Oh that's a good idea...lock it up where they would expect you to lock your bike all day, and see how long it takes to get vandalized, parts stolen, or just disappear. That's good fodder.

I definitely commiserate with you though...I shouldn't have to ride a beater bike because others don't think bikes are viable means of transportation or should be kept safe. And even riding a beater bike, there is nothing to stop some hooligans from damaging it if you just leave it chained up outside all day (this has happened to the beater bikes of some of my friends)...it makes it real hard to get home when your rims are bent to hell.

Others have been spot on though, be courteous and polite to the manager to start, and ask come up with a solution that will work well and benefit the mall. Find out others that bike to work or would consider it if they had a safe, secure location to lock up their bike. Come up with a bear minimum of what would be acceptable (i.e. a bike locker outside, or just simply a room that is not accessible to the general public). Stress the point about good press for the mall. You may also want to contact the local government...your profile says you are in san jose. The city already provides a small number of bike lockers (which I'm sure probably aren't near your location), but you might suggest the mall try to partner with the local government to provide this service to employees that work in the area. Even just contacting the local government and finding out that all the bike lockers are rented gives you some more fodder to say "people do bike commute in this town, providing this is important."

http://www.sanjoseca.gov/transportat...ke_Parking.asp

Be nice at first, then start pulling out the guns if they refuse.

I don't get it... You are complaining about publicly available bike rack located in a high traffic area in broad daylight? And you want a special, safer place to park employee bikes inside the mall somewhere? How would that look to the general public, who might also be riding some $1200 bike to the mall? You said the public parking is good enough for people who are in the mall for 1-2 hours. Since it can take seconds for a bike to get stolen by someone who knows what they are doing, how is that kind of parking fair for the general populace and not good enough for you? Won't the progressive hipsters in the Apple store you work at let you park your bike in the back room?

Why are we Americans always so arrogant that rules meant for the common folk are certainly not meant to inconvienence we privledged few?

The only way you are going to get what you want is to get the cooperation of the manager of one of the individual stores in the mall that has room in his or her back room to secure your bike, preferably one with an external door so you do not have to enter the mall proper walking your bicycle.

As always they will probably not want people walking their bikes through the mall. Just because you will behave doesn't mean that the other person is not going to be whipping around the interior hallways on his bike like a jackass.

As the other people said, get a beater and leave it outside or perhaps a folding bike that you can secure in your work place.

Yes might be a slightly different situation, my wife has a named space in the parking garage, we parked the van there. 3 women at her work have keys to the van, and they use it when they ride. I had to take all the seats out of it to make room. Just about like a big bike locker.

I think one_beatnik's suggestion in post #29 is one very good option to look into.

Years ago I delivered bread (with a truck) to malls and I was surprised to see that there was a whole other world of space in some malls that the public never sees. I would drive my truck down an obscure ramp going into the complex that led to underground loading ramps which in turn were adjacent to back rooms or docks behind all the stores.

I know malls are all different and yours may not be as big as the one I drove to, but it is worth checking out. If there are areas you could lock up a bike in that are pretty much unavailable to the public, they might be just the ticket. Maintenance or mall security might be able to suggest an area to you.

I like the van idea.

why not go search out so possible spots i the mall you could park your bike and then present those options to the manager.

Yeah, heartily concur on the beater.

Brainstorming other ideas: Do you need to park at the mall itself? Maybe there's a secure location a few blocks away. Is there a police station within walking distance -- always a nice place to lock your bike.

Americans are the only people that are arrogant or self-centered. Not a single person outside the US has ever been self-centered or arrogant. Troll much?

Anyway, lets think about some numbers for a moment. Let's assume that the more time your bike is left locked to a bike rack, the more likely it is to get stolen. If I go to the mall once a month for 1 hour, that puts my bike in harms way 1/720 (assuming 30 days a month, 24 hours a day). So my bike is left unattended at the mall for 0.139% of the time. Basically a bike thief has to be really lucky picking the right time, day, and location to steal my bike (even if it only takes a few minutes to steal). If I work there 5 days a week for 10 hours at a time, that puts my bike at risk 214/720. That means that 29.7% of the time, my bike is at risk for being stolen...this does not include any additional weighting for hours of darkness, which may make it easier for a thief to operate.

So, based on this logic, an employee's bike is two orders of magnitude more likely to get stolen. And from this, I would conclude that a normal bike rack would be sufficient for the masses that show up only for a few hours a month, but for a someone who works there, a more secure option would reduce this risk dramatically.

It's not being arrogant, it's being practical.

I ride to work. I work in a public place with a bike rack in front.

