Recently there are many people coming by bicycle to our company.
I would like to solve the problem about where they should park their bikes.
Do you have any suggestion about what type of bike racks are suitable for us?
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2This is confusing. The titular question would be closed because it's a shopping question, but it is different to the question in the body. Also, you just answered a question about this. So please edit to clarify. And take the tour and read How to Ask.– andy256Commented Sep 9, 2016 at 7:41
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5Just a word of recommendation. Don't get the bike racks that sit on the ground and only let you lock your front wheel. This style of bike rack works much better.– KibbeeCommented Sep 9, 2016 at 13:12
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1You can buy some from Uline. The key part is to make sure the racks are set securely enough that they can't be removed easily. If you live in an area where cycling is common, you probably can find a contractor who has experience with installing racks properly.– BatmanCommented Sep 9, 2016 at 14:05
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4Voting to leave open - yes its kind-of a shopping question as stated and very regionalised. However I see it as also asking about what style of bike rack will work best. We all use bike racks sometime, and there are good and bad styles.– Criggie ♦Commented Sep 10, 2016 at 1:57
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1The question is ill-defined. Are you talking 5 bikes or 500? Are there security issues, issues with regard to storage out of the weather, etc? Is this just a "experiment" to be done on a limited budget or a committed plan with a big budget to install fancy racks?– Daniel R HicksCommented Nov 4, 2016 at 0:26
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6 Answers
As someone who rides their bike everywhere I have experienced a great many types of bike rack. In my opinion the best choice is a Sheffield Stand.
Image Copyright David Wright CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
They are cheap, simple and readily available to purchase. When installing them make sure they are far enough apart so that riders have enough room to comfortably part and lock their bike.
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As others have said, avoid anything that holds the wheels. These provide poor locking options and don't easily accommodate bikes with different sizes of tyre. They can also damage rims and spokes.
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What I like about this type of design is that one can use two U locks to lock the front wheel and back wheel and frame separately. Note: bike in foreground appears to not be locked at all! Commented Sep 15, 2016 at 17:36
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2These look good except the ones at the end of the row should have a horizontal part near the ground so blind people can feel it with a cane before they almost walk into it.– bdslCommented Oct 3, 2016 at 22:45
One company that our city gets most of it's racks from is Dero. They have a variety of styles. Alternatively, Uline wave and u-shaped bike racks as suggested by Batman.
My personal preference for racks is a bunch of U racks, a 'coathanger' style rack, or a wave rack in that order. I'm looking for a rack that I can ulock the frame to and secure both wheels with a cable and hold multiple bikes in close proximity.
When Installing parking racks, be sure not to put them too close to the wall so that it eliminates 1/2 of the rack's capacity. I see this a lot with coat hanger style racks, which can be loaded from 2 sides, but are often butted against a wall, so they have 1/2 the possible capacity.
Whatever you do, don't ever get toaster racks like these. There is no good way to use a ulock on them. They wind up forcing users to park bikes in awkward ways to lock securely.
Photo by Steve Vance
If your company has the space, I recommend allocating indoor space with a double decker style of rack to maximize space.
My company took a 20ft x 75ft space and installed a two level rack, lockers, a bathroom with shower and bike work stand. It gets filled up everyday with commuters, no locks needed (the door from the outside needs their office key card), out of the elements and tools to fix any issues.
answered Nov 3, 2016 at 14:33
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Nice, but I'd dispute "no locks needed" as thieves can follow people through or use stolen cards (even assuming you trust all your colleagues completely). There are bikes that don't fit all positions on one of these racks, and some people struggle with the top even though it slides down (e-bikes especially)– Chris HCommented Nov 3, 2016 at 17:21
I think you're approaching this the wrong way. Come up with a design on paper that fits your requirements, then find a local fabrication company to weld up what you want.
Features you could consider
- Design - How to protect the whole bike, not just the front wheel.
- Visitors - is this for just staff or do you have customers?
- Convenience - spacing between bikes, how to hold funny-bikes like folders, metro bikes, big bikes, fatbikes. Wheel width varies hugely too.
- Comfort - Is this a roofed area or otherwise protected from weather?
- Power - Charging an electric bike in the stand?
- Security - how will the rack be fastened to the ground so that it can't be stolen full of bikes.
- Cage - Some places have a communal bike "cage" with a locked gate.
- Finish - powdercoating or galvanised or chromed.
- Beauty - incorporate your company name/logo into the design, and it might be a feature out the front of the building, not tucked away around the back for staff-only.
Once your design is finished, contact a metalworking company to price it. They may make suggestions.
I've secured my bike to "toaster racks" shown above. The significant issue with the one above is that it is too close to the road for a biker to use it properly without their tire being in the road.
Also, Arlington VA has a nice website on the subject. It also discusses spacing, etc. http://www.commuterpage.com/pages/special-programs/tdm-for-site-plans/bicycle-parking-standards/#mistakes
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Consider adding a paragraph or two to summarise the main points in the linked site, so that if it goes away, a future reader will still know what you meant.– Criggie ♦Commented Nov 3, 2016 at 19:41
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No. The significant issue with "toast racks" is that they are fundamentally broken. First, the only way to have a hope of securely parking a bike is to lock the frame to an immovable object. Toast racks, when used as the manufacturer intends, make this impossible: you can only lock a wheel to the rack, or lock the wheel to the frame. Wheels are trivial to remove (just look at all the bike racks you see that have a wheel locked to them that's not attached to a bike) and, if no part of the bike is locked to anything immovable, the whole thing can be stolen and the lock cut off later. Commented Nov 3, 2016 at 22:36
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Second, if the bicycle is held vertical by putting the wheel into some gap, then knocking the bike puts a lot of force on that wheel, risking bending it or otherwise damaging it. When used as intended, toast racks are not secure and they damage bikes. Commented Nov 3, 2016 at 22:38
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(update) You can checkout some design under wikipedia bicycle parking rack page.
the easiest way is google "buy bicycle parking rack".
Depends on region, there may not be "ready made" for mass bicycle parking near your local bicycle shop. You need to find workshop that fabricate those rack/stand/pole/etc.
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6I don't know what country you're in but there in the UK that's simply not true. There are designs than can be delivered from stock for you to screw to the ground/wall yourself right up to systems that need to be built on site by the manufacturer -- but still ready made. From what I've seen on the streets the same is true in most of Europre and North America.– Chris HCommented Sep 9, 2016 at 10:45
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Saris makes ready to bolt in stands that can be ordered from LBS. (US)– Nate WCommented Sep 15, 2016 at 15:03