Rants and Raves

Some Thoughts on Jump Bike and Bike Share

I’ve been playing around with the new Jump bikes on my commutes recently and some folks had asked what I thought of them so far. Here are my impressions, but also some thoughts on comparing them to the Ford Go Bikes (and program).

Just for background’s sake- I’m a member of the Ford Go Bike Program. I have a yearly subscription and I signed up when they first launched. I signed up for Jump recently because I had been seeing them around in the neighborhood more and also know one of their Ops Managers and got interested after talking to him more about what they were doing with the program.

Jump is a bike-share service. You sign up, give them your credit card info for billing and download their app* (there’s a way to use the service w/o a smartphone too).

To get a bike, you look in the app to see if there’s one near you and if there is, you can reserve it through the app and go get it. When you get to the bike, there’s a keypad on the back and you type in your pin.

This is much different from the Ford Bikes because Ford’s bikes are all in docking stations. Although you can check online to see if the station is full or empty, you have to go to the docking station. Jump bikes are station-less. They do need to be locked up to a legitimate bike rack (ie not a parking meter) but there’s no station.

What about the bikes?

Jump bikes near me right now

Jump uses e-assist bikes. Ford uses their traditional bikes. Both kinds are great- fenders, lights, baskets (well, Ford’s aren’t full baskets). Both are heavy.  E-assist means they have a motor in them, but you need to pedal for it to kick on. If you want to get sweaty and ride hard you can, but you can also use the motor to help you get up hills (and I’ve been testing this a lot). They cap out at just under 20mph too. They’re pretty neat. You still need to be careful with when braking- the bikes are heavier than you realize.  note: Ford will have e-assist bikes available in March/April.

Bikes in the Inner Richmond

So for me- and this may differ for you depending on where you live and how you ride-

Jump advantages:

-bikes near where I live (usually) – (there’s no Ford Go Bike station near me)

-electric assist

-I can reserve the bike

-big basket on front that can hold a box of baked pork buns (pic)

-$2/30 mins (compared to $3 for Ford)

-just partnered with Uber in test areas so you can use the Uber app to reserve/retrieve bikes

Jump disadvantages:

-Not as many around (for now)- but I’ve been able to get one whenever I’ve wanted one

-Potential for not being able to rely on one being in my area consistently

Ford “normal” bike advantages:

-monthly/yearly program

-can use your clipper card to rent

-a lot of stations in the flatter parts of the city and they’re expanding

Ford disadvantages:

-need to be near a station to get and leave a bike

-no ebikes (for two more months)

-basket thing on front isn’t as good as Jump’s

 

So overall I’m impressed with the Jump bikes and I’ll continue to use them if I’m not on my own bike. I’m tempted to leave the Ford program unless they get some stations closer to where I live.

But, if I were a commuter who comes from another city to SF on the daily commute I’d probably stick with Ford. If you get to the city via Caltrain- there’s a Ford station right there. If you use casual carpool from the East Bay and get dropped off in the FiDi, there are stations nearby. The same goes for users of Transbay.

Have questions? Leave them for me in the comments

Reading Challenges & Some Links (bonus vid of Scoot Scofflaw)

As you may know, I use Goodreads.com to keep track of books I want to read. They have a handy feature where you can set how many books you’d like to read in a year. I’ve been able to use that to stay motivated and keep up with some good (and bad) titles. Do any of you do something similar – whether in Goodreads or just on a list somewhere? What are your goals?

One of the last books I read in 2017 was about the Basque country. There was a good section about Basque eating clubs. Actually, the whole book was good, but I keep dwelling on the clubs. There’s a good article about the same in last month’s Saveur magazine (link here – warning the site is slow as shit). I really want to set up a similar club, but I’m not sure how I’d be able to pull it off.

Maybe I should set up a monthly dinner group instead and rotate restaurants and brainstorm ideas? My girlfriend has a monthly girls’ dinner that she does with some friends so whenever she plans it I get reminded of this.

Do any of you have a regular standing dinner with groups of friends (or a networking group)?

Scoot – the company I like, but with the occasional rider I hate and make fun of- announced plans to add a network of e-bikes to their scooter fleet. That could be very big with a lot of potential. E-bikes are weird, but show a lot of potential to getting people in to bike commuting. I’m always pushing for more bikes.

Speaking of Scoot:

 

Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While) – ****

Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While)Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream by Phil Gaimon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Phil still has the brochacho dick jokes but he spins a good yarn. It was more entertaining than I thought it’d be. It was a bit weird to read this so close to finishing Jens Voigt’s book. It’s like the flip side to that story and because of that feels more real in a way.

View all my reviews