Cycle-Racks and stands

And parking.

There seems to be a problem with many cycle racks, and one wonders if the designers, and manufacturers, ever try them out.   However, it is not a problem that is just confined to this country.   

    For example:-

      This site is in Germany, none of the bikes here are making proper use of the cycle-stand.   The black step-through bike with the purple carrier basket may have its front wheel in place, but it has its prop-stand out to steady it (so as not to put too much strain on its front wheel), and once it is in position (at the front of a row of rack positions) then other bikes cannot get past.    That is, it acts as a barrier across the paved area.  Obviously not enough thought has been applied.

    At the back there is a mountain bike leaning against a wall, and a full size bike on its own stand and with its front wheel padlocked to the rack.   Two orange, 20”diameter wheel folding bikes (Dahons) have been leant against, and lock to, the rack.  That is, thy are not utilising the stand as it was intended.

   This type of rack would not be suitable for laden touring bikes.

The rack and its positioning, are hardly what one might call a resounding success.   Not much: "Vorsprung-durch- Technick"  there. 

    Back in England one can find this pathetic solitary cycle ‘rut’ outside a local garden centre (in Feb 2014) over the past 30 years, or more, I have made concerted efforts to persuade the manager to provide something better; but to no avail.  I will accept that cyclists are nothing like as frequent customers as motorists, but I have counted, up to, 5 bicycles outside this centre with nothing to lock the bikes to.

     Not too far away there is another garden centre, which has made much better provision, simple stands, well spaced, with protective rain cover ~ so we know that it can be done, and we cyclists know where to take pour custom.

   Cycling back from the garden centre I pass a block of new flats, where residents have been provided with a compound in which they can park their bikes.

The good part of this is that it has Sheffield type stands, and they are fairly well spaced (though they could be wider apart) but the surrounding structure offers no weather protection.  A very poor effort indeed.

About 100  metres further down the road there is another cycle-parking facility outside a corner store:-

    In fact it is at a little complex of shops.  There is only one very wobbly stand (for want of a better term) outside a ‘One Stop Shop’,  the bike really needs to have a prop-stand to be able to use it, but one can only padlock the wheel, not the frame.  With quick release it would be easy to remove the best part of this bike.   Although I have passed this spot frequently, I have never seen a single bike using this equipment.   No prizes for this stand either. 

   I expect we have all seen lots more such cases.   There are some cycle parking facilities about which are good, but they are not that common in this country, and not usually on a grand enough scale.   

    In some German/Dutch railway carriages they have racks for bikes, but whilst they have provided for bicycles, in some cases it is necessary to point the bike up into a vertical position, and place the front wheel onto a hook.  This is not always easy to do.