Buzzbike, Free Cycle Scheme
Just saw the PR headline for Buzzbike and thought, “Oh great, Buzzfeed is publishing a bike site now!” Gladly I was wrong and instead it’s a cycle scheme in London where you get a free bike plastered with ads. You report your rides with an app and have to park it outside. There are other crowdsourced incentives, like discounts on clothing and kit. The more you ride, the more valuable the ads are, so they send you stuff.
Considering the used bike market, an existing rental scheme, and just buying a bike, that’s quite an ask for your time. I guess the pitch on this scheme, went down like the car wrap ones do…those have been around since ’99.
No doubt, Buzzbike has alerts if you just ride from your flat to the same pub every day. To me, a bike is about freedom; especially in urban traffic, and I’d not tie it up with an ad agency monetizing my pedal strokes.
If you wanna free bike, then sure sign up. Way better than wrapping a car.