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"the entire bicycle manufacturing industry is being wiped out thanks to Mobike and its competitor ofo"

If fewer bicycles are being produced due to higher usage per bike, that's good for the environment, right? Even if reduces the size of the bicycle manufacturing market.

"manufacturer building those bikes are making less than 1.5 USD per bike - you don't need to be smart to imagine the conditions faced by those workers actually building the bikes."

I don't see how the profit made my bicycle manufacturers affects worker conditions. These are determined by the overall labour market, as these workers aren't bicycle specialists.

"I don't see any reduced cars on street."

The effect would have to be huge in order for you to be able to notice it. (I'm assuming you didn't actually collect data.)

"do they make cities better?"

Yes. The subway journey from my place to work is unacceptably long, due to the long walk at one end. Mobike has solved that problem. Three-wheeler electric tuktuks riding the wrong way down the service lane are less prevalent now, too, which is a bonus.

"If fewer bicycles are being produced due to higher usage per bike, that's good for the environment, right?"

The manufacturers are being hit hard because their profit margin is squeezed to the absolute limit. 8 RMB or less than 1.5 USD is the profit you get for building and shipping a bike. With this in mind, do you seriously believe that they are going to maintain the same level of control to limit pollution when making those bikes? Well, your room for environmental protection is now at less than 1.5 USD each bike, that is assuming the manufacturer is willing to give up _ALL_ profit to battle pollution caused during production.

"Yes. The subway journey from my place to work is unacceptably long, due to the long walk at one end. Mobike has solved that problem. Three-wheeler electric tuktuks riding the wrong way down the service lane are less prevalent now, too, which is a bonus."

Great, would you like to share a few photos on how the metro station look like during peak hours? let's focus on those mobike/ofo pollution outside the station. I have a few for you:

http://www.52qixiang.com/uploads/allimg/170421/1-1F4211AU9.j... http://p3.pstatp.com/origin/1b7a00067dfae9a90762

"do you seriously believe that they are going to maintain the same level of control to limit pollution when making those bikes?"

I believe that the level of profit they make has no impact on the level of control to limit pollution. Their actions in regard to pollution will be driven by whatever (dis)incentives are put in place by government regulations.

"that is assuming the manufacturer is willing to give up _ALL_ profit to battle pollution caused during production"

That is assuming that the profit figure doesn't already reflect any costs for 'battling pollution'.

"let's focus on those mobike/ofo pollution outside the station"

You're using the word 'pollution' in a different sense than I was, and in a wider sense than the common usage. I was talking about air quality, and I guess you knew that. You're talking about space taken up on the pavement, a very different problem.

> I don't see any reduced cars on street

https://translate.google.com.hk/translate?hl=zh-CN&ie=UTF8&p...

Quote from the link above:

Gaode map traffic data show that driving users within 5 km of travel accounted for more than 30%, travel accounted for the largest proportion. From the shared bicycle travel mileage data, more than 90% of the shared bicycle travel scene concentrated in less than 5 km, which shows a short distance travel, sharing the bike instead of driving a large potential.

Compared with the first quarter of last year, first-tier cities driving users within 5 km of short-distance travel accounted for has been reduced and relatively obvious decline in Beijing, driving within 5 km by 3.8%, Shanghai 3.2% reduction, this phenomenon may be associated with the emergence of shared bicycles A short distance driving trip.

This is _not_ conclusive at all, there are way too many questions to be asked -

1. did those reduced mileage caused by more carpooling, improved public transport, e.g. Shanghai route 71[1]? or maybe people just choose to walk more often due to the slightly improved air quality in 2017?

2. Baidu map is on a head on competition with AutoNavi (gaode), Baidu claimed to have overtaken AutoNavi as the No.1 in 2016. With such claimed shrinking market share from AutoNavi's side, a 3% figure which is probably smaller than the error margin allowed, together with the fact that AutoNavi's parent company actively invested in such bike sharing scheme, you need to really religious about mobike/ofo to consider such claimed "reduction" meaningful.

[1] https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E5%85%AC%E4...

It definitely reduced my frequency in driving to work. I had to walk for 30 mins on my way to work, so I preferred driving. Now it's reduced by 2/3--a ten minute bike ride. Instead of being caught in the traffic with a full bladder, I now get more exercise and get to read books on the train, even though it's packed and sweaty. I don't think my use scenario is particularly special.

The real issue is that there's no recycling strategy and these companies don't know what to do with worn/broken bikes, seemingly choosing instead to throw them all on a big pile.

http://oi63.tinypic.com/e19s7t.jpg

recycling is just a small part of the story. all those bikes are basically un-managed. that is actually the core strategy to minimise operational costs.

the real question that need to be asked here is - if I need to pay for parking my car on street, how can those two multi billion business[1] enjoy such privilege to park their 10 million revenue generating bikes on streets for free.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/15/mobike-raises-600-million/

> the manufacturer building those bikes are making less than 1.5 USD per bike

That sounds like stupidity on side of the bicycle manufacturers. I've heard anecdotally the opposite, that the new ride sharing schemes have revitalized the bicycle industry.

I was in Beijing 4 years ago, and all of the famous bicycles were gone. The bicycle lanes were used for cars. Now they cleared the lanes again, and people are riding.

I'm not sure the current details are sustainable, but the idea in general has potential to be a game changer.

The bicycle industry is the least of the workers' worries. Automation will be a bloodbath. I'm reminded of that factory which "shed" 90% of its workforce a year ago.

Why are you so outraged by their success?

success? you mean successfully polluted my city with millions of un-managed bikes causing chaos everywhere? or maybe I should just blindly support it just because it is mobile internet based?

http://cdn1.powerapple.com/upload/news/article_attachments/f...

The problems you point out seem rather easily solvable.

And anyway, I'd rather pollute my city with more metal lying around if it would mean breathing less carcinogenic smoke every day.

Why do the bicycle companies make less when Mobike and OFO dramatically increase the demand for them?