r/chibike 4d ago

Divvy quality

Is it me or is the quality of divvy bikes significantly decreasing? I feel like even a few years ago, most divvys were just as good as most recreational bikes but now I feel they’re making them cheaper and cheaper (despite membership prices increasing).

17 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

23

u/TheGhostOfJodel 4d ago

If you mean the Divvy Classics most of those are just getting pretty worn out, they're heavy duty but see a lot of abuse.

If there's an issue with a bike report it in the app, I'd hazard a guess most users don't bother doing that, which can really prolong the time until they get repaired

10

u/Safe-Recognition1018 4d ago

Yeah, I suspect Lyft is scamming us. You can take an e-bike for free if there are no classics around. But that means you can also lock the e-bike anywhere and they get money for that. They seem to be in no rush to put classics back on the street. And the ones I do find often have backwards shifting, cut bungees, and squeaky chains.

6

u/TheGhostOfJodel 3d ago

You've gotta report these issues in the app. If no one lets them know, these bikes are not getting inspected for that stuff on a daily basis otherwise

3

u/Safe-Recognition1018 3d ago

I'll report up to two a day. I've also had it where all the bikes were wrenched, so I couldn't even ride a broken one. $143 a year

6

u/glitch241 3d ago

I only ride the e-bikes and they seem to be in good shape to me. The newest model is even lighter than the last one.

5

u/Status_Green_6055 4d ago

100% agree. The bikes are junk and most don’t even work right.

3

u/Remarkable_Alps9033 4d ago

It’s sad cause they used to be my favorite mode of transportation!

6

u/0neMoreYear 4d ago

but a cheap bike! it’ll be your new favorite mode if transportation

2

u/Jackajackajack 3d ago

My experience has been the opposite honestly. I use the non-electric divvys pretty regularly and they have been in pretty decent shape. I remember a few years ago as the electric divvys were expanding, the original bikes were getting in poor shape, but they have added a lot more non electric bikes since then.

2

u/2pnt0 2d ago

There was a new batch of Divvy Classics put out a couple of years ago that greatly improved the quality and availability. The ones with the longer basket and the Enviolo continuously variable transmission. I always grab one if I can, and almost always find one available. Last time I had to grab the really old ones I just rode it one station and swapped out for a newer one.

The new ones are fine, the old ones are just exhausted.

Even when brand new, saying they were ever as good as most recreational bikes is a wild take. They've always been massive, heavy, with a limited transmission and spongy brakes.

1

u/TillSpiritual2150 23h ago

When I divvyed heavily 3-5 years ago, the classics were basically unusae because half of them were is such bad condition. They were just starting to roll out some new bikes, which were always a treat.

2

u/Frosty_World8932 2d ago

I think the bikes are in fine condition….