Bikes in Paris

Occasionalsweeper · Bikes in Paris

My wife and I are speding a few days in Paris in March and intended to use the Velib bicycle scheme during our stay. However it seems to be having problems according to recent news articles. Has anyone used the Velib bikes and what did they think of them?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/w...of-Paris-rental-bikes-stolen.html

Fontfroide

I am not up to date, but it was working fine last summer. Those grey bikes were all over Paris. People had positive reports. The workers who keep the bikes going had some complaints about pay and conditions, apparently they were getting more and more stations to service. the Daily Telegraph is not always a good source of information.

There have been loads of bikes ruined, or stolen. Hard to tell if there have been "too many" or about the number estimated. I guess it will depend on what neighbourhood you are staying in. One full of polite middle class people might have more bikes ready to ride than another neighbourhood.

Some of the problems are perhaps excuses for JC Decaux, the advertising company that runs the scheme, to get more subsidy from the mayor.

The bikes seem to work fine, unless you expect something other than a heavy city bike.