St. Mark's Place earlier today.
Updated:
Oh, a reader emailed to say that this is happening at other docking stations... is this a thing now? Or is this a way for Citi Bike to let people know not to use this particular bike? (I have no idea.. just asking...)
Updated:
Apparently I need to start reading Wired. They reported yesterday:
If a bike is suffering from mechanical issues, courteous riders have begun turning the seat around to face the wrong way, a signal to other Citi Bike users to avoid that particular bicycle. There is a built-in wrench button on the bike racks that alerts Citi Bike that maintenance is needed, but turning the seat around is a nice way to give rushed riders a quick heads-up to skip that bike and grab the next one.
24 comments:
Correct, it's a way to let people know of a broken bike. The docks have a little red light that indicates if a bike is broken, but the backwards seat is easier to spot from a distance.
It's a "thing" that riders in other cities with bikeshares have been doing to indicate to future riders that the bike is out of service or faulty.
HOWEVER, I've seen a lot of bikes like this lately... hopefully people aren't trolling, cuz that's definitely annoying.
Most fun to think of people riding bass-ackwards, but the things don't have a reverse gear, and it's actually a way to let people know that a bike isn't working, like leaving a pay phone off the hook. Remember pay phones?
I've seen it around too. I haven't really checked, but I assumed that it meant that the bike was down. I also assumed that when a bike is docked with a red light that means the bike is down. In fairness, I'll bet there's some documentation on this, but I haven't checked around for answers.
Turning the seat around is a way to let riders know there is something wrong with the bike.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/06/citi-bike/
its to say that the bike is defective or broken
Yes.
Google is your friend.
See:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/06/citi-bike/
Turning the saddle has been suggested and is being used as a signal to other bike-share users that the bike has some defect and one should be even more vigilant than usual to do a pre-ride check.
It's called a quick release lever. Very common on bicycles. Allows you to make adjustments without a wrench. Anyone can go up to a Citibike and mess with the seat, and that is what is happening here. Non story.
I thought that's how they rolled in Europe...
@Anonymous: shoulda read the comments/story update first. Try again.
Ok BBnet300, I was wrong and spoke out of ignorance. But why are so many bikes malfunctioning already??? Ah who cares. Like Danielsan say in "Karate Kid"-- "I hate this bike[share]! I hate this stupid bike[share]! I hate it! Why can't we just go back to Newark?!?!"
I think they should be using yellow stickies
I get the idea of this being a courtesy to warn fellow riders away from a defective bike, but it seems like a bad idea given the intensity of the anti-bike nuts. They'd do anything to fuck with the system, including arbitrarily turning seats around for no reason, or turning backward seat frontwise again so that some rider ends up using the defective bike anyway. I wouldn't put it past them.
These bikes are junks.....u all are waisting ur money.....stop supporting these things......best to buy ur own.for what ur rent ing...do the math.
Nobody has suggested this yet; but I think it may be a way for people to signal to other riders that that particular bike is not functioning properly.
Maybe there is a way for somebody to find out, but I don't know. I'll bet you I'm right.
The bike seat represents the method this city's DOT has used for the past 8 years. Ass Backwards.
Kinda shocked heah.....
....NOBODY went for "ass backwards"....
.....disappointing.
Good thing I'm 54 now, 'cause the 14 year old in me (vintage NYC 73) can still think up a million easy ways to fuck this shit up!
But I got other things to worry about these days....
@DrBOP: Read my comment, which predates yours by about 8 hours. You have no business being shocked.
DrGecko, you thick maroon. You wrote "bass-ackwards"! Not exactly the same. Never mind that you are so mean!
@DrGecko
Retracting shock now
No longer disappointed
Summer is here
Life compleat
Just saw that the bikes pedal backward while docked, folks using it for spinning class. These things are a complete waste of money by an out of control midget dictator.
Post a Comment