figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
Coincidentally she does, however I’m not sure of the culinary use of hedging plants.
Shopping on a bike
- Thread starter Oldhippy
- Start date
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I do some shopping by bike- I live less than a mile from town so normally I will walk (I have a large shopping trolley).
I used to make frequent trips to the shops but during lockdown I'm doing a big weekly shop and using the bike a lot more- sometimes an Elephant bike full and a trailer's worth if there's bulky stuff like cat litter to pick up.
Sometimes for small shops I'll start out with the intention to walk, then hire a Beryl bike for part of the trip, dock it nearby, shop, then perhaps hire another Beryl to get near home, walk the last bit. I use them a lot considering I have a few bikes of my own.
For household stuff that I can't buy nearby (there's a hardware store not far from me) there's B&Q and that is always done by bike- it's too far to bother walking and there's a good route from where I live.
I used to make frequent trips to the shops but during lockdown I'm doing a big weekly shop and using the bike a lot more- sometimes an Elephant bike full and a trailer's worth if there's bulky stuff like cat litter to pick up.
Sometimes for small shops I'll start out with the intention to walk, then hire a Beryl bike for part of the trip, dock it nearby, shop, then perhaps hire another Beryl to get near home, walk the last bit. I use them a lot considering I have a few bikes of my own.
For household stuff that I can't buy nearby (there's a hardware store not far from me) there's B&Q and that is always done by bike- it's too far to bother walking and there's a good route from where I live.
annedonnelly
Girl from the North Country
- Location
- Canonbie
I had to Google Beryl bikes. How long have they been around and how well do they work? They had to scrap the bike hire scheme in Newcastle due to people dumping them in the river & otherwise vandalising them. They've just started a trial of e-scooters so we'll see how that goes.
Currently they are available at limited locations in the UK including Watford. They have been around just over a year in my area and have a few hundred bikes plus a smaller number of ebikes. They have quite simple infrastructure- they have docks, but these are simple stands with no moving parts- they are just locations where they should be left. It's possible to leave them anywhere but there's a £5 charge for leaving outside of the defined areas and £10 charge for leaving them outside of the zone of operation (you can ride outside the zone without charge). It seems to work well-enough. They can be temporarily paused for 15 minutes outside of docking areas without incurring a £5 charge- useful for shopping.
They can only be used through a phone app (this likely excludes some users). The most cost effective way to use them is to buy minutes (I think 100 minutes is a fiver) then they can be unlocked by placing your smartphone over a sensor on the stem. E-bikes have a standard extra £1 charge per journey.
I don't know if there has been attrition due to vandalism- I haven't heard about it and neither have seen any evidence of it. The main problem is the bikes really need a bipod stand rather than a kickstand on one side- they end up on the ground in windy weather.
Bikes are fine- three speed hub, hub brakes. They have a small front rack with a bungee cord attached- it'll take a bag of shopping.
Bikes left out of parking zones are collected and returned to the docks- Beryl have a e-bike trailer that takes two bikes and also vans to move bikes around.
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annedonnelly
Girl from the North Country
- Location
- Canonbie
Thanks. The Newcastle ones didn't have defined parking docks so you'd find them abandoned all over the place. And I assume they were fairly easy to simply pick up and move without having paid.
I think these schemes are a great idea if only a small minority didn't abuse them. Perhaps the people of Watford are nicer than those in Newcastle.
I think these schemes are a great idea if only a small minority didn't abuse them. Perhaps the people of Watford are nicer than those in Newcastle.
Risking driving this thread off-topic completely but a lot of it is in the implementation. Mobike pulled out of Manchester after a fairly short period- and they admitted this was at least in part due to losing up to 10% of the bikes monthly. They gave different reasons for pulling the bikes out of Newcastle and Gateshead- there were statements about increasing the (financial) sustainability of the business and focussing on London, although it was well-known that there was a pretty high rate of bike loss there also.
The Bystander
Über Member
- Location
- Northamptonshire
Got rid of my car a few years ago and was cycling into town for my weekly supermarket shop but during lock down I've been using a combination of a walk to the village Co-op and internet shopping and have hardly used my bike at all 
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
oldwheels
Legendary Member
- Location
- Isle of Mull
I live at the top of a ruddy big hill. At one time I could cycle up but not now and particularly with a load I would have to push most of the way. At least the bike would take the load but now with a trike and no
e assist there is no way I would tackle it loaded.
e assist there is no way I would tackle it loaded.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
I do small shopping trips on the Brommie
