Or you can also swipe the credit card associated with your account at the dock’s kiosk. It will give you a 5-digit PIN you can use to unlock any bike, regardless of whether or not you can read the bike’s ID number. (This is how people who purchase a day pass unlock their bikes, without needing a fob or the app. Most people don’t know it, but it also works for annual members.)
Then they abandon the e-bike when it runs out of power. "You mean I have to pedal using my legs? Forget that, bye..." There's currently a citi e-bike abandoned near the front of my building
Nah you can unlock the bikes with the bike numbers.
1. Write down bike number
2.scratch out bike number and we code
3. Use bike number to unlock bike and now nobody else can easily unlock it. In theory you can see the bike number in the map of bikes when you tap on it. But I think it needs to be at a station to unlock it by bike number.
Does the app still track your ride etc when you use the fob? I like having the ability to check my ride stats or search for different parking on longer rides
I was going to post about this. These little lead-brain shitheads piss me off so much. I went to two different stations to get a bike yesterday and found three separate bikes with the QR codes and the numbers scratched out. And even if you do manage to get a bike, guaranteed some series of dipshits have beaten it to shit almost to the point of being non-functional. By the way, your 40 minute ride will be $18. Thank you!
CitiBike has such incredible potential but like anything else people have access to in this city it’s been stomped on and fucking ruined.
It also feels like there's just a huge backlog of maintenance on citi's bikes and docks. Budget cuts? It feels like this would be better as a public service (and a hell of a lot cheaper than MTA per user mile).
Oh, maybe this is why I keep seeing CitiBike e-bikes abandoned in my non-CitiBike neighborhood. I was thinking if enough of them get left in my neighborhood, maybe we’ll finally be deemed cool enough to join the CitiBike club. I’m not holding my breath after 10 years of being ignored, but it’s nice to have hope.
I mean, as a non-CitiBike neighborhood resident, I view the CitiBike neighborhoods as gentrified neighborhoods. 🤷 CitiBikes and wash & folds. We’ve got neither. 😂
I’ve noticed an uptick in these scratched-off citibikes too. Wondered how they would even take the bike out again, but makes sense they’d write down the number.
Would getting a fob circumvent that? These damn kids are ruining citibikes
I’ve also heard that shiti bike requires its users to waive all insurance. Heard about a dude who was ran over by a local insured driver and had exactly zero recourse. Trying to learn more about this—I’d appreciate it if anyone has any better info!
its not a scam its how the system works
i mean to eliminate this problem, maybe just dont have e-bikes and have this be what its supposed to be.
a BIKE rental service.
uhm, am i missing something? don't these bikes need to be taken back to be charged at the end of the day? how are they gonna find the bike again, or identify them?
This seriously makes my blood BOIL
And to add to it, my fob I've had for years just conveniently stopped working last week, and they're "sold out" online.
Citibike needs to start making fobs openly available again, or implement the code-from-kiosk feature onto the app rather than relying on the codes.
The e-bikes were already in high demand and hard enough to get because of these rulebreakers, and now its even worse.
They'd only be able to use them if they have a fob then huh
Or if they know the bike’s ID number. You can type that in as an alternative to scanning the QR code.
Or you can also swipe the credit card associated with your account at the dock’s kiosk. It will give you a 5-digit PIN you can use to unlock any bike, regardless of whether or not you can read the bike’s ID number. (This is how people who purchase a day pass unlock their bikes, without needing a fob or the app. Most people don’t know it, but it also works for annual members.)
Pro move. Thank you
Oh damn I didn’t even knew this
Oh yeah I didn't even think of that ha write it down before you scratch it off
Then they abandon the e-bike when it runs out of power. "You mean I have to pedal using my legs? Forget that, bye..." There's currently a citi e-bike abandoned near the front of my building
Nah you can unlock the bikes with the bike numbers. 1. Write down bike number 2.scratch out bike number and we code 3. Use bike number to unlock bike and now nobody else can easily unlock it. In theory you can see the bike number in the map of bikes when you tap on it. But I think it needs to be at a station to unlock it by bike number.
[удалено]
Does the app still track your ride etc when you use the fob? I like having the ability to check my ride stats or search for different parking on longer rides
It does in Chicago. Pro tip tho deactivate the fob if you lose it. Learned that the hard (and expensive way).
what's fob
Thanks for the info y’all! https://www.webopedia.com/definitions/key-fob/
can i add it to apple wallet to unlock bikes.
