What a fantastic concept. 2 parking spaces will hold at least 10 bikes! I wish we could think outside the box.
My fear would be that in this country it would just be seen as a bike vending machine for scroaty little bike thieves. I would only use one in an area that wasn't awful for crime and I would only put my day to day scruffy, inexpensive bike in it and then only in between a couple of bikes that were more desirable than mine. And only if I could see it out of my window. And if it had an alarm. I used to carry my bike up three floors so that I didn't have to lock it in the communal area of the flats where I lived, let alone ...outside. Also I would have to be convinced that it was weather proof as nothing kills bikes faster than being left outside, except perhaps smidsy. I'm saddened to have so many reservations because on the face of it I absolutely love this idea but I think even if people couldn't steal the bikes that in this country they would try to damage them. At the very least they'd get pee'd on.
That would be great. Every new build - particularly flats - should come with those. There is an apartment block near here that does have a covered cycle park though - I think it's student accommodation.
And at the office end of your commute it is possible to get them colour coordinated to suit your office exterior.
I stumbled upon a couple in Lambeth a while ago so at least they're being trialled in the UK. http://www.cyclehoop.com/features/a-first-for-the-uk (Crimsworth Street?*) EDIT * Nay, this is the Crimsworth Road one
Looks to me like the door slides up, sort of like an old fashioned bureau desk. Looking at the possiblity of constructing something in the back garden to do a similar job in which to store the kid's bikes. Not enough space in my shed for all of the bikes if I'm also to make use of it as a workshop so my good bikes are in there and theirs are outside under a tarpaulin.
For new build it's a completely stupid idea. And the more this crap comes to the surface, the easier it will be for developers and housing associations to wriggle off the hook. Cyclopathic is absolutely right - people want their bikes as close to their dwellings as possible, and, preferably inside. 1. Come one, come all. Unless you subdivide the pens with steel mesh, any one of the five people with a key can get in, and, more to the point, somebody'd going to leave it open 2. So......why not individual cycle pens? Because the usage ratio is rubbish, and the solid sided stainless steel ones are great for storing coke. (When one housing association removed a pen, the owners came round the next day and asked for £150,000). 3. The only sensible answer is to design the buildings around bikes - and, when you think about it, that's not so very difficult. A '13 person' lift instead of a ten person lift. Bigger hallways in the flats. Which (surprise, surprise) means that people can take up prams, those little electric mobility scooters and shopping trolleys to their flats. And, again, that doesn't take a lot of extra space - just a bit of thought when planning.
That is so so true. Even those simple bike lifts would be a start in flats (a groove in the housing next to staircases).
I should point out that the real numpties in this are the Borough or City Cycling Officers who ask for dedicated cycle parking in every development, because it justifies their existence. Parking for visitors is fine. If a mobility impaired resident has the type of bike that is never going to get in to a lift (I'm thinkiing non-folding three wheel tandems) then the freeholder should make some arrangement, but ranks and ranks of cycle parking in subterranean garages, which is the first recourse of the planners, isn't clever.
A friend, and neighbour, has converted his house into three flats, two for rent and one for himself. I 'sourced' three steel bike lockers for him and have been advising him about secure installation.
