Dismal bike rack... owner enlightened!

[KneesUp]

Now every time I look at the photo I go cross-eyed....

There is something of Escher in the steel at the front.

I think it's on it's back though - it'd make more sense for all the entry points to be level, and for the rear wheel to drop into the slot. The slope would be less steep than also.

Would it not be possible to put a lock around the channel and then around the frame - albeit that would mean someone could steal the wheels?

 

[MacB]

Here's a better design and includes locking hoops:-

http://www.cyclehoop.com/product/bike-racks-and-cycle-stands/semi-vertical-bike-rack/

 

[Ganymede]

It is the right way up, it is termed a semi vertical bike rack and this example is from the cheap and basic end of the design range. As for usage the easiest way is to hold the bars and pull the bike up so that it's vertical resting on rear wheel.

Well that was when my shoulder "went"...

EDIT: I'm 51 with a bad shoulder. Shoulder problems are very common in women my age, added to the fact that upper-body strength is less in women than in men in general, though of course there are some exceptions.

Thanks for the links!

 

[KneesUp]

Here's a better design and includes locking hoops:-

http://www.cyclehoop.com/product/bike-racks-and-cycle-stands/semi-vertical-bike-rack/

Brilliantly that one "can store an infinitive amount of bicycles"

I get that the off-set channels means you can get the bikes closer together because it offsets the handlebars and pedals, but I don't understand why the offset is acheived by making half of the channels quite hard to get a bike into - if you flipped either the rack you have linked to or the rack in the opening post, all the bike loading points would be low and level, but the channels would still be off-set so you would still have the advantage of fitting the bikes closer together, without making it harder to use some of the spaces.

 

[MacB]

Brilliantly that one "can store an infinitive amount of bicycles"

I get that the off-set channels means you can get the bikes closer together because it offsets the handlebars and pedals, but I don't understand why the offset is acheived by making half of the channels quite hard to get a bike into - if you flipped either the rack you have linked to or the rack in the opening post, all the bike loading points would be low and level, but the channels would still be off-set so you would still have the advantage of fitting the bikes closer together, without making it harder to use some of the spaces.

The offset/overlap works by having the bikes at alternating heights, if you flip it over then the bikes would all be at the same height and so it wouldn't work...unless you moved the slots a lot further apart.

 

[raleighnut]

The offset/overlap works by having the bikes at alternating heights, if you flip it over then the bikes would all be at the same height and so it wouldn't work...unless you moved the slots a lot further apart.

Yeah but one would be in front of the other so they'd still be staggered, also how do you stop the bikes rolling backwards off the stand when you remove the lock as the front wheel ain't gonna hold em at that angle.

 

[MacB]

Yeah but one would be in front of the other so they'd still be staggered, also how do you stop the bikes rolling backwards off the stand when you remove the lock as the front wheel ain't gonna hold em at that angle.

Jeez, look I owned one from Cyclehoop, the company I linked to, my descriptions are from direct experience and the purchase was made after a lot of research and trying different options. You don't have to believe e but I'd suggest doing your own hands on research if you want further answers.

 

[mcshroom]

Multi hieght for space saving only works if all the riders have the same sort of bars. We have them where I work (different design based more on wheel benders and short front wheel channels, but same height change premise), and getting a drop bar bike in next to a flat bar (or vice versa) can be almost impossible. Locking is also difficult but thankfully on a fully secure site that's less of an issue.

 

[raleighnut]

Jeez, look I owned one from Cyclehoop, the company I linked to, my descriptions are from direct experience and the purchase was made after a lot of research and trying different options. You don't have to believe e but I'd suggest doing your own hands on research if you want further answers.

I was referring to @Ganymede 's original post, the rack you linked to is better but I for one would never lock any of my bikes in either of these (or similar) types of rack. The potential of damage to the wheels is far too high as is the 'concrete block' type of wheel retainer, give me a steel post or hoop any day of the week in preference.

 

[summerdays]

I've tried those sort before, the local hospital had a sort of round version, and I had a go but just couldn't get the bike to get up there and get the lock, attach it etc. I'm not even a short female, but I struggled and gave up and noticed that most bikes were locked to the railings on a nearby ramp. My favourite is the basic Sheffield stand!

 

[mr_cellophane]

Looks like they ones I used in a new RBS building.

 

[Ganymede]

I've tried those sort before, the local hospital had a sort of round version, and I had a go but just couldn't get the bike to get up there and get the lock, attach it etc. I'm not even a short female, but I struggled and gave up and noticed that most bikes were locked to the railings on a nearby ramp. My favourite is the basic Sheffield stand!

I should also mention that I was fairly smartly dressed as well, as I was attending a couple of meetings, so the whole hoicking-yer-bike-up thing was even less practical. All right if you're wearing sports clothes and the bike weighs nothing!

 

[mjr]

Wow. Cyclehoop are a bit rubbish aren't they? Besides their eponymous hoops, their car-shaped bike ports and the old-favourite toast racks, they've loads of wheelbenders.

Broxap also seem to have an increasing number of wheelbenders (some named after places - I wonder if some towns like sharing names with crap cycle parking?) and don't get me started on Velopa/Autopa still selling only bad 1950s designs.

Is no-one making anything better than a rack of parallel A-shape stands any more? About the only high-density stands looking worth a damn seem to be http://www.cyclespaces.com/en/products/bicycle-parking/wave-rack but I think the bikes should reverse in, D-lock the rear triangle and chain/cable the front wheel and main triangle.

 

[Ganymede]

About the only high-density stands looking worth a damn seem to be http://www.cyclespaces.com/en/products/bicycle-parking/wave-rack but I think the bikes should reverse in, D-lock the rear triangle and chain/cable the front wheel and main triangle.

Those look good.

I suspect the wheelbenders are like a lot of cycling infrastructure - cheap, visible to box-tickers and installed on the instructions of non-cyclists... blue paint on the road, anyone?

 

[mjr]

Oh I think wheelbenders are worse than that: even some cyclists think they are OK until someone pringles their wheel The manufacturers should be stopped from selling that junk.

Wheelbenders fail to meet the Parking Standards for Norfolk since 2007, but it's still an uphill struggle to get the council officers not to discharge the related parking planning conditions until they fit something compliant. Campaigners have to watch them like hawks and we've not enough volunteer time to catch everything.