Divvy First Ride Reports

As many of us take our first Divvy rides over the next few days, jot down your experiences, impressions or any tips you may have for using Divvy.

I'll start:

I got to Daley Plaza a little past five this evening, for the Pre-Launch Divvy Ride.  My first impression was: man, that's a lot of bikes sitting there!  I checked in at the Divvy tent--and was pleased to find out I didn't need to activate my key fob yet: my paper invitation was all I needed.  Each bike was tagged with one of our names; there was literally a bike with my name on it on the plaza.

Many recognizable faces on the plaza.  I caught up briefly with Anne Alt & Julie Hochstadter, saw John Greenfield scoping things out, chatted with Elliot Greenberger (Divvy's PR guy) and Eddie Imlow (Divvy's General Manager) who was managing to be everywhere even while being hobbled by crutches.

It began to drizzle.  Then it began to rain.  Then it began to REALLY RAIN.  My free cup of gelato from the nearby gelato truck began to melt in the warm raindrops.  An amazing number of people squeezed under the three little tents.  And lots of folks plastered themselves up against the front of the Daley Center, against the windows, trying to stay dry.  I didn't hear much of Gabe Klein's speech, as the windy storm was howling at its height right about then.

Only a few Divvy cyclists had left the plaza when I found my Divvy bike and headed north, first on Dearborn, then up Clark to Fullerton, then up Orchard to Diversey and finally to Wilton.  Diversey & Wilton was the furthest north operational station tonight, which is why I picked it.

Locking up was a little tricky.  I tried several times, but couldn't make the green light come on or the lock activate. Shortly after, four more Divvy riders arrived to lock up.  One had used the Washington, DC bike share, and slammed--really slammed--the front wheel into the lock tower and the green light came right on.  I tested the lock by lifting the rear wheel and tugging the bike backwards, but the lock held.  We all tried the same thing and successfully locked all five bikes.  **TIP** Don't be gentle when locking up, it seems you need to really slam the front wheel forward into the slot. And don't walk away from the bike until you're sure it's locked--you're re$pon$ible for it until it's secured.

Oddly, even now, after three hours, the Diversey/Wilton station still reports zero bikes and fifteen open docks on the CycleFinder app, even though I know at least five bikes are locked there, possibly more.  Perhaps that station isn't communicating properly with the mainframe computer?

Other impressions from my ride: the bike is big, heavy, comfy & cushy.  It absorbed potholes and bumps beautifully, but you had to really work at moving off the line at a green light.  The three speeds seemed kind of close together, and didn't really provide much difference from first to third.  The front rack with integrated bungee cord held my bag and water bottle securely.

Be prepared to be the center of attention during the next week, while Divvy is still new.  I had other cyclists stop to ask me how I liked the Divvy.  Pedestrians and motorists gawked and stared at the bike.  I got one "Whohoo!  You got the first ride!  I chickened out in the rain..." from a pedestrian I passed.

**Tip** Spend a little time experimenting with the saddle height.  The post is helpfully marked off in inches, so you can replicate the height quickly each time.  I stopped and changed it three times during my ride: I've decided 4-and-a-half-inches height seems right for me.

I have no experience checking out a bike yet.  One of the guys who was locking alongside me had an activated key fob, but it didn't release the bike.  That may have to wait until the system is officially open tomorrow.

Have fun!  I look forward to hearing about your first Divvy rides.


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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Terry Witt on July 12, 2013 at 5:06am

Loved it all the way.  Easy in/out.  Easy adjustment.  Easy to keep up with traffic.  Bike lanes super good.  Cars respond well on no lane streets.

Permalink Reply by Deet 4.5mi on July 12, 2013 at 6:26am

I took oneout this morning, and i have to admit i didnt care for the bike, but being able to just load it into the dock and walk away with out another thought was rather cool. 

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on July 12, 2013 at 6:58am

Twas ever thus wasn't it? You visit a town, say Chicago, and pay $150 a night for a hotel room. Very few residents pay $4500 a month in rent or mortgage for a single room dwelling. 

Cameron 7.5 mi said:

That seems to be how we do things around here.

Christine (5.0) said:

I'm perfectly alright with tourists paying more, if it helps keep my yearly fees down.


Jeff B said:

I was not impressed by the pricing -- pay more after 30 minutes, get soaked after 60 minutes.  This is not a bike rental proposition by any means, and I surmise that is the intention, yet I see more tourists (?) riding along the lakefront at a leisurely pace and a mental meter in my head going $8/hour.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 12, 2013 at 7:47am

Only the second time I used Divvy since Inauguration day. Took it from my office to the Morgan Geen line stop and walked from there to Publican Quality Meats for lunch. Easy peasy.

My food standards are pretty high. I am not easily pleased. But I may just have had one of the best Italian sandwiches ever. $11 gets you a big pile of home cured meats on a marvelous crusty roll. Man that is good. I definitely will have to go back.

