Does Bike Share Help or Hurt Bike Shops?

This article claims it has hurt them in NYC:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-05/the-collateral-damage-of-n...

This seems not to have been the case in Montreal or DC, however.

Some argue that bike share gets more people on bikes, after which they start wanting their own.  Others argue that bike share is so much cheaper than owning and maintaining a bike, that given the option of bike share, people will be less interested in buying.

I think it come down mainly to the availability of secure bike parking. When it's possible to ride door to door securely, private bikes are more convenient.  For me, Divvy is the option of choice when I am concerned about parking/theft at my destination, or when bad weather is bearing down on me, when I like the option of taking public transit on my return trip without the hassle of lugging a bike with me.

In short, Divvy hasn't changed my spending on my own bikes and gear;  I have just added it as another option.  I'm not on a tight budget, so I don't have to choose one or the other.  'But I know that others can't or don't want to spend as much as I do on biking.

Has Divvy affected your plans re. bike purchasing?  Have you decided to skip owning one?  Or have you decided to use Divvy rather than buy a city bike, and spend the cash instead on a nice road bike for training rides, accessories, etc.?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on June 6, 2014 at 3:31pm

New York is an outlier, in that they have very heavy traffic that drives very heavy bicycle use, very heavy bicycle theft.  I think that people who got tired of all the theft just went with the shared bicycles.

Permalink Reply by Christine (5.0) on June 6, 2014 at 4:55pm

Another thing about NYC is that the apartments are tiny, and there's possibly not good alternative storage solutions.  Which is the most convenient: carrying a bike up a highrise, going through a few doors and locking up in a crowded bike room, or walking out of your building and popping a bike share bike out of a station?

Permalink Reply by Jared on June 6, 2014 at 6:01pm

I like the idea of Divvy but the closest station to me is over a ten minute walk so I have no interest in joining at the moment.  And then the destination at the other end might be an additional five-ten minute  walk  so personally I don't find it that convenient nor a replacement for actually owning a bike. 

I wonder what effect it has had on the traditional bike rental companies that catered to tourists.  I think they charged something like $40 a day and then in some ways it was less convenient  since you had to get yourself to a rental location and then probably fill out paper work and so on...

Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on June 6, 2014 at 6:57pm

I think it will be ultimately tough for a lot of bike shops, because Divvy is subsidized to the tune of 90% or more.  I wonder how many of those yearly passes they'd sell if Divvy had to generate 50% of its cost through it's charges, or about $750.00 a year for a pass.  Basically, the city is giving nearly free use of bikes to people, which is something your local bike shop can't do.   

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on June 7, 2014 at 12:49am

Not me, but a woman I know who decided she wanted to try riding a bike again and started with Divvy.  She loves riding and is in the process of buying her own bike.  Not evidence, of course, but at least one happy Divvy to bike owner story.

As to me, I look at Divvy in the same way Jeff does--comes in handy occasionally but certainly could not replace my bikes.  (Just got a new road bike. :-))

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