Fighting the Citi Bike gender gap

[OakLeaf]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/08/nyregion/a-mission-for-citi-bike-recruiting-more-female-cyclists.html?_r=0

It seems to me, having ridden a share bike in Columbus exactly once, that there's another issue not mentioned in this article. Integrating ANY vehicle, motorized or not, into urban traffic requires lightning-quick acceleration and braking. In/on a motor vehicle, and even a lightweight bicycle, that's mostly about reaction time and confidence. But on a share bike, with its extremely heavy wheels (rotating weight), that's just not possible, and triply so for riders with less strength and shorter legs and smaller hands (less leverage on brake levers and those super long cranks). I'm used to a heavy bike, when I looked it up, the weight of a share bike is not much more than my hybrid, but it handled WAY heavier because so much of the weight is in the wheels, for durability.

I'm a stalwart vehicular cyclist, I don't mind riding a road bike in rush hour urban traffic at all (though it has been a while since I've done it, and NYC is a whole 'nother deal, I've been a passenger in a car in NYC any number of times and wouldn't personally feel comfortable driving a car there), but I found riding that share bike pretty darn scary even in light to moderate traffic. Lack of mirrors didn't help one bit, either.

[Jolt]

Interesting article. As far as the whole fashion/appearance thing, I don't really get it (have always been a function-before-fashion kind of gal) but I know it is an issue for a lot of other women--how do we fix that? I can understand the hesitation about riding without a helmet, especially in NYC...maybe if there were helmets available with the bikes it would be helpful (provided there was a way to clean them between wearers). And, I do think you may be on to something with the weight of the bikes and the difficulty of accelerating to keep up with traffic...I tried out a share bike in Boston once and definitely felt less safe due to not being able to get up to speed as quickly as I could on my own bike. I think a lot of this has to do with the gearing of the bikes as well as the weight...the lowest gear was basically useless (way too low to start in unless on a hill), the second was a little low for getting going on a flat road but the third was higher than I would want to start in (and still managed to be too low for any kind of decent speed once rolling).

[Eden]

We have a similar bike share program here in Seattle and we also have a helmet requirement law. There are helmets available at the bikeshare station which are cleaned between users. I have a free membership through my work…. but I've not actually tried it yet...

[Crankin]

The things Oak talks about are what stop me from ever trying a Hubway bike. They look huge, unwieldy, and unsafe in traffic for someone my size. Heck, I had issues riding a cruiser I rented in Hilton Head Island a few years ago. While I love the looks of Dutch type bikes, they are so huge and heavy, I'd never ride one, even if I lived in a flat area, where I could use it for errands.
I have no issues with vehicular cycling, but I find I have to be quick and nimble to ride this way, even in my small town traffic.

[shootingstar]

I tried a bixi bike...and found it uncomfortable to steer and still not proper fit for me! I am quite small and short. I actually nearly fell over...

Bike shares are great if bike fits you. I personally need at least hybrid bike width tires when riding in downtown areas of cities. To me, having a slightly wider tire..means it's less prone getting stuck in streetcar rails and just easier to ride over bumpy roads, manhole covers,etc. I don't need to skinny smooth road bike tires.. at the same time, I'd rather pump up a hilly street with cars behind me in a busy city when it's not knobby mountain bike tires. Sucks out too much energy for me.