Which brings me to NIMBYs. Folks that don't like Divvy stations near them because it takes up too much parking. I don't get that. All my Divvy use sofar has been to places that are simply too far too walk, or to inconvenient to take CTA. There is no way I would have gone to PQM without Divvy. Instead I divvied over there and spend $13 for a sandwich and a soda. How is Divvy not good for business?

Permalink Reply by Christine (5.0) on July 12, 2013 at 7:50am

Agreed! Yesterday, when deciding whether to go to Lou Malnati's or Gino's East with my visiting father, we chose Gino's because it was near a Divvy station for him to use (I may or may not have broken the rules by lending him my keyfob while I was at work, which I got to with my regular bicycle)

Duppie 13.5185km said:

Which brings me to NIMBYs. Folks that don't like Divvy stations near them "because it takes up free parking". I don't get that. All my Divvy use sofar has been to places that are simply too far too walk, or to inconvenient to take CTA. There is no way I would have gone to PQM without Divvy. Instead I went Divvied over there and spend $13 for a sandwich and a soda. How is Divvy not good for business?

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on July 12, 2013 at 7:51am

Next week, when things around the office settle down to a dull roar, I am going to take Divvy over to have lunch there.  And I would never do it otherwise.
 
Duppie 13.5185km said:

Only the second time I used since Inauguration day. Took it from my office to the Morgan Geen line stop and walked from there to Publican Quality Meats for lunch. Easy peasy.

My food standards are pretty high. I am not easily pleased. But I may just have had one of the best Italian sandwiches ever. $11 gets you a big pile of home cured meats on a marvelous crusty roll. Man that is good. I definitely will have to go back.

Which brings me to NIMBYs. Folks that don't like Divvy stations near them "because it takes up.... I don't get that. All my Divvy use sofar has been to places that are simply too far too walk, or to inconvenient to take CTA. There is no way I would have gone to PQM without Divvy. Instead I went Divvied over there and spend $13 for a sandwich and a soda. How is Divvy not good for business?

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on July 12, 2013 at 8:19am

1 car vs. 12 bikes. You do the math on which is better for business.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

Which brings me to NIMBYs. Folks that don't like Divvy stations near them because it takes up too much parking. I don't get that. All my Divvy use sofar has been to places that are simply too far too walk, or to inconvenient to take CTA. There is no way I would have gone to PQM without Divvy. Instead I divvied over there and spend $13 for a sandwich and a soda. How is Divvy not good for business?

Permalink Reply by SlowCoachOnTheRoad on July 12, 2013 at 9:46am

Haven't subscribed to Divvy yet but will.  Spotted a girl on a Divvy yesterday near where I live on Irving Park Road and LSD.  Since you can only be on it without paying more for a half hour period, and the northernmost Divvy station thus far in Chicago is the Peggy Notebaert Museum, I couldn't figure out what she was doing there - she would only have had time to get there and then make it back!  

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on July 12, 2013 at 3:29pm

The overtime charges for 31-60 minutes of Divvy use are only $1.50 for annual members and $2.00 for 24-hour passes, which is comparable or even a bit cheaper than a ride on a CTA bus.  Maybe she's a big spender?

SlowCoach, you're not quite accurate on the northernmost Divvy station.  Currently, there's one Divvy station operating more northerly than the Notebaert Museum: Diversey & Wilton, near the Brown/Purple Line stop.  And, right now, the most westerly Divvy station running is Damen & Pierce, while the most southern station now running is at McCormick Place, south of Cermak.  I've ridden Divvy bikes to them all in the past week or so.

 

Within the year, the station boundaries look to be Central Park on the west, 63rd on the south and Loyola (just north of Devon) on the north.  After that, the city will be looking for another federal grant to expand out from those boundaries.
 
SlowCoachOnTheRoad said:

Haven't subscribed to Divvy yet but will.  Spotted a girl on a Divvy yesterday near where I live on Irving Park Road and LSD.  Since you can only be on it without paying more for a half hour period, and the northernmost Divvy station thus far in Chicago is the Peggy Notebaert Museum, I couldn't figure out what she was doing there - she would only have had time to get there and then make it back!  

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on July 26, 2013 at 2:57am

I give the bikes a thumbs up, even coming from a 4 foot 10 inch person! 

Rode last night with some ladies (pic below) and it was surprisingly comfortable. Took a few seconds to adjust back to my road bike though....

** And Dana Elliot, Divvy Bike Mechanic and Ambassador and longtime Chainlink member rocks! I think  she's the lone female bike mechanic at Divvy and kept us safe and made sure we had enough empty docks and bikes for the ride.  If you see her make sure to give her a big hug.

Permalink Reply by BruceBikes on July 29, 2013 at 10:35am

Anyone seen #DivvyRed yet or know anything more about it?

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on July 29, 2013 at 10:44am

I recently noticed that a 5 minute trip I made was logged as over an hour! I called the customer service number and they removed the overcharge from my account, relatively painlessly.

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