Bicycle Parking preferences...?
 

I live in Southern California and work for a University. Today, my boss was asked to research solutions for expanding our bicycle parking (bike racks) around campus and to decide on what will likely become the new standard rack design for the campus. He quickly called me into the office since he doesn't have any personal experience, and asked me for my thoughts. Unfortunately I have theories, but there are plenty bike rack styles such as the Wave racks etc. that I've never used. I figured I'd offer you guys the opportunity to help me to decide between the different options, and potentially help steer the path of our campus's future bike parking.

I assume the wave design would allow both the front wheel and frame to be locked with a U-lock (is this correct?), but involves leaning your bike against a metal pole. Apparently that design can be ordered with a 'softer finish', some kind of coating that minimizes scratching damage to bike frames.

The more traditional styles that support either the front half or bottom half of the front wheel provide better support for the bike, but require chains or cables in order to reach up to the frame. No U-locks here.

I use a cable lock to lock my bike to one of the low loop racks at work, but it's in a well protected area and the use of a heavy duty U-lock probably isn't necessary. These locks will be for the many students who ride to class each day and may not have a car to fall back on if their bike gets stolen.

The two preferences that I have initially are the "grid style" as shown in this link
http://www.bicycleparkingracks.com/i...1022&Cc=IBR-GD

...and also the Wave style...
http://www.bicycleparkingracks.com/i...1053&Cc=IBR-WV

Also, it looks like the Grid style will fit many more bikes per linear foot of 'rack' than the wave design will.

Thanks.

-Jeremy

i perfer to wave. its just safer for my bike. the gride can be easily dismantled and only locks up the front wheel. bikes need to have a wheel and the frame locked, the grid can't do that only the wave can. and really both hold about the same number of bikes.

since you work at a univ, i'm guess you have an art deparment and talk to some metal shops about making a creative bike rack. often times bike racks are a eye sore. try something fun and creative.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/9/129...d113776f89.jpg
http://schlicken.blogsome.com/images...illusion_1.jpg

http://weekendcycling.com/2007/01/in...ng-bike-racks/

http://www.bfbc.org/issues/parking/apbp-bikeparking.pdf
http://www.cityofmadison.com/traffic...ikeParking.pdf

Grid style sucks. I absolutely hate those to lock to.
They way they work, you can't get your frame properly locked to it, only the wheels, which opens you up to theft. They effectively reduce to only 3 bike spaces, since I (and most smart people) lock to the straight poles at each end, then the 3rd guy locks up Sideways across the entire center portion.

Wave is great, but also annoy the heck out of me since if you use the Sheldon locking technique, the bottom loop of each wave can get in the way of properly positioning your rear wheel (if you have panniers and stuff all over your bike). Once again I tend to use only the straight poles at each end of the rack if I have a choice. Still better than grid at least.

And absolutely avoid any of those little wheelholder racks that is less than 12inches tall. They don't allow the frame to be locked, meaning you end up with a rack full of wheels with stolen frames. One of my parking locations uses this kind of thing and I absolutely ignore it; I lock to the high tension gangwire supporting a nearby telephone pole instead.

My favorite has to be the U loop shaped racks. Each one allows 2 bikes to be properly locked up, as opposed to the other choices which for all their space taken allow either No bikes to be Properly Locked, or still only 2. A row of separate U loops should do great. My local train station does this.

I don't know if you could find these in the US, but I'm kind of partial to this design, as I can get my bike in to lock everything together. I suppose, however, that they could fill up quite quickly...
http://www.allegro.pl/item575245147_...ierdzewka.html

Just ignore the Polish, and look at the pics. They are self-explanatory. ;-)

-Jon

sheffield stands - should be able to hold up to 4 bikes per or, more usually, 2 bikes.
http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/Es...d,65764,en.jpg

IMG tags broken by Admin due to size.

^^ We have those around, didn't know they're called that, thanks! I've never seen 4 bikes in one of those. But that has to be one of the simplest and most secure designs.

--J

As others have noted, nothing can compete with the simplicity and functionality of Sheffield stands.

My LBS has a couple of grid-style bike racks outside and, while I rarely use a lock (not really necessary here), I can't fit my 700X38C wheel/tire combo into the grid, so either the bike falls down in the parking lot, or I lean it against the building anyway.