I'm not going to park my bike outside in the bike rack all day and subject it to the weather and vandalism. I bring my bike in and find an out of the way spot to stash it.

What's so outrageous about expecting a secure place for your bike during work hours? Sounds very reasonable to me.

I'm lucky enough that the bike rack at my place of employment is behind security barriers, and there is a uniformed police officer that stands 10 feet from it all day, every day.

That said, I wouldn't lock a bike outside all day. I've seen what happens.

+1!

I believe that it is not particularly practical at all. Think about it. He works (I assume) in Oakridge Mall in San Jose. It has somewhere in the vicinity of 170+ stores and a twenty theatre multiplex. Because they have a theatre that means there are regular non-custodial employees in the mall until at least 01:00 almost every day. Even if you could come up with a room or parking area that could allow someone to secure even one bike commuter from just 10% of the stores (maybe 20 people) how do you go about securing the room from 08:00 until 01:00? How do you differentiate between mall employees and the general public? How do you prevent the general public from gaining access to the room or area? Most malls I see have people streaming in and out the non-standard entrance/exits all day. What's to stop them from appropriating your bike?

It may be a nice gesture on the part of the mall management, but unless they have non-public space to burn, it is not likely to happen. And I say this as the father of a mall employee, they just don't want to be bothered. This isn't a problem specific to Malls, ask the Wall Street investment bankers who make six and seven figures what they do when the building management of the hi-rise their company is in won't allow bikes inside. They have to go with a folding bike that they can hand carry.

If you can't convince your own store manager to allow you to park your nice bike in the back room, how are you going to convince the mall management...

You're also not taking into account that the thief might be watching. If they see a bike that's pretty well locked they might pass it over. However, if they frequent the area and notice that the bike is locked to the rack every weekday, all day long, they're going to know that the person works there and they've got all day to get it out. If they have an accomplice, they might even follow you in and find out where you work, and keep an eye on you to make sure you're not coming out while the thief is working.

I think the calculation here is more than a simple analysis of hours of at risk time per month.

Either get a folder,or find another spot. I used to have a part-time job at a large mall,there were tons of places to lock up a bike.

you must have missed the youtube video of the guy stealing his own bike in new york using a bunch of different methods. people didnt bother him, one person even helped him.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TNTq3nhuh0

Turning the whole corner into your closet and hanging shoes and helmet on various fixtures sounds pretty selfish and inconsiderate, what happens when a maintenance person has to shut off the water to work on the plumbing? Get a beater bike, ride to work in your street clothes, and park the cheap bike in the rack. Save your nice bike for fun rides.

Honestly I don't think you'll get very far with the mall management. I'd start small.

When I worked at the mall, in a variety of stores (including a major anchor) I never had a problem bringing my bike in and leaving it in the storeroom for my shift.

While I was at the anchor, they asked that I bring it in through the dock instead of through the store, but that was no problem at all.

Granted, this was a long time ago - perhaps things have changed. But it seems to me that all the locks in the world aren't as good as a storeroom.

+1

Actually, no matter where you work, making friends with Maintenance, Security, and Secretaries will ease your life considerably.

+ 1 on the folder. Fits handily inside a closet, under a desk, etc. Theft problems eliminated.

P.S. - -WHO- exactly "fined" you? If it's the "mall management" I doubt something like that would stand in any civil court.

I go to the mall all the time with my bicycle. Nothing ever happens to my ride but I NEVER use the bike rack. In fact, the bike rack is right next to the bus stop which means it will get trashed or stolen by all the kids who stand at the stop! The only time my bike was attacked was when it was parked on a rack. Never use bike racks.

This is what I do. I hide the bike by parking in back of the mall! Mall security told me the other day not to park there so I now park about two blocks from the entrance in a hidden location next to a Home Depot. It's great because the bushes behind a fence hide the bike. Also, another good location is one that is high in vehicle traffic but not foot traffic.

I must admit, my beater is a 1980 Schwinn World Sport. After 5 dozen trips to malls all over, my bike is yet to be attacked. You can also get a folding bike and ask your boss if you can bring the folder inside. You would be crazy to leave a $1,200.00 dollar bike to a bike rack. The Kryptonite Chain and New York 3000 U-lock have been compromsed. In other words, the crooks know how to break them and they will if the bike costs alot!

One more thing, if you go the beater route, don't park it at the bike rack. Even beaters get trashed on bike racks!

BFD! will be the response, if any, to a letter that has such a baseless, unenforceable, "personal" expectation of special consideration.

QFT. A few shops downtown have places in the store/resteraunt for employees to put their bikes (and customers if there's an empty spot) and even have nice things to lock it to if you want real security.

