uke

+1. Not worth getting fired because you couldn't spare a day's pay for a cheaper ride.

TromboneAl

Sounds like it'll be a tough sell. A strategy of "If you don't accommodate me, my bike will get stolen" will probably not work. Likewise "I'm going to sue you if someone takes my bike" is a non-starter. Ideally, you should think of some way to have the mall manager feel that he will benefit if he finds a solution.

All I can think of is finding some way that adding a bike rack can be good PR for the mall. Tell him that perhaps they can get a local TV news story out of accommodating bike riders. Tell him that you'll come up with proposals, research ideas, etc. He doesn't have to make a decision now, but you'd do the work, and he can reap the benefits.

Press Release

San Jose Mall goes green by encouraging workers to ride to work. The Maxi-buy mall today provided employees with a secure bike storage area so that they would feel comfortable riding bikes into work. "It's a small thing, but we all want to do our part," says mall manager, Bob Smiley...

treebound 

I can only think of a few options:

1. Buy a beater bike as others have mentioned, and put all your gear on quick releases so you don't have to leave your lights and computer and stuff on the bike (if you have all that "stuff" on your bike).

2. As others have mentioned, play up the bicycle friendly approach to encourage more people to bicycle to the mall. The backfire to this is if they require employees to park in the outermost reaches of the parking lot then they might now want employees using the storeside bicycle racks.

3. If you work in a store try to get the store manager to incorporate your bike into a display of some sort, maybe in the front glass enclosed display case. Manikin (what's the female form of the word "manikin"?) standing there in pedal pushers and a jersey from the store inventory if your store sells clothing, adjust the display for your store's merchandise.

4. Like others have said, find your local community activist news reporter and play up the angle that on your minimum mall employee wages and the highest in the nation California gas prices that you a riding out of need, plus it can be fun, but there is no real secure place to park your bike.

Let us know what happens.

Parking a beater bike to a light pole in the outermost corner of the paking lot might get the bike mistaken as an abandoned bike, but maybe find a $2 rummage sale bike and get a $3 lock and hang one out there as a test to see how long it lasts. Then document it as ammo for your defense that parking even a beater bike out there isn't a good or viable option.

one_beatnik

I worked in a mall for 10 years. Make friends with maintenance. You can probably store your bike in the maintenance area. Malls usually have a large area for that with all the cleaning tractors and lot cleaning equipment, not to mention security vehicles. There should be some corner in there that maintenance people would be OK with...especially if you buy them a beer ocassionally.

thdave

One argument is that you save the mall a parking spot. That's got to be good for something.

If others did the same, that benefit might be substantial.

corripio

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."

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

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

ggosson

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.

maddyfish

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.

MNBiker

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.

anthegreat1

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.

Ka_Jun

Yeah, heartily concur on the beater.

TromboneAl

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.

corripio

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.

Denny Koll

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.

novacommuter

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.

Popeyecahn

+1!

ggosson

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...

ItsJustMe

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.

dynaryder

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.

iPirate

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.


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

markf

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.

awunder

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.

awunder

+1

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

TuckertonRR

+ 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.

Dahon.Steve

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!