Glad to see someone in So Cal is thinking about bike parking.

That said... forget the grid style, they are "affectionately" known as "wheel benders" for a reason.

Wave is a bit better, but as a couple other posters here mentioned, the inverted U shape is far superior.

Except for the grid, any bike height shaped bar with a closed loop, sunk into concrete can serve as a bike rack.

I loved this one, and think bike racks as art is grand idea. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/9/129...d113776f89.jpg

The real secret is enough bike racks. Too few bike racks is almost as annoying as bad bike racks. What amazes me is that acres can be devoted to car parking, but rarely is there even the space of one auto parking space given to bike parking.

Austin Texas has bike racks in nearly every intersection, downtown. In downtown San Diego, you are lucky if you can find a tree or no parking sign to lock your ride.

Here are some more suggestions.

http://bostonbiker.org/files/2008/03/bike-rack-480.jpg

http://www.cooltownstudios.com/image...davidbyrne.jpg

http://products.construction.com/swt...21/E702403.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/orsolya.kuti/Rq...0/IMG_3147.JPG

Notice the theme... it doesn't take much... just available, strong, well anchored, closed loops, at bike height.

^^^^I've used those loop-types before. They're pretty cool (though the ones I've used had a really crappy paint job on 'em).

I'm always happiest to see Inverted U's or Sheffields. DC Metro stations are gradually converting to them (U's , that is) from the ghastly monstrosities they originally installed. I do not know what they are/were called, and don't care. We have the "fence"-type here at work, and once warmer weather arrives it begins to suck pretty quickly.

It's no biggie for me, really, because for at least half of the year, mine is the only bike there, and for the other half I'm always the first one in anyway so I get my preferred spot at the end (that is, not used as intended). I always lock rear wheel and seat tube to the anchor with a U lock (at least whenever I can). I have a Pitlock on my front wheel...

None of those fancy racks are as good a bike rack as the Sheffield Stand.
SS stands shoudl be made of smooth stainless steel. The ones at my workplace are nasty seam-welded galvanized steel with a horrible rough surface.

The only problem with sheffield stands is the number of ways you can install them incorrectly:

To close together so you cant fit 2 bikes and one rider in the space.
Alonside a a pole or wall , so the outside parking space is not usable.
Butting up against a wall so you cant have a wheel extending outside the rack area.
Too high so small bikes dont fit so well.
In a poor position: obstructing natural pedestrian routes or fire escapes.
Placed at right angles to path instead of en-echelon where space is limitted.
Placed as far from front door as possible.
Placed where trucks reverse.

I have to agree that simple is good. The reason I mention the "art racks" is that sometimes these are easier for "city fathers" to accept... rather than the basic Sheffield Stand. Just as a nice wide MUP can go over far easier than a "bike freeway." Sometimes you just have to sneak up on some of these close minded decision makers.

And yes indeed, poor placement can kill a good rack.

My local grocery store finally put in a wave bike rack... right up against a brick column. You can only park one bike against it. :rolleyes:

I LIKE THOSE!

I see such a mish mash around the city - from artistic pretty designs to old and crappy - which is what they have at the college here in a dark garage in the back of the college that supposedly has garage attendants. Bikes are stolen all the time as it is open to the public - and since we are in the center of downtown - all sorts of city transients walk thru there (I park mine in my 5th floor office). I do lock up my bike at the grocery store on the grocery cart rack versus their POS by the door. And other places I go know me well and have allowed me to park it inside while I shop (nice peeps).

No, no, no, a thousand times no for the "grid style". We used to call these "wheelbenders", BTW.

Using these as intended with a U-lock, all you can lock is the front wheel. A flip of the quick-release, and the rest of the bike is gone.

Only at the outside ends can you properly lock a bike to these. Inside the rack, you can't u-lock the frame to anything without draping the bike over the top. And then you can't u-lock a wheel to anything.

And don't even start with, "Yeah, but a cable lock…" Might as well use dental floss for all the security cable locks provide.

++

Ya know, the way people talk, it seems like there are roving bands of bike thieves looking around, cable cutters in hand, just waiting for people to leave their bike for a second...

