Riding - Part I: Goodbye Next Bikes

🗺️ Place: Glasgow, Scotland
📍 Location: George Street
📅 Date taken: 2 April 2017
📷 Camera: iPhone 7

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email informing me that Next Bike, the rental service, was scheduled to shut down on the 31st of October, 2025.

It caught me by surprise, and it even felt a little bit sad. Although I have not used the service in months, it was good to know it was there in case I needed it, which I would do from time to time; and for a good while, when they launched, it was, in fact, my main form of transportation around the city.

As a matter of fact, when they launched, around 2014, they installed a station across the street, in front of the building I lived in back then. It was perfect. Imagine having a bike parked outside your place, always ready, (almost) always available and that you don't have to worry about the maintenance. I could even check them from my window.

I truly enjoyed the concept and using them.

I also liked how colourful they were, branded with the new slogan for the city, "People Make Glasgow".

It felt like progress. Like the city moving forward with the times, and in the right direction. It felt like an alternative, a good one.

Through the years, many were the images I captured from these bikes, some very intentionally, others almost by chance. From their colourful profile in all their glory on a sunny day, with lots of them all put together for everyone to see and become aware of, to them fulfilling their purpose, getting riden, transporting people from one place to another.

Although that email made it feel very final, a new service has launched, replacing Next Bike. Let's hope they are at least as colourful...

🗺️ Place: Glasgow, Scotland
📍 Location: Clyde Street
📅 Date taken: 18 May 2021
📷 Camera: iPhone 7

🗺️ Place: Glasgow, Scotland
📍 Location: Broomielaw
📅 Date taken: 27 June 2019
📷 Camera: iPhone 7

🗺️ Place: Glasgow, Scotland
📍 Location: Broomielaw
📅 Date taken: 28 September 2025
📷 Camera: Fujifilm X-T30 II X