My first Bixi (Ride)

With my ankle on the mend it was time to try out some biking, but rather than haul my bike off the trainer and down two flights of stairs to the street I thought this might be an ideal time to try out a Bixi since there is a station a minute away. This would allow me to keep my bike on its trainer ready for some self-administered physio over the next month.

For my first outing, I had a number of errands planned around my neighbourhood. I wanted to see if I could complete them all using the closest station to each point on my itinerary because my main goal was to reduce the amount of walking involved. 

I went on the Bixi Montreal website (https://montreal.bixi.com/) to familiarize myself with the features of the system as I had read some comments on forums over the last two years documenting various complaints. I definitely did not want to get any surprises on my credit card through improper docking of a bike so that the clock keeps ticking.

Looking at the screen at the station, it is obvious that Bixi is doing its best to inform users about the possible charges because you have to go through alot of screens before you can actually get a code to take a bike away. In fact, you can even toggle through 60 pages of Terms and Conditions on the tiny screen if you really want to.

With my code in hand (the system allows you to just display the code on the screen, but I wonder how many people have tried that and then forgot the code by the time they walked over to the bike), I picked out a bike and slowly punched in the numbered sequence. Voila, the green light came on and I pulled the bike out of the holder.

The bike itself is pretty familiar since there are so many thousands of them around Montreal as well as Toronto, Ottawa, various US cities and London, England. It took a couple of seconds to adjust the seat and make sure the quick release was tight enough to keep it in place. Over the course of the day, I found most bikes I used had the quick release set too loose and required at least a half to full turn to snug it up.

The Bixi geometry, weight and wide tires makes for a very stable ride. The three speed gear shift is easy to use though it took me awhile to get use to turning the shifter towards me to go into a higher gear as it is the opposite movement on my own bike. The braking is smooth, but not very responsive due to the weight of the bike though this was not a problem since the gearing meant you were never going very fast.

After a five minute ride, I got to the location of the nearest station to my first errand and encountered my first obstacle. A truck was in the process of removing the station and installing a new one so I couldn't even check to see where another station is in the area. I decide to alter my itinerary, carry on to my next errand, and then return.

There is a station right beside my bank and I parked the bike in a dock with no trouble; getting the promised green light to show it was securely locked. I gave the bike a pull just to make sure it was fixed in place to satisfy myself. I completed my errand and came back to the station where my original Bixi was still docked. A thirty second process at the station to get a new code (although it is with some trepidation that you put your credit card into the slot again worrying that they will charge another $7 to the card) and I am pulling out the same bike, which has the advantage of having the seat already adjusted to my height.

I decided to go back to my original first errand spot, however, the truck was still working away. I rode around a bit and within a couple of minutes I came to another Bixi station with open docks to park the bike. Although it is a couple of blocks farther away from my destination, I am still closer than if I had walked from my home. Plus, I came across a lovely bit of graffitti on Laurier Avenue just east of Parc.

Following this errand, I decided to walk up to my local grocery store to pick up a few things. There is a station within half a block of the store and I have a backpack and cloth bag, which will allow me to see how the Bixi handles while carrying extra weight as well as try out the carrier on the handlebar.

Coming back from the grocery store, I was fortunate as there was one Bixi left at the station (there were two when I passed it on the way to the store). I got another code. Since you only have five minutes to undock a bike, I decided to take it out of the dock before securing my bag of groceries. This made the whole process a bit more difficult as the bag was fairly large and the bungee they provide is so stiff that it could not go around the bag. In the end, I just pushed the bag down into the carrier and tied the straps of the bag, hoping it would stay in place for the short ride home.

Because of the weight of the Bixi bike, I found the ride to be just as stable with the extra weight of my backpack and the other bag as compared to just myself on the bike. I don't, however, think I would have been comfortable riding along biking one handed and carrying a bag in the other hand, which I can do without too much trouble with my own bike.

One thing I would suggest to people using the Bixi is to turn the bike parallel to the street as soon as you remove it from the dock in order to keep the rear wheel from sticking out into the street especially if you are fiddling with trying to secure a bag into the carrier.

I returned with the Bixi and my groceries to the station closest to my apartment. I suppose I could have stopped in front of the apartment to drop off the groceries, but I did not want to leave the bike unattended.

So far, my first Bixi experience had been very positive. I was able to find a bike at each station I came to, the bike I picked was in fine condition and I was able to dock the bike at the station closest to my destination except in one case, which meant I walked three blocks more than originally planned. However, I saved my ankle from many blocks of walking when compared with doing the same journey by foot.

The next sortie brought up a point regarding renting Bixis for one or three days. You have the option of renting up to two bikes on a single credit card. However, when I first rented the Bixi I had selected rental for a single bike. On this trip, I invited my son for lunch and we planned to both use a Bixi. However, once you have selected a one bike rental for the day, the system does not allow you to rent another bike with the same credit card later on during that period.

The following morning I had a few hours left on the rental so I decided to make full use of my allotted time. It had rained during the night and the roads were wet. The bikes are fitted with fenders and I found the ride to be reasonably dry though at the end I did find that my coat was spotted on the back with some dirt so the rear fender is not completely efficient.

For my last trip, I decided to try a trip to downtown Montreal to see if I could make it from Mile End to downtown within the free 30 minute time frame while respecting the traffic signals. I managed to get from the corner of Clark/St. Viateur to the corner of Stanley/de Maisonneuve in 18 minutes without too much effort. It would certainly take a good deal longer to go back the other way and I'm not sure I would be able to make it within 30 minutes.

Overall, my day spent pedaling around a Bixi was a positive experience. Still, I could foresee instances of frustration, with regular use, where you would arrive at a station and there would be no bikes or trying to dock a bike at a station, which is full. In the end, the freedom of being able to ride your own bike to exactly where you want to go without the worry of trying to find a Bixi station to dock it once you get there, means I will be sticking with my trusty Ecovelo for now.