Facilities manager needs bicycle rack advice
 

I'm in the fortunate position that I can use some of our facilities budget to add bike racks to the property. I'd like to get the opinions of some commuters about what kind of racks you prefer and why. If you could post a pick of the style you like I'd greatly appreciate it. I don't have the space or funds for lockers, but I will be putting the racks under permanent roof structures that will shield them from rain and sun exposure.

Wow, thanks for asking! In general, one or two bikes to a rack and easy to lock to with multiple different kinds of locks; not those ribbon things or wheel holder things. Why don't you find a vendor you can work with and then let us vote?!

My office asked me for a recommendation and we got these - the useless thing on the left was what was there before - I hang my unused locks on it overnight:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wj...=w1024-h768-no

Yes:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LqXeHgLNEJ...acks%2B002.JPG

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6053/6...6a59137530.jpg


NO:

https://draffin.com.au/wp-content/up...-BIKE-RACK.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...blxSZDf_nRNMUA

https://www.cycleracks.co/wp-content...ke-stand-2.jpg

Here is a previous topic, if you're creative.

https://www.bikeforums.net/living-ca...e-parking.html

Those basic wiggle racks are generally quite utilitarian, although it is not uncommon for a person to park sideways, taking up spots for 3 or 4 bikes. :eek:

I have to agree with DiabloScott, the slinky rack looks cute, but isn't very utilitarian.

One of my favorite racks is actually the swinging racks at Walmart. Unfortunately I don't think I have any photos. I'll try to get a photo soon. They don't take up much space when not in use. They securely grab a tire, and provide a place to catch the lock.

No problem. :-) But full disclosure, I work here and I'm a cyclist now so my motives are slightly selfish. We work in a nice technology center with essentially no crime. So much so that over the past year the few days I rode in I just left my Breezer in the motorcycle parking area on it's kickstand locked to nothing. I've recently invested more money in my bicycles and I plan on riding to work much more often so I don't want to press my luck and keep bikes unsecured. As far as I know only one other person rides to work here and he (or she) locks his GT backwoods to a tree. I'm thinking if I add racks it may encourage people to ride in or even keep a bike here to transport themselves around our facilities. We're a campus set up on several acres and people often have meetings in different buildings. There is a shuttle but waiting for it is a pain. Walking is also a pain. Taking your car and finding a spot to park there is the biggest pain. Riding a bike may be just right.

This is something that we'll be doing internally so pretty much means ordering something from Grainger and installing ourselves. Looking at the Grainger catalog and the feedback here I'm thinking a few of those big rings outside of each building may do the trick.

Being a cyclist, I'm certain that you'll make a wise decision regarding product.

My suggestion would be thoughtful/creative with directional placement. There's a boring/standard rack at a store I frequent, they chose to place it so the bikes are perpendicular to the wall when parked. This leads to the sidewalk being impeded and sometimes it's a struggle to get to the rack if there's more than two bikes. Had they placed the same rack so the bikes park parallel to the building,they could plausibly park more bikes and have little impact to the pedestrian/cart traffic.

:)

Yeah, can't go wrong with hoops.

The problem is when non-cyclist architects get to pick the racks.

I lived in an apartment once that had vertical racks mounted to the wall in the parking garage. I like those the best because the paint doesn't get banged up and nobody messes with your bike when it's hanging on the wall.

At my work we have a few bike lockers

http://www.tri-rail.com/wp-content/u...le-lockers.jpg

And an old-school rack (like the one Diablo posted, except not alternating sizes)

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...blxSZDf_nRNMUA

The lockers have plywood diagonally down the middle and doors on either end, so they need space all around. I used to just put my bike in the old-school rack and often not even lock it. But recently another bike-commuter won a premium reserved parking space in a raffle, and he got them to move one of the bikes boxes into it. He lets me use the other half, which is nice, because it's a lot closer.

They've started to use similar to these in Toronto & I love them. You can't accidentally ding up rotors or derailleurs & they are very sturdy

https://imgur.com/FyFcR3z

link to photo if it doesn't post
https://imgur.com/FyFcR3z

Good racks should be simple, tall and not very thick so a variety of locks will work with them. Those front wheel racks are too low to use a U-lock. And some of the hoops are too thick. A good rack should allow you to place the bike up against the main frame tubes and front wheel.

Rubber coatings are nice. Rounded rack members are better than square/sharp edges. I like loops, U's or the lollipop posts.


