BLOOM Bike and Scooter Sharing 4+

We had a great time in Gulf State Park today! It was easy to get and return the bikes.

I wish the app had more information for planning from home. We procrastinated on using the bikes as we couldn’t do any planning ‘homework’ while at home. I wanted to see where bikes were located and how long we’d have them, trail locations, etc. But the app only shows that when you’re IN the park.

I think this app is a great idea but offer a few suggestions -

1 when paying for a full year, the closest point of interest as a round trip is just over a hour. This means every time I use it I get charged an extra fee. This is a total turn off for me to renew.
2. The few times I used the bikes, they r not working properly. My first ride had a bike that was in an accident as the steering was twisted and the bike only rode in 5th gear. When i tries to submit a report, it cancelled 3 times and I never received even an acknowledgment about it. Your welcome.
3. my second ride, again bike only worked in gears 4 to 5. And no, I did not bother to report it. I am not sure about servicing these bikes but many of them at my closest location need at least the handlebars straightened.
4. Trying to pause a ride is an option. But, it doesn’t work. It would be nice to take break when ride for a hour.

I would definitely not purchase the app for a second but would consider a single ride again once or twice a season.

Bike was in good condition. Had trouble getting it to unlock. It kept beeping during my ride and app would pause on its own. That ruined my experience. At one point, it locked and I had to carry the bike back to the rack before the app would unlock it again. I have low vision and riding safely is enough of a challenge without having my hearing compromised by incessant beeping. Also, the basket cannot be removed and made it extremely difficult to see the ground in front of my tire. Plus, the basket doesn’t turn with the wheel, which is disconcerting and misleading when trying to judge if I was turning sharply enough. I cut my ride short for fear of it locking up again and needing to be carried back to geofence. Never again.