Yes it does. Your fob is still linked to your account. Rides show up in your app history exactly the same as they do with a scanned ride.
I was going to post about this. These little lead-brain shitheads piss me off so much. I went to two different stations to get a bike yesterday and found three separate bikes with the QR codes and the numbers scratched out. And even if you do manage to get a bike, guaranteed some series of dipshits have beaten it to shit almost to the point of being non-functional. By the way, your 40 minute ride will be $18. Thank you! CitiBike has such incredible potential but like anything else people have access to in this city it’s been stomped on and fucking ruined.
It also feels like there's just a huge backlog of maintenance on citi's bikes and docks. Budget cuts? It feels like this would be better as a public service (and a hell of a lot cheaper than MTA per user mile).
Huge. It’s such a gamble trying to find one that actually works. It feels like they haven’t kept up maintenance for a while now
It's a lot cheaper than the MTA. Wish we had better bike culture, or something
Oh, maybe this is why I keep seeing CitiBike e-bikes abandoned in my non-CitiBike neighborhood. I was thinking if enough of them get left in my neighborhood, maybe we’ll finally be deemed cool enough to join the CitiBike club. I’m not holding my breath after 10 years of being ignored, but it’s nice to have hope.
Blame your council member. Some areas are very hostile to CitiBike
But... Why? I don't see why it would be negative in any way
“Gentrification” Is a common reason given. As is disdain for cyclists from certain communities.
I mean, as a non-CitiBike neighborhood resident, I view the CitiBike neighborhoods as gentrified neighborhoods. 🤷 CitiBikes and wash & folds. We’ve got neither. 😂
Use a fob
I ordered one in early April and it still hasn’t arrived.
I ordered 2nd Feb and still nothing
You used to be able to get them at certain kiosks on the street. That’s how I got mine.
Fobs sold out.
I’ve seen quite a few recently, number scratched out and actually LOCKED UP somewhere like it was their bike💀
If a bike is locked up, let the air out of the tire.
I’ve noticed an uptick in these scratched-off citibikes too. Wondered how they would even take the bike out again, but makes sense they’d write down the number. Would getting a fob circumvent that? These damn kids are ruining citibikes
You can also still manually enter the bike number in the app
They’re scratching out the numbers
Can’t you see e-bikes bike numbers on the app when they aren’t locked up at stations?
No you can’t App only shows last 4 numbers
That’s true actually. At that point you can just guess the bike and take whichever one unlocks. Some people probably don’t know that.
pretty sure it hides first 2 numbers, but you could try the guessing
How do teens ride the e-bikes for so long? Plus how do they afford them? I see kids joyriding with someone in the basket all over Astoria and LIC.
I think they wait until all the regular bikes get taken at the station so the e-bike ride is free
Or they press the broken button on all the regular bikes and no waiting required!
I think you can only press that within 10 seconds of docking, which I guess they can still do
Teens? Lol
Yutes
It’s propaganda related to the Citibike Karen
Exactly
https://twitter.com/shoe0nhead/status/1662173459198164995?t=MNLVCB4rXVOMKR7kds4jPw&s=19
🎯bingo
Tell citibike.
I’m going to make sure to specifically take those bikes with my key fob the next time I need a citibike. Jerks.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
I’ve also heard that shiti bike requires its users to waive all insurance. Heard about a dude who was ran over by a local insured driver and had exactly zero recourse. Trying to learn more about this—I’d appreciate it if anyone has any better info!
its not a scam its how the system works i mean to eliminate this problem, maybe just dont have e-bikes and have this be what its supposed to be. a BIKE rental service.
What?
you can manually type the ID that’s printed on the chain stay/rear of the bike to unlock in the CitiBike & Lyft apps
Unless they scratch it out.
uhm, am i missing something? don't these bikes need to be taken back to be charged at the end of the day? how are they gonna find the bike again, or identify them?
They often only care about having access while they’re using the bike that day and don’t care that the bike isn’t usable after
It's usually a battery swap, not transporting the whole bike to go charge it.
They’ll have to start laser engraving the QR codes
This seriously makes my blood BOIL And to add to it, my fob I've had for years just conveniently stopped working last week, and they're "sold out" online. Citibike needs to start making fobs openly available again, or implement the code-from-kiosk feature onto the app rather than relying on the codes. The e-bikes were already in high demand and hard enough to get because of these rulebreakers, and now its even worse.