shurin

Hi all,

I think this fits in here, as theft is one of the biggest worries for those of us using bicycles as everyday transport: https://www.bikeep.com/index.php Seems like a good idea to me. What do you think?

As for me, I've been car free for all my life.

zeppinger

Theft is not my biggest worry. I worry far more about road safety for cyclists. The rack looks like a neat idea but it doesnt look like it would work will all bicycles and what happens when someone doesn't have a cell phone?

Smallwheels

This is a cool idea that just costs too much to be practical. Maybe the builders will convince some wealthy developer to incorporate this into his building but I doubt many of these systems will be sold. Right now it just looks like a computer animation. There aren't even any actual models to be photographed.

In their web site news section they announced having a contract for the installation of five of these at a mall, to be completed by the end of April 2013. If it really happened they should have photographs of it. Just five. It seems like even mall owners aren't too interested in serving the bicycling public. How difficult will it be to convince office building owners to implement such a system?

Roody

I wish we had a few of these at work--but maybe activated by my ID badge instead of by my phone.

As for "too expensive"-- compared to what? Parking spaces for cars are also very expensive.

shurin

AFAIK, these can use RFID or NFC, too. The former would be useful for office building*, or some system where you can pay a monthly fee to use these racks around the city/country.

*Though, it would be cheaper to simply incorporate a locked storage room to hold the bikes of workers while planning new building. On the other hand, retrofitting these racks to existing buildings where space is a premium could be reasonable.

Yes, me too. But then, a professional thief would look at my commuter bike and realize it's really not worth stealing (few people would buy an old MTB frame with worn paint, 700C wheels, single speed, crazy low drop bars and what is basically sprint geometry. And no flashy parts that could be sold off separately. Few opportunist thieves would pick this for a "joy ride"). But for others, theft is a big issue.

Roody

Where you are on a campus, I would worry about theft and also vandalism (intentional or careless). I once had some lazy person on your campus lock their bike to my bike because the rack was full. Luckily it was at an event, so they left at about the same time I did, and I only had to wait a couple minutes.

sauerwald

I much prefer the bikelink system of lockers - just wish there were more of them around.....
https://www.bikelink.org/

Roody

Those are nice, especially since you can lock your panniers, bag or backpack as well as the bike itself, and keep everything dry.

i wish they had a more advanced locking system, since I hate carrying another card in my wallet. It would be nice if you could use your phone or even your regular credit/debit card.

alhedges

We have something like that at work - lockers like those, but where you call a number to get the code to unlock them. It's also nice because you can check your computer or phone to see whether a locker is available. They look like this (there are two more banks not shown, for a total of 30 or so slots):



The big advantage is that you don't have take gear off of your bike, but also that no one can see your bike and there's no opportunity for vandalism.

I don't really see the advantage of the self-locking bike racks - you'd have to carry a lock with you anyway if you went somewhere else, or if the rack was full or not working, so I see only disadvantages to that system.

Roody

But the self-locking racks would be nice at work, where they would be well maintained and possibly reserved for one individual so they would be assured of availability. You wouldn't have to bring a lock as long as you weren't stopping anywhere else.

I agree that your lockers are much nicer, and I guess an indoor bike room would be best of all. But the self-locking rack would be third best, and a lot better than what most of us have now.

alhedges

I don't know - I like the alarm system, and I guess it might be nice to have a reserved space. But it also looks like you are limited as to how you can lock your bike - in the example they give, all of the bikes are locked through the frame and front wheel; I can't tell whether you can back the bike in and lock the rear wheel instead.

And I kind of don't like the idea of being charged for a bike rack.

Bikeep

Hi fellow bikers
It was nice to find this topic and all the feedback here.

The design is suitable for locking the bike's frame and front or rear wheel.

We have been live for some time now and we've put together a short timelapse of the usage: