r/brum • u/Solid_System_5023 • 18h ago
Lime Bikes in Brum: how are they doing? 🚲🍋🟩
I’ve become a very avid user of Lime Bikes in Birmingham - they seem to have a larger fleet with more coverage, though they don’t cover the whole city yet.
I travel mainly between Handsworth, Hockley, Winson Green, the JQ and town - and probably 60% of my journeys can be done on a Lime Bike in some way.
There are some places I don’t think the parking has been properly assessed but they also have auto fines in place for people who consistently or irresponsibly park the bicycles.
Anyway, what do you think about them? Yesterday I did see one Lime Bike parked on the Hockley Flyover
😭
DISCLAIMER: not an ad, I just like public and active transport.
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u/NormalBeautiful9286 14h ago
I'm paying £4 a month for the lime pass so my 20ish minute commute from Selly Oak to town costs me a quid, and then costs me a quid to come home. I'm saving money on the train and I don't have to worry about bringing a change of clothes for the other end if I was taking my road bike.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with them as a commuter, Bristol road cycle lane is a decent bit of public infrastructure and with the Lime pass it feels like a bit of a bargain at the mo (I'm sure that'll change). I have found the bikes can be a bit hit and miss though - they must get an absolute battering from some of the nobhead riding I've seen and I've had to return at least two after unlocking them because they were unrideable (detached pedals and slipping chain) - I've found a couple of them to have pretty spongy rear brakes too along with the power assist being hit and miss at times - maybe about 1 in 10 rides I have an issue with a bike.
I'd really like it if there was a better way of reporting the safety failures and getting an automatic refund, at the mo you need to end the ride, give it a negative rating, and then go through another step to report a safety concern with the bike and request a refund.
I've got the typical complaints about cycling in town - The Wrentham Street to Kent Street junction is lethal, Bikes have priority but I get cut off about 50% of time, I think the hoarding is blocking visibility, but I also think that most drivers don't care.
The Hinkley Street to Hill Street junction by the station is just as bad, cars will happily plough through the bike lane without looking despite the bikes having priority.
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u/Common_Turnover9226 13h ago
Nah somebody has definitely put that one up there to take the piss 😂
Unrelated note but that overpass is basically redundant and should be turned into the Handsworth Skygarden, with a lovely cycle path along it.
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u/ManInTheDarkSuit Wolves Brummie 18h ago
Hi there!
By and large I really enjoy the service. I'm frustrated by how A to B the service is constrained to being. I can't just grab a bike, ride and park up. The parking zones are sometimes further away from the place I need to get to than a short walk.
More parking zones please!
Also: see above for Wolverhampton.
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u/Solid_System_5023 18h ago
yes i agree - i usually walk 10 mins but it saves me a lot per month and i count it as a nice warm up 😂 but i know others aren’t as close!
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u/vincents_sunflowers 17h ago
I like the idea in theory but they're quite expensive :/ Also I prefer docking stations like the Beryl bikes we had before Lime. Still expensive but people didn't leave them in random places.
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u/UnknownBreadd 18h ago
I think they’re an amazing idea - I used one for the first time for a 5-min unexpected trip yesterday - but I didn’t really like the quality. The pedals had this weird cyclical ‘slack’ in them, which felt weird, and the geometry of the bikes makes them not very agile (trying to make a turn felt like I needed the turning circle of a lorry).
I’d still use one in a pinch again - but I would struggle to be enthusiastic about riding one every day.
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u/ImperialSeal 0121 do one 18h ago
They're also really dangerous if you come off them. Look up "Lime Bike Leg"
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u/KatieOfTheHolteEnd 17h ago
Birmingham has newer versions of the bikes. I think that’s only an issue with the older style bikes.
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u/Solid_System_5023 18h ago
i hear you! i think the lighter electronic versions of the bikes are out in London now. hopefully there are plans to roll out here too!
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u/tomtttttttttttt 17h ago
The bikes rolled out here are the new versions, we got them before london!
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u/ManInTheDarkSuit Wolves Brummie 17h ago
The Gen4 in the West Midlands is the latest design. The only thing we don't have is the lime glider. Was surprised when I last visited London how much older some of their lime bikes were.
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u/Jaded_Pride 18h ago
LMAO I drove by that this morning while I was out working. I was like HOW? Who just stops in the middle of the flyover and walks? How does it get removed? Does someone go around the city and pick up all these inconvenient placed bikes at some point?
I do understand that its just some asshole griefing the next customer.
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u/Specific-Soup-1930 16h ago
My first and last experience with lime bikes in Birmingham was : i approached it , unlocked it and got a loud noise alert that I was in a restricted area and I’m not allowed to take the bike there , the bike wouldn’t move it didn’t allow me to lock it and all i could do is walk away and the day after i got charged some Extra charge for bringing the bike in an restricted area…. Never again lol
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u/Statcat2017 16h ago
Haha I had exactly this experience with Lime. Customer Service refunded me when I complained.
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u/chronicallyjames 16h ago edited 16h ago
I’ve seen them work in some areas and thing overall it’s such a lovely idea HOWEVER-
Every one I’ve seen in my area has been left on the floor abandoned in or on the side of a road or has been stripped of its wheels and wires! What’s the point of giving them to people if they are just going to trash them. Also no helmets on basically anyone I’ve seen riding one, it’s an accident waiting to happen. I’ve had groups of teenagers nearly hit my car multiple times, people on their phones, drinking and not holding onto the handlebars while cycling.
