Smoove
Encyclopedia
Smoove is a French company that designs, manufactures and markets products related to bike-sharing. The company produces lightweight bike stands that require virtually no civil engineering and no electricity. The lock is on the bicycle, situated in the fork. It secures the bike in the stations and outside the stations with an auto-winding cable.
The system won some recognition
by mayors and in the industry
for its reliability,
its moderate price
and the fact that it is not linked to an advertising deal.
The lock can be either mechanical or electronic. The mechanical lock is based on the distribution of an RFID-tagged key from a pillar box dispenser. The electronic lock relies on an RFID reader on the bicycle, together with a keyboard for casual users. A long term member will simply flash the member card on the bike to unlock it while the casual user will purchase a code, by internet, SMS
, at a counter, or from a credit-card pillar dispenser. One idea is to share costs of payment methods and of street furniture
with other existing systems such as car park ticket machines or public transport ticket systems, which can host the radio relay server.
. A cheap, light and sturdy bicycle is proposed, meant to reduce servicing and vandalism
:
The system won some recognition
by mayors and in the industry
for its reliability,
its moderate price
and the fact that it is not linked to an advertising deal.
Fork lock
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
, at a counter, or from a credit-card pillar dispenser. One idea is to share costs of payment methods and of street furniture
Street furniture
Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed on streets and roads for various purposes, including traffic barriers,...
with other existing systems such as car park ticket machines or public transport ticket systems, which can host the radio relay server.
Smoove Bike
The salient part of the bike is the Fork Lock which can be adapted to different types of bicycles, including motorized bicycleMotorized bicycle
A motorized bicycle, motorbike, cyclemotor, or vélomoteur is a bicycle with an attached motor and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedaling. Since it always retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorized...
. A cheap, light and sturdy bicycle is proposed, meant to reduce servicing and vandalism
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
:
- self-winding lock cable, it winds itself in the frame;
- powerful and low energy LEDLEdLEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
lights, included in the frame; - transmission gear by Cardan jointUniversal jointA universal joint, universal coupling, U joint, Cardan joint, Hardy-Spicer joint, or Hooke's joint is a joint or coupling in a rigid rod that allows the rod to 'bend' in any direction, and is commonly used in shafts that transmit rotary motion...
; - secured punctureless tyres;
- rear hub gearHub gearA hub gear, internal-gear hub, or just gear hub is a gear ratio changing system commonly used on bicycles that is implemented with planetary or epicyclic gears. The gears and lubricants are sealed within the hub-shell of the bicycle's rear wheel, as opposed to derailleur gears, where the gears and...
and front hub dynamoHub dynamoA hub dynamo is a small electrical generator built into the hub of a bicycle wheel that is usually used to power lights. Most modern hub dynamos are regulated to 3 watts at 6 volts, although some will drive up to 6 watts at 12 volts.-Models:...
; - mud-guards, skirt-guard, front basket, with easily changeable promotional fabric;
- compatible with motorized bicycleMotorized bicycleA motorized bicycle, motorbike, cyclemotor, or vélomoteur is a bicycle with an attached motor and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedaling. Since it always retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorized...
.
Other products
Public foot-pumps, secured bike parks whether collective large shelters with access code or mono bike carousels. In a town equipped with the Smoove Box electronic key system, an RFID-radiotag bike-theft monitoring system can be provided for individuals, users can locate their bike whenever it is within 50m around a station or a mobile reader. A "Smoove Soft" web access software helps manage the whole system, from the user and administrative perspective.See also
- Vélomagg'Vélomagg'Vélomagg is a bike sharing scheme in Montpellier, France launched in June 2007, engineered by Smoove. This community bicycle program comprises 750 bicycles and 59 stations for short and long term renting, optionally coupled with tramway, bus and car sharing services.Individual bicycles can park in...
in Montpellier was set up in June 2007- 1,200 bikes and is Smoove’s founding project. The involved industrial partners then created a special structure dedicated to the promotion of bike and cycle service. - AvignonAvignonAvignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
adopted the smoove key system with 200 "vélopop'Vélopop'Vélopop is a bike sharing scheme in Avignon, France launched in July 2009, engineered by Smoove. This community bicycle program comprises 200 bicycles and 17 stations for short term renting....
" bikes in July 2009, followed by ValenceValence, DrômeValence is a commune in southeastern France, the capital of the Drôme department, situated on the left bank of the Rhône, south of Lyon on the railway to Marseilles.Its inhabitants are called Valentinois...
(360 bikes in March 2010) and Saint-ÉtienneSaint-ÉtienneSaint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
(280 bikes in June 2010). - GrenobleGrenobleGrenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
is installing 28 stations in the suburbs for a total of 450 secured individual park boxes.
External links
- The official website with English content
- San Sénart has set up 80 individual park boxes at the railway station RER D of Lieusaint in December 2008.