OP, is there a space for rent in this seemingly massive mall? If there is, talk to mall management and ask if it could be used as a secure room for mall workers to lock their bikes. Slap some "green" stickers around and a make a poster saying how much gas and greenhouses gases have been avoided by the bikes in those racks. You'll probably see a growing number of riders with that sort of bicycle safehouse. I've never worked something like this in a mall, but right now, it's nothing but wasted space. Might as well make it something useful.

Seems to me that there might be a store somewhere in the mall that would allow you to lock it up in their closet or something. The large department stores in the mall probably have tons of storage facilities.

And what about your 1200 ticket? Do you really have to pay that much? Shoot, might as well have let your bike get stolen since it cost the same as the ticket.

I'm not serious about that, of course, but really: 1200 dollars!?

Its not a mater of wrong or right here, but more of a legal issue.
Since the fire marshal is involved its going to come down to a safety issue, if the pipes are tied into the sprinkler system and they need clear access to it, that can be a problem for them.
But to your defense their needs to also be a sign posted for them to site you like KEEP AREA CLEAR and a city ordnance code, is their one on the location?. If not you should try to fight it and you may get off from paying the fine. As far as locking up to the pipes that's actually another issue
I was in charge of a large building as it's building engineer and I can see the point from both sides and If I wanted to really keep someone out of there area I would put a sign up to stop it from happening and then I would have legal right to have someone sited, but until then I can only warn and harass in hopes of getting you to stop.
Same for those who park in a parking lot that may say parking for customers only unless their is a sign with the vehicle code stating that you vehicle will be towed they can not and the person who owns that property or manager must be the one who calls.
At lease in LA County this is how it works.

As others have said, it's unlikely that the management of the mall itself would respond to the complaint of a single person who isn't even one of its own employees. If you want to be activist about this, you might consider going to your own employer (I assume you work at one of the stores in the mall and not for the mall itself). Ask your employer if it will support employee bike parking at the mall and volunteer to go to other stores in the mall on your employer's behalf to see if other companies that actually rent the store spaces in the mall would support your employer in asking the mall to set aside a safe bike parking lace for all the people who work at the mall. I also like the suggestion of seeing whether the maintenance people have a place where you can store your bike, but that might solve only your own problem and might not result in the kind of social change for all cycling mall employees that you seem to be interested in. Good luck!

thanks for all the great replies, it's nice to see everyone's support and criticism

let me answer some of the stuff so far,

1. When i say i use it as a closet, i dont' mean that I leave it there (giro atmos is my baby). I get to work and i change and hang the stuff and then clean up when i'm done. The corner is useful because it has all these pipes that stick in and out which i use as hooks.

2. It's not oakridge mall, but Valley Fair (which is technically santa clara, i suppose). And yes, I do work at the Apple Store, but I don't know how you knew that O_o

3. I was not fined or ticketed immediately--I was threatened actually, by the manager's office and security. They specifically said, "if you don't move your bike, the fire marshal will be down here in a snap with a 1,200 dollar ticket with your name on it." The tone was surely aggressive.

4. I hattttte beater bikes. I hate the idea that I have to buy a crap bike to get to work destroys the idea of having fun on the bike to work. I can easily take mass transit for free but I pay for gear/maintainence to ride to work.

other than that, you guys have great ideas. The whole thing about making it a "benefit" instead of a hassle sounds like a good thing to bring up. I have PR experience! :)

Man, haven't you ever played "Internet Detective"?!? Click on your user name, now choose View Profile. It says:

Location: San Jose, CA
Occupation: Mac Specialist
Bicycle(s): 2008 Trek 2.1

You work in a mall, your profile says "Mac Specialist", it isn't hard to put two and two together. Besides, who else working in a mall besides a manager of one of the stores could afford a $1200 bike? I know Mac Specialists aren't getting rich, but they have to make better money than the guy sweating it out in the food court restaurants. :-)

In the past, I would have said that this is a bad idea, since it gives the thief a nice hidden location to work on defeating your lock. However, after seeing the videos of a guy stealing his own bike by spending six minutes sawing through a lock on a busy sidewalk with no interference, makes me not so sure.

its quite simple, state that notices need to be placed on pipes like that, and just move your bike to a different set of pipes.

I do not understand why some bikers believe employers should go out of their way to accommodate the storage of a bike. Asking for a special locker just for you is akin to asking for a personal parking garage becuase you want to drive your Lamborghini to work. I would suggest you try not to be too defensive. Case the building out, Find a different spot and ask someone from security or the fire marshal himself if that will be a safe place to park.

Do not bring up the bike rack, do not ask for a place to be made for you, do not say bad things about car use (they all drive cars).

Apple doesn't support reducing green house gas?! oh no!