This issue has become a daily struggle for many of us trying to get around London during the ongoing Tube strikes
Lime bikes found with missing pedals in Lewisham
Lewisham, 8pm on a Wednesday night during the Tube strike. I walk around and the first Lime bike I spot on the app is nowhere to be found – probably stashed away in a building. I pass another two bikes, both missing a pedal. I walk along Lewisham High Street, and by that point, I’ve already been searching for 15 minutes. Ten minutes later, I reach my destination.
I ended up walking the entire trip. This has become a daily struggle for many Londoners, especially this week with the London Underground network in chaos due to the strikes. Lime bikes are a common sight in the capital, and until recently, it was a convenient choice for a short to medium-length trips. This is no longer the case.
It can now take me 10 to 20 minutes just to find a working bike with both pedals. Many bikes are either missing pedals or hidden away in buildings and private properties, making it almost impossible to find one that’s actually rideable. Some people are accusing riders of stealing pedals and holding onto them to make sure they can claim them first thing in the morning. That’s a new low.
My texts to my friends are as follow – “I’ll be there in 10 minutes”, “actually more like 15-20 minutes”. “I can’t find a bike”. And now with the Tube strike, I sometimes end up walking the entire trip to avoid overcrowded buses. I’ve been living in London for the past four years, and I only started using Lime bikes at the beginning of this year. At first, they saved me a lot of time – and even money – as I could avoid buses and trains.
But what started as a convenience has now turned into a source of frustration. Not only do I sometimes find bikes with only one pedal – or none at all – but their overall condition has also deteriorated over time.
There were times when the saddle would slowly slide down into the frame. But the most recent incident I experienced was when the brakes stopped working while I was riding downhill – I genuinely thought it was the end. I managed to slow down using my foot.
My friend who lives near London Bridge said those issues made her late to her appointments in the past. She told me: “I now always leave earlier if I plan to commute by Lime bikes as they often come as a surprise.”
Surely, we cannot be the only ones struggling to find a bike in a decent state. One person said on Reddit: “People in Lambeth don’t bother with removing a pedal to reserve it, they just park them in their alleyway between the two houses or behind a hedge in their front garden.”
Another asked: “With the chaos of transport this week in London, I’m noticing a massive increase in lime bikes missing a pedal. Are people taking these off, keeping them, and screwing them back on in the morning so they have a guaranteed bike to commute? Or am going crazy.”
Lime revealed a more than 50 per cent jump in trips during rush hour traffic on Monday and Tuesday this week, rising to three-quarters by Wednesday. A Lime spokesperson said: “With more people relying on our bikes to move around the city during the Tube strikes this week, journeys have increased significantly. To make sure everyone can ride, bikes need to be left in good working order – removing pedals or tampering with them makes them unsafe and stops others from using them.
