Click-click-click-click-CLACK. Click-click-click-click-CLACK.

No, I'm not humming the intro to some Dutch techno-anthem, neither is it the noise made by the zombies from The Last of Us. It's the sound of a 'hacked' Lime bike hurtling past you.

But Guardian journalist and cycling campaigner Peter Walker believes that the with more and more teenagers "borrowing" the locked Lime bikes pushing London to the levels of biking seen in the hallowed, mythical land of the Dutch?

If you didn't know, the lime-coloured, well, Lime bikes are the e-bike hire scheme popular in several boroughs of the capital (as well as Manchester and Milton Keynes). They are supposed to be unlocked using the smartphone app and dropped off at the
designated parking bays after use.

Supposed to be.

However, there are ways to get around the unlocking, which went viral a couple months ago on TikTok, as people hacked them to ride without the battery assistance, which resulted in users "dumping the bikes with impunity", according to one council.

Peter Walker, however, says that this 'hacking' has allowed schoolgoing teenagers to use them at the end of the school day, with him claiming that some of his local secondaries are "heading for near-Dutch levels of cycling modal share".

"Lime should get some sort of NHS grant for their contribution to teenage activity levels. Manually pedalling a bike that heavy definitely falls into 'strenuous' exertion," he added.

Twitter user and frequent cycling advocate @BobFromAccounts wrote: "Unpopular opinion: The next mayor should be funding free bikes for the young 'uns, thus creating a whole new generation of bike people, fewer cars and cleaner air whilst in turn
positively annoying many of the car-brained."

While Andy Hillier, a journalist wrote: "I hired one the other day. My teenage son was shocked I actually paid to use one."

As long as we are discussing popular and unpopular opinions, here are my two cents, echoed by @CHAIRRDRF.

Walker said that the clicking noise they make can be a good thing as it alerts others of their 'arrival' — they can’t stop pedalling or the back wheel locks up, hence the waywardness; others were far less forgiving of the sound.

It does make one wonder though, how is Lime making any money off these things?

A Lime spokesperson's said that the company was aware of a "limited issue related to unlocked bikes being ridden without any power in London, and have worked to identify hardware solutions to prevent it, which are now being tested".

The firm also said that it is encouraging users to report any videos of tampering or vandalism to its e-bikes to the relevant social media platform, and is "seeking to work with the likes of TikTok to implement a process where they are removed".

Apparently, a fix should be coming later this year, and with the increasing rates, you'd expect the bosses at Lime's lime-coloured office and wearing lime-coloured suits to be working on something to deal with this.

Until then...

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-13-july-2023-302511#live-blog-item-47351

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