FAQ - The Bike Share Museum

FAQ

Questions asked...questions answered

Posing with the Museum’s Boise GreenBike (a Social Bicycles 3.0) – in a Boise GreenBike shirt (of course).

I started the Bike Share Museum after experiencing the brief explosion of dockless bikes in 2018 (brief in Miami, Florida, anyway). Having come from a background of collecting vintage lightweight roadbikes and English 3-speeds, I already had a great appreciation for the simplicity and practicality of the everyday city bike (not to mention city infrastructure to support it), but the dockless revolution is what finally jolted me into recognizing the world of bike share.

Bike share has kept the internally geared city bike alive in the US, a genre of bicycle that went extinct here in the 1980’s (thank you, mountain bike craze). They’re bright, modernized continuations of the classic 3-speed and a welcome relief over the uncomfortable, dull, and overcaffeinated bicycles available at bike shops today.

What’s more, bike share bikes are usually extremely robust. Retired fleets are often fantastic for donating to people in need, and are more suited to these donations than most derailer-equipped bicycles.

Shared bikes may not be light or quick (with notable exception to the exponential popularity in pedal assist rentals), but to get you from place to place, they’re brilliant.

-Kurt Kaminer
Founder and Curator
Bike Share Museum


Hop on!

The Bike Share Museum is an enthusiast-run site. One enthusiast, to be precise. I receive no monetary compensation from the bike share companies featured on this site, unless specifically noted (so far, nothing has been "noted").

Everything to host this site, maintain the bikes, and store them comes out of my own pocket.

If you’d like to see more content like this, consider supporting the Museum with a donation (of any amount!) to help keep it going and expanding. Thanks!

Retired bikes

Do you want to donate a bicycle to the museum?

We’re open to bicycle donations directly from bike share companies and cities. We will also consider bicycles from individuals who can provide documentation from the bike's former operators that prove legal private ownership.*

If you do have something Please use this contact form and let us know.

*Just because it was unlocked and recovered from a hedge after five months does not mean it is yours to give. This is one of the many reasons we require documentation.