The bikes and stations are removed during the winter in order to protect them from damage (particularly corrosion from road salt) and make way for snow plows.

Using a key to unlock a bike only took a few seconds, while the process of purchasing a 24-hour or 30-day pass and getting subsequent rentals required more user interaction with the kiosk.

[9] Prior to the system's launch, there was a concern that a large percentage of the bicycles would be stolen—especially in light of the Vélib' system in Paris, France, which had a theft rate of more than 50% in its first 18 months,[10] and previous experience with theft and vandalism of free bikes provided by the Yellow Bike Coalition in Saint Paul a decade earlier.

[12] The Nice Ride system was first put in place in areas near downtown Minneapolis and has been expanded in multiple phases.

[16] Nice Ride was criticized by residents in North Minneapolis, an economically disadvantaged part of the city, when the initial deployment of bikes in June 2010 was focused around downtown Minneapolis and areas south of downtown (which tend to be more densely populated than the city's north side).

[17] The first stations in North Minneapolis appeared along Broadway and at Summit Academy and International Market Square.

On January 16, 2018, Nice Ride Minnesota announced[40] that it had chosen Motivate's proposal for transition of the Twin Cities’ bike share system.