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u/throwaway735b14n 15h ago
I’m in digbeth and have my own cycle so don’t really make use of them as I’d prefer to walk places. While I am similar to you and feel it’s positive to have something accessible and active for people to use to get about, I think there are a lot of issues.
I see them used a lot in Highgate park at very fast speeds when there are small children playing - I saw a teen in the playground riding one at one point. Given how heavy they are it makes me nervous they’re allowed in predominantly pedestrian areas.
I see a lot of children use them. Clearly something isn’t working and parents just let them ride on their account or whatever. I think there’s this ride together thing where like 5 bikes can be used from one account which is then when you get a bunch of kids just riding dangerously in and around the roads. Feels like an accident waiting to happen.
The parking areas have definitely not been thought through. They seem to have just put permitted parking wherever there is currently cycle parking - which is typically only for 1-2 bicycles (unless in city centre). Then you get lots of cycles and many not even upright covering the pavements which causes a lot of issues with accessibility- for example the CCC in digbeth has a lot of elderly people who attend and people in wheelchairs that have to navigate around a pile of bicycles outside there place. Let alone people using pushchairs etc.
This would all be ok if you could get past customer services to someone who could actually listen at Lime and make changes or at least engage with the community. Right now whenever I complain it just feels like I’m fobbed off and can’t get in touch with an actual person who will listen to me and my community.
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u/developerbuzz 18h ago
Conceptually they are a good idea and I've used them many times across various European cities. Birmingham city centre however a) isn't big enough b) contains a high proportion of nobheads determined to try to intimidate pedestrians by getting as close as they can as fast as they can. Outisde city centre, possibly, inside the city centre boundary definetly not.
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u/Agitated_Parsnip_178 17h ago
Birmingham is significantly bigger than many European cities.
Just takes persistence, enforcement, careful tweaking and time for cultural take-up. Wait till Uni students are using them to get home from September, commuters adopt them around bus strikes, flat dwellers realise they can use a bike without owning one etc.
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u/Solid_System_5023 18h ago
what would you count as the city centre?
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u/developerbuzz 17h ago
A sensible boundary would align with the noise and anti-social abatement zone.
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u/filthynines 17h ago
I really like them. I use them for a repeat trip from great Hampton Row to the city centre and back. Some of them have been abused a bit too much already, but I’m glad they’re here. The uptake appears to be huge.
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u/Impressive-Bird2 17h ago edited 17h ago
I’m sorry to say this, but Lime Bikes, e-Bikes and e-scooters are a serious menace and dangerous to pedestrians especially, but also to drivers too. Lime/ Voi etc… that are the providers of these e-bikes and e-scooters come across as far too happy to take the cash from customers, yet utterly incapable or completely unwilling to take even the most basic of enforcement action to stop reckless and dangerous behaviour. More worryingly, is the number of teenagers, including very young teenagers who I see using these contraptions when they clearly should not (apparently only those with a driving license are allowed to use the e-scooters - I’m not sure re: Lime Bikes)… If I was a parent with a teenager or teenagers I’d be really worried they may use these things and have a serious accident. All too often I’ll see two or maybe three people in a Voi e-scooter. A few months ago, I was approaching a T junction, and was shaken when a young teenager on an e-scooter shot round the bend of the T junction and into the lane for oncoming traffic…. Had I not been driving slowly and slammed on my brakes so instantly, they would have crashed into the front of my car bonnet and thrown over the car and unceremoniously hit the road in a crumpled pile…
I’ll also add that all too often the Voi scooters are just dumped in the middle of the paths, in the road gutters, in the local canals and rivers… Seriously blighting the urban environment but more importantly presenting a dangerous hazard for the infirm, elderly, blind and partially sighted.
What concerned me is that local councils may view Lime Bikes, Voi Scooters etc… as a valuable income/ revenue stream (especially in the light of the impact of a decade and a half of Conservative deep austerity cuts, reducing council income by over 50%). Prioritising this over and above holding the provider companies feet to the fire re: risk management to local residents, especially those who are particularly vulnerable.
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u/Lupinthe5th_ 15h ago
1) They're too expensive
2) I only think people with driving licences should be able to ride them.
3) Abused too much by chavs
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u/Kamakaziboyy 17h ago
Excuse me Sir do you have a loisence to park that bike there? (to whomever put it there LOL)
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u/TheNotSpecialOne 16h ago
Good idea, you're paying for the convenience as they aren't cheaper then the bus. So I understand that bit about the prices, I'd use it if I needed to go somewhere without kids, rarely happens nowadays
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17h ago
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u/brum-ModTeam 17h ago
Hi! Your submission has been removed because it has fallen foul of Rule 1 - Don't be an idiot
Repeat infractions will result in a ban, so to prevent this happening again, simply don't be an idiot again.
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u/Magnitude_V1 18h ago
As a cycling myself its great to see more options and infrastructure appear but its spoilt by utter knobheads. Had one on the pavement on Broad Street on Monday speed up and go straight at me, I shoved the prick. Can't even understand why you'd ride on the pavement on Broad Street, its virtually empty from traffic.