Also check with buildings and grounds whether this is going to get buried with concrete footing or bolted to small holes in pavement. Some of these designs are not for inside parking garages.

In addition to the type of racks used, it's really nice to have some kind of cover over the bike parking to keep the sun and weather off the bikes.

I like the inverted U-shaped ones. Simple? Yes. Boring? A bit. They are however effective. The big circle ones and the small circle on a post ones that DiabloScott posted would also work just as well.

The local Target has the only bike rack at a shopping plaza near me and it is one of those low slung wheel only racks (also showed earlier). The spacing is terrible on them, getting my bike with road tires in is tight, Haven't tried with my dutch bike that has much wider tires and I'm not sure they would fit, not sure if normal mountain bike type tires would easily fit either. I hate that rack, it is almost impossible to lock onto, I use my U-lock but all I can get inside the lock is the chainstay and one side of the rack. Its a pain just to get that.

The OP did mention a roof or cover (also parking garages work).

I do find it annoying to have smokers that decide the best place to light up is under the bike shelters and around bike racks. :eek:

Maybe invest in some NO SMOKING signs. :)

my workplace installed one of these old "school" ones, its not covered, but at least it's close to the employee entrance.

A lot of businesses cheap out on bike racks and only put the low ones that are MAYBE bolted to the floor and only take one wheel, but I find those absolutely terrible to use in daily life. You have to crouch or hunch down to reach the rack for locking your bike, U-locks will not reach the frame at all, locking your bike through the wheel only is unsafe and often times you'll get your hands dirty on the wheel, and if they're packed full and put right against a wall it's nearly impossible to even get your bike locked or unlocked from them.

So if you wanna do bikers a favor, get racks that reach up to about waist height so you can do the locking standing up and away from the dirtiest parts of your bike, and can lock your frame and not just one wheel. There exist racks that have tall hoops on floor rails that you can then bolt to the floor so you don't have to pour every individual hoop in concrete.

Avoid racks with horizontal top cross bars.

Bikes with rear racks to carry panniers can't fit their rear wheels under the horizontal bars.

Also avoid any bike racks that are meant to lock only the wheels. Bike frames need to be locked.

And depending if your location gets a lot of snow in the winter, racks for fitting a bike wheel in are to be wide enough for fat tire bikes (5in).

Ha,ha. Not sure that would help.

Once, in the evening while I was unlocking my bike, I smelled cigarette smoke.

I turned my head around and found the culprite squeezed into a garage door to avoid the rain.

I pointed to the no-smoking sign just above him and told him to go to the smoking shelter just 40 feet away.

Sometimes that's due to improper installation. More than once I've seen a rack like that right next to a wall, making it impossible to actually park the bike properly, as there is literally no space. When the installation is done properly, I find that people usually park their bikes properly as well. But if that's a concern, several individual upside-down-U-shaped racks installed in a row as on DiabloScott's picture should prevent that issue.

I like the wave type. Just be sure not to get the grid type.

Wave bike racks

Consider fencing off the bike area for extra security. It requires distributing keys or a combo, but deters outsiders from using the bike rack, and probably helps keep abandoned bikes to a minimum.

They're OK if you park laterally and take up the whole thing.

One reason they're so popular, is that the manufacturers exaggerate how many bikes they can hold, and people who never have to use them believe it.


This - never happens.
https://www.planmarketplace.com/wp-c.../Bike-Rack.jpg

I could see that maybe working if, and only if, the rack were set away from a building so bikes could be parked on either side, however almost all cases of that style I've seen the racks are set up along a wall, thus blocking one side from use. The other thing stopping those from being used like they claim are bikes with wide handlebars, like both of mine. I Have touring (butterfly) bars on one bike and the other bike is a dutch style bike with wide city bars. I park in one of those and my handlebars often cover quite a bit of space.

Thank you everyone for the input. I just ordered a few of the ring type racks that we'll mount parallel to the building on a wide covered sidewalk. The plan is to mount them close to the building so that only one side of the rack is used and bikes are parallel to the building causing the least obstruction to the sidewalk. This also has the added benefit of providing the most shelter for the bikes and keeping them very near the entrances to the buildings.

Our whole campus is smoke free. If they want to light up they have to leave the property. :-)

& if your company is big enough, I like the bike cage at Alewife Station in Cambridge MA