{"id":512091,"date":"2026-03-03T18:16:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/512091\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T18:16:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:16:03","slug":"shared-bikes-why-i-ignored-them-for-years-and-now-love-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/512091\/","title":{"rendered":"Shared Bikes: Why I Ignored Them for Years and Now Love Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

The strange mental block around shared bikes<\/p>\n

Many cities have bike-sharing programs, yet people often don\u2019t see them as a viable option. The key issue is typically the lack of cycling infrastructure.<\/a> People don\u2019t feel safe on the road next to cars, especially as beginners. For me, that wasn\u2019t an issue; I ride my own bike in the city regularly. I think it was a mix of scepticism and habit.<\/p>\n

I first tried shared bikes years ago while visiting Wroc\u0142aw. They were fun, convenient, and added a unique element to our trip. But when I returned to Prague, I didn\u2019t even consider using them. You\u2019d think being a cyclist would make me more open to the idea, but it actually had the opposite effect. As someone who owns a bike, I assumed shared bikes would be heavy, slow, and uncomfortable. Why pay for a subpar experience when I could ride my own bike for free?<\/p>\n

What changed my mind<\/p>\n

My first experience with shared bikes in Prague was purely practical: I rented one so my mom could join me for a casual ride during her visit. A year later, on a sunny summer day, I decided to try it myself. I used a Rekola<\/a> bike to get to the train station instead of taking the tram. The ride took the same amount of time, but I arrived feeling energised, with the added bonus of sunshine, fresh air, and stretched legs before hours of sitting. That\u2019s when I realised how much I\u2019d been missing out.<\/p>\n

Since then, I\u2019ve used shared bikes for trips to the bouldering gym, the dentist, and even some work meetings. Almost every time, I\u2019ve arrived feeling happier and more refreshed than I would have after sitting in a crowded tram or taxi. After about 10 rides, I was fully converted. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

Efficient exercise: I get movement built into my day while commuting. It\u2019s like finding extra time.
\nBetter mood: Riding a bike beats sitting in public transport. I arrive at my destination feeling refreshed.
\nLess congestion: One fewer person on the tram or in a taxi means less crowding for everyone.
\nMore time on the bike: Even short rides add up, making it easier to hit my yearly distance targets.
\nLess bike maintenance: I no longer need to own, store or maintain my own commuter bike.
\nConvenience: No worrying about locking up my bike or setting it up. I just grab a shared bike and go.<\/p>\n

The surprising joy of low-stakes riding<\/p>\n

If I had to pinpoint the biggest reason I love shared bikes, it\u2019s the freedom of riding without pressure. On my road or trail bike, every ride has a purpose: chasing Strava segments, following a training plan or mastering handling skills. But on a shared bike, speed doesn\u2019t matter. I can cruise, soak in the views, speed up when I feel like it and enjoy the ride without worrying about performance, fuelling, or aerodynamics. It\u2019s a refreshing change.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong: most of my cycling will still be intentional. But these small, low-stakes rides remind me of riding my bike as a kid and why I fell in love with cycling in the first place.<\/p>\n

For many people, the biggest factor in choosing shared bikes is whether they\u2019re faster or slower than public transport. In my next article, I\u2019ll compare the two in terms of the door-to-door speed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The strange mental block around shared bikes Many cities have bike-sharing programs, yet people often don\u2019t see them…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-512091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}