Here' a better question. If bike retailers and bike businesses don't offer secure parking for bikes, why should other merchants?

Eeeew, I hate Cora racks. They have 'em at Portland's Central Library. Only good if you get an end spot, if you ask me. Those coat hanger shapes are no fun to lock up to, due to the awkward way my handlebars lean against 'em.

I like these the best:

My old office had a bunch of those wavy racks scattered around the building. Unfortunately, they were placed too close to the walls of the building, making them useless. I used to lock my bike parallel to the rack, taking up all the spots. Luckily the city of Toronto had installed a large number of their well designed post and ring racks around the building.

These are my favorite:



Simple yet effective.

That is what the local REI store has. One of the two best I have found in town. The other decent one is outside Trader Joes but only holds 2 bikes max.

These are the ones I like the best; actually the best of those have a crossbar below the top of the upside downU. The waves that don't touch down between the endpoint are about the same as the cora coathanger racks from my angle, good enough if you get a good spot, and common enough around town. There is one place I go to a lot w/ those cora coathanger racks and they're not attached to the ground which creeps me out but it is a location that somebody's very unlikely to try taking the rack, bikes and all. During the day, anyway.

Racks? Non existent here in Taiwan, at least not that I've seen. Back in the states in Sugar Land, TX there was only one McDonald's that I knew of with a rack, but bikes placed on it almost completely blocked the sidewalk. I don't recall seeing racks anywhere else other than at schools.

How the hell do you lock to one of those Cora racks?

There are a couple near the farmer's market here. Never figured out how I can lock securely to one. I just lock to the nearby post/circle racks or a convenient railing instead.

You lock your top tube to the coat hanger portion, so both wheels are free to be stolen.

Thats why they suck.

The link above has a photo of a bike locked to one - you put the head tube against the horizontal bar of the rack, which should position your down tube somewhere close to the angled part of the coat hanger. Use a U-lock to lock both the wheel and the down tube to the coat hanger.

I always worry about racks with small diameter bars that you're supposed to lock to. When I was in college, the campus had racks that used a 3/4" x 1/8" mild steel strap for locking - thirty seconds with a hacksaw and a thief will have your bike.

Noted.

The rack I'm complaining about has an advertising panel immediately above the horizontal bar. If memory serves me correctly, my bars bash into that panel before my frame is close enough to the coat hanger to lock up the bike.

The advertising panel is for a local LBS...

Here's an idea -- I call it a "swarm":


(now that I'm looking closely, it seems like there's a cheap rack in there somewhere)

Here's my contribution. I like the design but as you can see it was installed too close to the wall so you have to turn the front wheel to get it to sit flat on the ground. I'm not complaining, though. This is at the Kroger exactly 1 mile up the mup from my house and I'm glad to have it. (even if it's half covered in plants) I shot this pic right before I locked it up. I hope these pics turn out. It's my first attempt on this site. If not, I'll keep at it...give me a minute.


By fastcloud