Beijing-based bike-sharing app Bluegogo on Wednesday launched geared bikes, the first of its kind in the bike-sharing sector, and announced deposit waivers for riders whose Alipay Zhima Credit score is over 700.
Bluegogo has two geared bike models – Bluegogo Pro and lite version Bluegogo Pro2, which is made of carbon fiber.
Users with high credit scores can choose to either use the Bluegogo app or ride a Bluegogo bike via Alipay where there is a Bluegogo button in the app. So far, six bike-sharing startups have teamed up with Alipay to offer deposit waivers to users.
Deposit waivers are arguable the latest incentive that bike-sharing startups use to attract users in this fierce race. Last week, leading player ofo tested deposit waivers in Shanghai with riders whose Alipay Zhima Credit score is over 650.
Li Gang, the founder of Bluegogo, believes that bike-sharing users will definitely choose a bike that offers the best user experience, considering other factors including bike density and price remain the same.
“There will be two inflection points for some bike-sharing startups. The first point will arrive in July and August, when the rainy weather makes the iron on shared bikes rust. The second point will be in the next winter when bike rider numbers will significantly drop,” Li told Chinese media.
Last November, Beijing-based smart bike manufacturer SpeedX announced a RMB 150 million (USD 22 million) Series B financing and launched the bike-sharing product Bluegogo.
Since then, the app has attracted 6.25 million users in six cities and launched 355,000 shared bikes.
SpeedX is a leading bicycle manufacturer in China. In March last year, the company unveiled three types of “super-light” smart bikes made of carbon fiber. The bike frame weighs about 1180 grams which is equivalent to the weight of two 550 ml bottles of mineral water.
(Top photo from Bluegogo.com)