Bikesharing demo came to town

Trying out Bixi bike --- Photos courtesy of Yvonne Bambrick

Toronto got a little peak at what could be possible for the city as Bixi came to town October 24th and showed us Montreal's bikesharing system. We took over a couple parking spots on Bloor Street, east of Spadina for the morning. The friendly Bixi staff unloaded the stations and bikes unto the street and then showed off the system to the public and media. The demo is a culmination of our Public Bike Forum back in September.

Unloading the Bixi bikes.

The bikes are made of high grade aluminum, designed in Quebec by Michel Delairre and Devinci Cycles. The bike looks heavy and sturdy but it's surprisingly light (though still with some comfortable heft to make you feel like you own the road). Aside from the sleek design there are quite a few cool functional elements.

The front basket is solid and welded to the frame. Instead of sides the basket has a tough cord so as to accommodate bulky items. The chain actually runs through the chainstay with an integrated chain ring cover to keep your pants and the chain clean.

The seat tube has a numbered scale on the side so you will always know what seat height works best for you. When checking out a bike you can adjust the seat to the height that works best. The tires are filled with nitrogen which takes a lot longer to leak out so refills are less frequent.

It has three gears, which is all you need for most of Toronto. It means less maintenance and less chance of the bike breaking down.

In short, it's a sturdy well-built machine.

Unlocking a Bixi bike

The station is just as impressive. It has seven slots for bikes - you just shove the bike in and it locks. The station sits on a heavy metal pad that is made to be moveable in the winter so they can be put into storage. Nothing is bolted to the ground and it's powered through a solar panel. All communication is done to a central server through radio signals. As the system was designed by Montreal's parking authority they just borrowed the parking meter technology. Impressive.

Adjusting the seat

And now we wait.

We've done our part of getting the public interested in bikesharing again and to dream up how it may look in Toronto. We'll see if Councillor Heaps is right that bikesharing can happen again by next summer.