I-Like-To-Bike

Some might post a wail and cry rant about motorist/bike hating evil doers on the A&S or LCF lists, and stimulate responses from a sympathetic group of similar "victims" to lend moral support.

dynodonn 

Generally, it tends to be easier to change addresses than a landlord's, apartment manager's, or rental agencies' mind.

905

I just meant that was right neighborly of you. It's very easy to "be a jerk" (whatever that might mean in this case), but it's much more satisfying to turn a possible negative situation around; that was an hour very well spent. Without wishing to sound patronizing, I offer you a virtual pat on the back.

As to what I would've done once I had the guy's bike in my hands, going by my predilections, I probably would've removed the gears and turned it into a singlespeed, then taken out the bottom bracket and cleaned it for good measure.

I'd want my money back.

ModeratedUser150120149

All this talk of communal conflict and weirdness reminds me of one "high class" place I was using as an "in town" base.

I had a bear skull that needed to have the remaining flesh removed. It had been skinned about a week before but still had flesh in the nooks and crannies. That is done by boiling the skull in a large pot. So, in my first floor apartment I got a large pot of water up to boil and in went the skull.

Shortly the smell was so strong I couldn't stay in the place. What to do? Brace the door open, open all the windows and go out for couple hours, of course. Came back, the skull was clean and after dumping the water the smell was gone.

Never heard a word from anyone!

PatrickGSR94

LOL all this talk about apartment complexes. I have lived in only 2 complexes ever, one of them fairly nice (all parking everywhere was covered) and one not so nice. I did all kinds of work on my car in both of them. Brake jobs, oil changes, body panel replacements. I even hacked apart my stock projector headlights and retrofitted in Mercedes E-class bi-xenon HID projectors. Ah the memories of sitting up on my apartment's 2nd floor balcony, running my Dremel tool to cut off the stock projector lenses. That was way back in early 2004.

I was never into cycling back then. Today my road-going MTB used for utility purposes hangs in the garage, while my road bike and wife's bike sit by the kitchen table in the corner of the house.

PatrickGSR94

One time I did a brake job with new brake rotors, and I wanted to keep the center hats of the brake rotors from getting all rusty. So I sprayed them with 1200° high-temp black paint, then popped them in the oven to cure. The smell was SUPER strong for awhile, but I also never heard a word from anyone.

Rollfast

You do realize that they are a safety issue in that they block acces to emergency service and fire personnel and could also tempt folks to want to steal your ride. However that might go, perhaps you need to examine the codes in your area, or if the apartments are administered or covered by HUD see what their regulations are.

At the least you all could offer to pitch in and build a proper bike lockup. While you are so certain that the manager has no right to do what they are doing, they also have the responsibility to keep the property in accordance with laws and you are expected to abide by the terms of your rental contract. Now that you can step back and assess the situation from a vantage point other than one of, "Oh geez, what a psychopath", you can probably also see that the process is a two-way street and so is COMMUNICATION.

It is suggested that you all make with the conciliatory motions and get it done without a judge.

JoeyBike

I don't see many people locking their bikes to entry doors or fire hydrants. Perhaps filling a balcony with bikes would cause a problem for a ladder truck. The last time I was forbidden to bring my bike inside for fire safety reasons was my high school in the 1970s. I was car light through 1989 and car-free since 1989 to present. I have stored my bicycle in literally hundreds of buildings and half a dozen apartments since then and no one ever brought up the issue again.

Once I worked at a bike shop that was so crammed with stuff that one person cold barely walk through the place. Ironically, that is one of the few jobs where my bicycle had to live outside. No one made me do that, it was just painfully obvious that the bike could not be inside, fire or not.

rydabent

Banning bikes is in fact discrimination towards people like Joey, since that is their only transportation. He apparently has chosen not to have a car.

OTOH there are lots of other people that dont have a car for many reasons. Some are not allowed to drive for physical or mental problems. Some have lost their license due to drunk driving or accidents. So-----------their only transportation is either walk or bike. For an apartment complex to ban bikes is just plain stupid.

ModeratedUser150120149

Depends on their target market group. They are in business to make a profit. Many are owned by national firms. For them it is all about the bottom line. If anybody doesn't like the terms and conditions then move to a more compatible place. No need to increase the pulse rate even one beat. Just move. As far as management is concerned renter churn is all part of the business.

Chris516

I am like Joey. But only in the sense of, not having a car. Rather than fight the state over my health(people with epilepsy will lose their license in a heartbeat, even something totally unrelated is turned into an excuse to yank there license. While habitual drunk drivers' are given a second and third chance at killing someone), I chose to think of alternative forms of transportation. Public transportation is stressful for me, every time I venture to use it. I feel so much safer not being in a 'cage', when I am in traffic.

(I know someone is going to think something like 'What planet is he on')

Camilo

And thus the reason many complexes don't want bikes stored on the balcony. They can be an eyesore and detract from the visual appeal of the place. Some of us might not agree with the importance of this, but it is true.

I would have asked him why he thought he had to report you for something as trivial and innocuous and necessary as changing an flat tire. I probably would have asked him that question and then declined to assist him. I probably wouldn't have been nasty, but just said, sorry, I can't do it.

keyven

Sometimes our pet peeve is what others consider trivial.

Rollfast

It's a 1930s apartment building. I doubt they will add faux marble soon.

Now SERIOUSLY...

If a fire escape is blocked off by the bicycles then it's illegal, violating the fire code. A lot of folks put bikes on balconies because it makes it pretty hard to steal them from outside. You have no place to chain them below as the street and walkway is right next to the building with no yard etc and in Britain you're bound to have a Vauxhall or something parked on the curb if the road isn't Roman era narrow. Even so, it's not much like Laverne and Shirley's place in Milwaukee, it's a bit tighter.

In the good olde daze they hung the laundry on lines between buildings.

Rollfast

If we could just get some time on TMZ...

Astrozombie

+1 but i have no problem with buses.

905

Given the overwhelming presence of, say, cars, which some may also find visually unappealing but practically impossible to escape from



it's hard to take complaints about bevies of bikes seriously, but I agree, they won't be eye candy for everyone.

Incidentally, bikes on balcony pic was taken in Barcelona.