Even in the "bad" neighborhoods of Chicago and Indianapolis when I lived there, a cable lock through both wheels and frame, a U lock for the back wheel and a small chain lock on the saddle was good enough to keep most any bike safe. If that doesn't do the trick for you, perhaps your commuter is a bit too high-visibility.

A gas meter is my hands down fave. Nobody will cut it. At least not twice.

Saving that, the Sheffield design wins it for me. You can secure both wheels and the frame making the bike a solid locked panel with the lock waist high. This defeats a vast number of leverage attacks by simple positioning.

Proving once again All Bikes Weigh 40 Pounds

20 pound bikes require a 20 pound lock.
30 pound bikes require a 10 pound lock.
40 pound bikes don't need a lock!

It only takes one. Really, it seems to me that to make any bike theft-proof to a huge extent would be so much trouble as to make using a bicycle futile in the first place.

What we're really talking about is deterence--making it too much trouble to steal. Even a pretty stout cable lock essentially presents "low-hanging fruit" to a thief properly equipped with bolt-cutters. To my mind, a good U lock with a few easy accessories provides a LOT of deterrence for very little extra effort (aside from initially sorting out your own system).

I ride a lot, and I like to ride a fairly nice bike. I also like to have a fair amount of confidence that it will still be there when I return to it.

It's kind of stupid, because the Sheffield stands obviously don't take up more space than the row of bicycles that would be locked to them...but I see this as a potential point of resistance to installing them. "But but but lookit all the space they're taking up!" No kidding. I wish we had a ton of those in Boston. Where there are racks, they're generally U-loops, often just a single upside-down U, which is good for two bikes only. Parking meters, signs, trees and fences, that's what we mostly end up using here. Kinda sucks.

Perhaps you missed this current thread, where the OP had an old GT taken on-campus, while he got a coffee. What was he locked with and locked to? A cable lock in a wheelbender rack:

The OP of this thread is also talking college campus, where apparently, "there are roving bands of bike thieves looking around, cable cutters in hand, just waiting for people to leave their bike for a second..." Around here too, not a week goes by when someone posts on CL that their bike was stolen on-campus.

Jut an idea, but since you're at a university, would you have welding service available (either thru maintenance, an engineering dept, or industrial arts dept)? If so, you could go with grid racks and have the parts welded after assembly. Makes dissassembly by theives practically impossible. Also need to weld them where they attach to the connecting devcies sunk into the ground (or concrete).

Wave Racks: Basic ones work well, but if they look too much like an art project you might get complaints from the art lovers that bikes locked to them ruin their aesthetic, artsy look. You'd have to educate the campus population as to why they were installed.

Wave Racks #2: If you're really concerned about scratches on bikes, then try getting them with a powdercoat finish. Its thicker than paints or galvanized coatings, and a little 'softer' (aren't most bikes rolling around a college campus pretty low budget or thrashed anyway?).

There's also this old thread about some of David Byrne's bike racks for NYC

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=445523

I hate the wave. The U -- Orwellian.

Art racks -- man, I love those pix! You need some of that jazz on your campus.

Sheffield Stands -- efficient, effective ... but give me that red guitar!

If you take away only one point from this thread, I hope it's that the grid (aka, "wheelbender) is a no....no....NO! I can't believe they still make those things. Virtually worthless as a bicycle parking device and can do more harm than good. Just about every university setting I've been to that has those type racks also has a healthy number of bikes with bent wheels permanently attached to them.
I like the Sheffield Stand or the inverted-U. Both of these are simple, intuitive, provide stability with two contact points and are reasonably unobtrusive unless you're looking for a bike rack. As for the artistic bike racks, I've known cyclists that lock to nearby signposts because they think the artistic rack is a piece of sculpture and don't think they should lock to it.
In the final analysis, a bike rack should support the frame of the bike, not the wheel, and permit locking the bike's frame to the rack. The APBP Guide to Bicycle Parking that nbac23 linked is an excellent place to start your search.

Personally, I won't use a "grid" style, or any rack that only locks the wheel. I find a signpost or parking meter instead so that I can lock my frame.

Heh, the LBS in town has a grid style rack. Of course, it's in a house with a yard, and a residential sidewalk in front, so I don't think it'd be reasonable for them to install anything else. Also crime is so low that I never even bother to lock up there.

Yeah, those things are fine if you don't need to lock it up. :D