Cycling 50 kilometers without worrying about punctures? What is the difference between shared bikes and ordinary bikes?

Audit expert: Zhou Hongzhi

Senior Experimentalist, Master Supervisor, School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Beijing University of Technology

When facing the problem of the "last few kilometers" when traveling, riding a shared bike is undoubtedly the most convenient solution. Have you ever thought about why so many people ride shared bikes every day, but they never encounter problems like punctures and chain drops like ordinary bicycles? What is special about shared bikes?

It turns out that from the very beginning design concept, the priority of shared bicycles was not "easy to ride" but "not easy to break".

Image source: Qianku.com

Compared with personal bicycles, shared bicycles are used more frequently, travel longer distances, and face occasional vandalism, which makes them more prone to failure. A broken shared bicycle may even cost more to repair than a new one.

Solid tires are not easy to be punctured

Ordinary bicycles usually use pneumatic tires. Pneumatic tires are very elastic, but if the pressure they carry is too great, they are prone to bursting, and you need to worry about punctures, damage, and tire leaks.

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Shared bicycles mostly use durable solid tires, which have no inner tube or airtight layer. They are strong and wear-resistant, and are not as easily punctured as pneumatic tires when running over broken glass. This type of tire is often used in industrial scenes with complex road conditions such as docks and factories.

Early Mobike bikes used solid tires with wheels made of magnesium-aluminum alloy. After one year of use, the wheel damage rate of more than 2 million bikes was only one in a million.

At present, shared bicycles also have some holes punched in the tires to make them hollow solid tires, which can reduce weight and resistance at the same time.

Poor shock absorption

Compared with pneumatic tires, the most obvious disadvantage of solid tires is their inferior shock absorption ability. In order to achieve the goal of being strong and wear-resistant, the rubber used to make solid tires is relatively harder and less elastic. And there is no air filled in the tire to cushion the vibration, so it will bump more.

In addition, the body material will also affect the shock absorption ability of the vehicle.

Unlike the high-carbon steel frames used in ordinary bicycles, most shared bicycles use aluminum alloy frames. According to a study by McGill University, among the four materials of carbon fiber, titanium, steel and aluminum, the vibration and bumps transmitted by the aluminum alloy frame are the most uncomfortable because of the poor shock absorption ability of aluminum.

Shared bikes are heavier

Generally speaking, the weight of an ordinary bicycle is around 10-13kg, and fitness people can easily lift it with one hand; but after a technological upgrade, the weight of a shared bicycle will reach 17kg, so it will feel very difficult to move the bicycle.

Image source: Qianku.com

Although the weight of the bike has little effect on the riding speed when riding on a flat road, riding uphill means that your weight will increase by more than ten pounds, which is naturally more strenuous.

It is not easy to break, which is also due to maintenance.

Bicycles need regular maintenance. Depending on the frequency of use and the mileage of riding, the interval can be as short as 1-2 weeks or as long as 1-2 months. Since shared bicycles are frequently used and exposed to the wind and rain outdoors for a long time, they actually need more timely maintenance.

Short-term maintenance includes cleaning the body, cleaning and oiling the chain, and the transmission system's chainring, flywheel and other components also need to be disassembled and inspected to clean the dust and rust in time. Long-term maintenance requires further inspection of the wheels, spokes, frames, handlebars and other components, and timely repair or replacement of deformed or severely rusted parts to maintain riding safety and comfort.

Is it difficult to return a shared bicycle?

From a technical point of view, inaccurate satellite positioning and navigation for returning the bike, as well as weak signals at individual berths, can easily lead to failed returns. In addition, due to the limitations of the urban spatial structure, the corresponding supporting facilities have not kept up, the berths are unevenly distributed, the distance is too far, and the carrying capacity of a single berth is insufficient, which can make it difficult to return the bike. However, through the upgrading of technology and the improvement of service levels, the problem of "difficulty in returning the bike" is gradually improving. In Beijing, some shared bicycle brands are accelerating the popularization of "Beidou + GPS" dual-module positioning devices in their vehicles to improve satellite positioning accuracy and enhance user experience.