Germany had the best tank in WW2. The "royal tiger". But the Russian T34 was much cheaper. They outproduced Germany.
MoBikes are expensive and heavy. They look over-engineered for the problem they are trying to solve. Compare this with the yellow bkes ofo. They seem to be much cheaper to produce and are much lighter (no GPS positioning system, location is saved by last cyclist during checkout).
The "overengineered" Mobikes and oBikes (a competitor with very similar bikes - solar panels for the electronics, GPS lock, etc.) are all that is left in our streets.
The bike is pretty solid and alright for commuting, but what would be the point? You get the first 5 minutes free, the first 2 rides of the day free for 15 minutes each, the entire weekend free, and you couldn't commute with your stolen bike since locking it anywhere visible would get it reported and removed almost immediately. Might as well put your card into the system and occasionally pay a dollar or two.
oBike is for now the best UX in Singapore. Clean app, mostly works, and they've really started to get a grip on the broken bike problem. A recent Straits Times article claimed that of about 100 bikes reported parked incorrectly by the authorities, the oBike team removed 67 before the half day grace period ended (and got fined for the rest), so they seem to be on top of the illegal parking problem as well.
The main issue with all of them is the spottiness of geolocation in built up areas. To an extent this is no longer a problem as you can find the things everywhere, but back when they were relatively rare it could mean a good 10-15 minutes of walking around looking for the mystery yellow pin. These days I even get a choice of model (my favourite has the shiny mudguards, the 3rd generation? they seem to have the least friction; but the massive 1st gen ones are very comfortable so long as you don't encounter any hills).
More worrisome is that they seem to have an unsustainable business model. At signup you pay 99 RMB (for Mobike it is 299 I think), and they you should pay per ride - but I've only once had to pay at all, most of the time it is 0 RMB. I guess that's also why they don't care that much what happens with their bikes. Their only income is new sign-ups.
By the way, the latest Ofos also have digital locks, and even Bluetooth. And there is a new generation of MoBikes I think which is a lot lighter. It is interesting what kind of new technologies MoBike uses, like airless wheels, where the tires look like swiss cheese from the side to save weight and roll lighter. Or a chainless drive.
About the stealing, I have the opposite experience. I think Ofo has proven that you can just slap a combination lock on a bike, and honesty or laziness will keep people from stealing them. I mean, where would you store the stolen bike? In front of your house, where there are hundreds of other Ofo bikes that cost next to nothing?
This is true. I don't understand why. I thought it may be a first month freeby or something.
What is likely to happen is as the local governments get involved to stop the proliferation of bicycles taking up limited sidewalk space, there will be increasing restrictions placed on the bike sharing model, and there will be some consolidation in the market. When the tide goes out we can see who was swimming naked.
I think the mobikes are engineered just about right, and they have at least four totally different designs out, which shows they are experimenting. I usually pay 1RMB per ride, which for the middle class is as close to free as makes no difference, but probably enough to make the business sustainable at scale.
Bottom line: bike sharing is here to stay, and mobike got it right.