Fifteen (company)

Fifteen
FormerlySmoove
Company typeSociété par actions simplifiée
IndustryUrban transport
FoundedJuly 15, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-07-15)
FounderLaurent Mercat
Headquarters
Montpellier
,
France
Key people
Laurent Mercat (CEO)
ProductsBicycle sharing systems
Websitefifteen.eu
Smoove logo (2008-2022)

Fifteen (previously Smoove) is a French company that designs, manufactures and markets products related to bike-sharing.[1] The company produces lightweight bike stands that require virtually no civil engineering and no electricity.[1]

A Zoov electric bike in Bordeaux, 2022

In 2022, the company changed its name from Smoove to Fifteen, after merging with Zoov.[2]

Bike stands

The Bike Stand
RFID/Keyboard electronic lock

The lock that 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 it reliability, its moderate price and the fact that it is not linked to an advertising deal.[3][4]

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.[citation needed] 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.

Smoove bike

The salient part of the bike is the Fork Lock which can be adapted to different types of bicycles, including motorized bicycle. A cheap, light and sturdy bicycle is proposed, meant to reduce servicing and vandalism:[5]

  • self-winding lock cable, it winds itself in the frame;
  • powerful and low energy LED lights, included in the frame;
  • transmission gear by Cardan joint;
  • secured punctureless tyres;
  • rear hub gear and front hub dynamo;
  • mud-guards, skirt-guard, front basket, with easily changeable promotional fabric;
  • compatible with motorized bicycle.

Other products

Public foot-pumps, secured bike parks whether collective large shelters with access code or mono bike carousels.[citation needed] 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.

Systems installed by Fifteen (previously Smoove)

References

  1. ^ a b Zart, Nicolas (February 20, 2018). "How Smoove Hybrid Smart Bikes Are Taking Over Paris". cleantechnica.com. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  2. ^ Hubbard, Ben (2022-03-07). "Smoove and Zoov rename themselves Fifteen following merger". Zag Daily. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  3. ^ a b Bryce, Emma (November 15, 2016). "Medina bikes: Africa's first cycle-share scheme launches in Marrakech". The Guardian. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  4. ^ De Clercq, Geert (May 10, 2017). "New Paris Velib scheme to end bicycle parking misery". Reuters. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  5. ^ Markham, Derek (October 27, 2017). "30% of the new bikes in Paris' Vélib' Métropole bike-share system will be electric". TreeHugger. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Shamsutdinov, Emil (May 25, 2018). "На велошеринг в Казахстане потратили 4,43 миллиарда тенге. Что с ним не так?" [4.43 billion tenge was spent on bicycle sharing in Kazakhstan. What is wrong with it?]. informburo.kz (in Russian). Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  7. ^ "В Алматы пропали прокатные велосипеды Almaty Bike". el.kz (in Russian). 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  8. ^ "BatumVelo". batumvelo.ge. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  9. ^ Pantelides, Poly (October 27, 2011). "Bike sharing scheme launched". Cyprus Mail. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  10. ^ "Slough cycle hire scheme launched". BBC News. October 21, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  11. ^ Béziat, Éric (April 3, 2017). "Qui est Smoove, la start-up qui veut rafler le marché des Vélib' à JCDecaux?" [Who is Smoove, the start-up who wants to win the Vélib 'market from JCDecaux?]. Le Monde (in French). Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  12. ^ Robinson, Matthew (February 23, 2016). "Vancouver eyes bike share system roll out within months". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  13. ^ Renard, Xavier (April 23, 2013). "Belfort joue la carte du vélo et de l'intermodalité" [Belfort plays the card of cycling and intermodality]. busetcar.com (in French). Archived from the original on July 31, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  14. ^ Bélanger, Jean-François (April 16, 2013). "Lancement du vélo Reflex à Chalon-sur-Saône" [Launch of the Reflex bike in Chalon-sur-Saône]. busetcar.com (in French). Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  15. ^ "Qui est Smoove, la start-up qui veut rafler le marché des Vélib' à JCDecaux ?" (in French). 2017-04-03. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
  16. ^ Voizehovskaya, Yana (May 29, 2019). "ВТБ возвращает велосипеды" [VTB returns bicycles]. Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  17. ^ Rossignol, Caroline (January 24, 2012). "Le paiement embarqué expérimenté" [Experienced onboard payment]. 20 minutes (France) (in French). Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  18. ^ Hanin, Kathy (May 9, 2011). "Cet été, cest à Vélopop quon ira de Villeneuve à Avignon" [This summer, it is in Velopop that will go from Villeneuve to Avignon]. Midi Libre (in French). Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  19. ^ Arensonas, Nathalie (2010-09-25). "Avec Vel'hop, Strasbourg monte en selle" [With Vel'hop, Strasbourg goes up the saddle]. Mobilicites.com (in French). Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2016-07-26.