Authorities put a stop to any more share bikes

It appears that China's finally reached peak bike-sharing. In the last month, authorities have put the brakes on expanding bicycle fleets in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen as well as ten other cities amid concerns about parking chaos, traffic congestion and pedestrian safety. According to the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission, in Shanghai alone at one point there were 1.78 million share bikes – the number has since been reduced to around 1.15 million.

For small bike-sharing companies, the ban could mean they're unlikely to survive the cutthroat nature of the bike industry. Most are predicted to be driven out of business or taken over by bike-sharing giants like Mobike and Ofo, while others are preparing to move onto third or fourth-tier cities as competition in major cities becomes too great.

For most of us, this ban is fairly unlikely to have any sizeable effect. 1.15 million bikes is still a helluva lot of bikes, meaning that you'll probably still be able to find the usual tangle of bikes on each corner. However for those of you still subscribed to some of the smaller bike companies, it might be time to hang up your helmet and get with Ofo or Mobike instead.

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