Shanghai's Mobike Gets Mo' Improvements

Last May, bike rental platform Mobike introduced its RMB1/hour bikes to the streets of Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Since then, it’s been hard to walk more than a few hundred meters without running into one of its iconic orange bikes. Now, the company is introducing another game changer to the rental bike scene: adjustable seats.

On the original Mobike, seat height was fixed, drawing complaints from users taller than 1.8m. With the new version, users will be able to adjust the seats up to 15cm. In addition to adjustable seats, the redesigned Mobike will also feature disc brakes and a basket for increased comfort safety and convenience.          

The changes, which rolled out on November 16, appear to be a move by the company to engender loyalty from some of the country’s taller, foreign residents, who are already drawn to the bike app’s user-friendly English interface. Mobike is already popular amongst foreigners, although company officials declined to reveal the exact number of non-Chinese users. 

Now if the company could just figure out a way to educate users on proper bike parking…

[Image via Shanghai Daily]