Originally Posted by
number_6
Wow, the pricing I saw was AUD 10 for a day (or maybe half a day); must have been introductory pricing since the service just started. Can't believe many will use it at these prices. Most bike shops will rent you a bike for a week for what it costs for a day.
Actually, the standard bike hire rate in Melbourne is around A$50/day -- which is utterly bizarre since you can
buy a cheapo Chinese bike at K-Mart and co for well under A$200.
The convenience of drop-off (and pickup) at dozens of locations around town is brilliant, though. I suppose a lot of rentals will be for 1/2 hour for one-way trips.
Yup, that's precisely what the pricing is designed to encourage: you pay a "basic fee" of $2.50/day, $8/week or $50/year, and then additional fees on top
only if you ride over 30 min. So as a tourist, you can basically get around by bike all week for 8 bucks, if you only use it for short hops.
The helmet rule is stupid though, and almost certainly the main reason for the low adoption rate, but apparently it's Victorian law and they couldn't get an exception.
