I would consider these: http://www.saris.com/commercial-park...category_id=17 Square-wall tubing can't be cut with a pipe cutter, for one thing.

For bike racks in front of a retail establishment, my preference is the inverted U, for all the reasons that have been stated here, however for a place of employment, I would push for bike lockers - despite your assertion that you are lucky to get a place to park and a rack. My reasons:

1) The cost of bike lockers, per employee is still lower than the cost of a paved parking lot.

2) A bike which is regularly used for commuting is liable to have lots of things on it - lights, computer, etc. Even if theft is not an issue, I have had my lights messed with, probably by curious people. The fact that the bike is going to sit in that location every day, for 8+ hours a day makes the security a much bigger issue than the kind of bike rack that would be common for transient use.

3) You are in a part of the country that occasionally has weather (before I moved to CA, I dealt with weather). It is difficult to use a bike as year-round transportation if it must be stored in a place where it is exposed to the elements daily.

Ask for the bike lockers!

I'm bummed! Had you posted your reply just minutes earlier I would have been able to send this reply while sitting in the staff meeting... Bummer, I had already logged off by the time you wrote this.

As for bike lockers, it might depend on locations but at my company at least there is a lot of process around the lockers, intended to keep them from being places where bombs could be located. (part of the post 9/11 security concerns is my understandding)

the basic restrictions are:

No overnight or long term storage, day use first come first serve only
everyone has to use work supplied locks that security has the master key for.

Security actively checks that the lockers are empty at night and cuts off non company supplied locks and removes contents on a regular basis.

and my company is not a super high security military supplied or anything like that..... just your basic PLD semi company.

Squirtdad

I have heard this argument about lockers, and to be honest it puzzles me. One area where I heard the argument was at the airport - where I can easily park a van with no visability into what is inside a space far larger than a bike locker.

Also, there are plenty of lockers which have screen or mesh doors or sides so that you can easily see what is inside.

I would have no problem with having security actively checking lockers at night, as to removing contents, I assume that they would also tow cars left in the parking lot beyond normal work hours....