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What happens when you pimp — or wreck, purposely — an Indego bike?
In a series of since-deleted or expired Instagram stories, user @oneway_butchy shared some videos. One, captured below, shows a tricked-out bicycle with LED rims. The video is dark; the light-up feature that got added is not.
Another, deleted-before-we-could-capture-it video showed a hammer being taken to an Indego ride; it’s not clear if it’s the same bike:
Butchy, last (or any) name unavailable, denied via direct message that he’d tampered with the bike, then said only that it was returned, and refused to comment further.
It’s common for teens affiliated with the local bike crew OneWay — you’ve heard of this group, they’re the ones who rode BMXes on the Vine Street Expressway — to start their social media handles with the group’s name. But Corey Murray, who faces probation for that stunt, told Billy Penn that people who aren’t in the group often use it as their social media handle, so it’s unclear if “Butchy” is.
Even before the I-676 incident, as detailed in a SPOKE Magazine feature on OneWay, the group was unknown to many Philadelphians but popular among teens and in the bike scene. As one dirt bike rider explained to SPOKE, “It used to be BMX or dirt bikes, but now all the kids are getting pedal bikes and doing wheelies and trying to join One Way.”
On the next episode of Pimp My Indego Bike… well, maybe not. Incidences like this are super rare. City spokesman Mike Dunn told Billy Penn in an email that there were only “several bikes reported stolen” since Indego’s launch, “and in some cases they have been painted or defaced to cover up their identity.” Also, there was that one time someone put an Indego bike on Craigslist. Plus, Indego riders agree to liability if their bike is damaged or defaced in the user terms. Want proof? Here’s the fine print.
“Rider agrees to pay for destruction or loss of Bike and for any damage, including replacement parts incurred directly or indirectly associated with the use of Rider’s membership key. All repairs needed as a result of any damage will be performed at the normal labor rates. In the event the Bike is lost or damaged beyond repair, regardless of fault or cause, Rider agrees to pay BTS the full replacement value of the equipment ($1,000.00).”
In the now viral video of hundreds of kids riding on I-676, most of the riders had their own bikes, but several riders at the end of the recording were seen riding Indego bikes.
