I commute to work everyday. It’s a 45-60 minute journey each way, sometimes even longer depending on traffic. When I get to my work, which is at the Asian Institute of Technology, I usually have to walk around the campus to go for lunch or meetings. I like to walk but sometimes in the heat, rain or with time constraints, it gets a bit challenging. That was until the launch of oBike, a station-less bike-sharing startup that made my life a lot easier.

How it works

First you download the app on Android or App Store. You will come across a screen with a menu of options and a map. The map is scrollable and will show location of bikes in your area within a specific radius. The bikes shouldn’t be hard to spot as they would (should) be in the same area and are vibrantly yellow at the wheels.

You also have to deposit some money into your account starting at 89B and you can top it up as well using a debit/credit card. The price of an oBike ride is Bt10 per 15 minutes but right now there is a promotion (I think) that allow you to ride the bike 3x a day for 30 minutes each. That is 1.5 hour/day of riding for free except for the deposit you have put.

Once that is done, go ahead and turn on your bluetooth and unlock the bike by hovering the phone over the QR code on the oBike. After a few seconds, voila, you will hear a beep from the bike and the lock will open. oBike is now ready to ride.

What’s Good

The app is very intuitive, easy and exciting. Half the fun of using an oBike is the app itself. There are also many benefits and features on the app such as:

Riders can earn ‘credits’, which can be used to ride the bike. You can earn more credits by completing a ride (+1), reporting it broken (+2) or illegally parked (+3) and sharing on Facebook (+2).
You can also earn free rides by inviting friends. Here is my code:

The main dashboard shows how much distance you have traveled, calories you burned and CO2 used. However, I don’t think this is very accurate because when you stop riding, the counter keeps going. The data is based on total time between unlock and lock state. Also calories burned depend on your age, sex, heart rate and other factors.

oBike has been a great way for me to get around work and keeps me healthy as well. I ride it at least 3x a day, once for lunch and twice as a break from work and to get some exercise. Plus I get a gorgeous view and fresh air.

I have to see it in the city though. However, I’m not sure if I would ride it there because of the following reasons:

What’s Bad

Poor Quality Bikes. Since they are probably mass-produced, oBikes aren’t in the best of quality. The bikes are quite heavy and bit difficult to ride. They don’t have gears either, so you have to put the effort, especially at the slightest incline. Brakes are OK but not the best. Most of the time I am using my feet to stop the bike. There is also the issue of height. For a tall person, you will find your feet touching the ground when you pedal even though you can adjust the seat.

Many times I’ve had to stand and ride the bike because it requires so much effort and energy to propel it forward. You can really feel it in the legs and knees. In a way that is good I guess since I’m getting a good workout. But imagine riding this down the city with cars around you. Slow, poor handling and heavy makes this bike a suicide trip in cities like Bangkok.

Wrong Target. oBike is largely targeted at residents and students at AIT only here is the thing – they all have bikes already. In fact way better ones. It’s useful for people coming from outside the campus. For students there is a special discount but again they already have bikes and probably don’t even have a debit/credit card. I didn’t when I was a student. They should probably start targeting and giving incentives to outsiders like myself to use the bike.

Limited FREE time and slightly expensive. Priced at 10B/15 minutes is pretty high in my opinion. Within the campus it might be OK but to go further, spending 2-3 hours, the rate can really rack up. I’d rather invest in my own bike that is of better quality.

Overall, great concept and software but hardware needs improvement, especially for the price you pay. What do you think?