecessarily expensive.

I do think though that it's time to extend the scheme out further into the Dublin city council area, as well as adding a couple of more stations within the city centre - because of the one-way system, there seems to be blackspot near Grafton street.
So add stations out as far as Sandymount, Milltown, Rathgar, Goldenbridge, Cabra, Drumcondra & Fairview. Since space is at less of a premium further out, you could also conceivably add "super stations", holding 40 bikes or more, to accomodate people using the bikes to commute.
Obviously you'd need to up the maximum rental time to an hour, maybe 90 minutes, but if there were more bikes and stations, I don't think this would be a problem.

Don't see the brakes being an issue on the Dublin Bikes. The brakes are weak to begin with and you'd be doing well to get enough speed to flip the bike on one of those!

They're not that weak, they just require a lot more force to get to the locking position. Drum brakes are generally like that. If you think that they're not strong enough to slide, then you obviously haven't tried them in the ice. Most Irish people would be accustomed to bicycles with the front brake on the RHS. Switching is generally not a big deal when the brakes are progressive like the DBs, but when the friction on the road surface plummets (as in ice, snow or oil), the user needs to be aware of what side the brakes are on to avoid overusing the front brake. Most people will assume it's the same as every bike they've ridden since they were ten and could have an accident.

whosedaddy?

Stark wrote: »

There's a 5 minute waiting time before you can take out another bike. After that you can take out a bike for another free 30 mins.

cool thanks. the FAQ on the website doen't say.... but I was assuming there is a wait.

Run_to_da_hills

Vim Fuego wrote: »

I've heard through the grapevine that Vodafone are soon to be sponsoring the Dublin Bikes. Unfortunately, I think that means they're getting changed to red in the near future.

That won't last

Capt'n Midnight

The bikes could do with a bit of brightening up they are not as visible as you would like when it's dark

Carawaystick

The front light flashes off axis.

another poor feature. the gears cant change down under load. it's 2010 ffs. schimano had this solved in the early 90's

the station UI is poor as well:
unnecessary button presses, saying press the validate button when there is only a v button.
Having different keypads on different machines.
not having a touchscreen
some of the beepers on the locking posts not working.

where's andy montague to defend these great choices now?