41–50 of 240 posts
> Sexy?
> No.
> Doesn’t pass the simplicity test and completely unnecessary.
If the only complaints about an "art" style installation are that it isn't simple or the absolute minimum, that sounds like a major win.
This is a very angry person. He claims he's going to explain why the alternatives are crap. The first he starts off OK. I've never seen this specific design, but fine, you can't securely lock your bike. No explanation on what "securely" means (presumably at least two locks, one through each wheel) He talks about "wheel benders", but doesn't explain what makes them deserve such a name. It goes downhill from there. Num…
(Also: it's called a "wheel bender" because it can bend your wheel. It deserves the name because it does that, sometimes.)
There's an American firm called Forms+Surfaces that has a whole catalog full of terrible, weird bike racks. They must have a lot of mindshare among architects apparently because their junk keeps popping up all over California. Nobody who has ever used a bicycle would choose them but they keep showing up anyway. Here's a fun tweet where local well-known cyclist rips them out of the pavement with his bare hands. https:…
It's probably a safe bet that, in many municipalities, the city planners see cyclists as a nuisance and are solely interested in doing what (they think) will shut them up. They also might see normal looking bike racks as an eyesore, hence sloppy installations combined with useless designs.
In my car-centric city (southeast USA, population ~125k) when I visit private property with no bicycle parking, I try to find the owner and offer to install one of these just for the cost of materials. The idea being, they can put in another one when they see more than one customer on a bicycle at the same time. It's very cheap, less than 100 bucks typically as I have the requisite tools in my garage to make them fro…
[1] https://www.thieme-stadtmobiliar.com/de/produkte/fahrradstae...
While the overall point of simple racks being better definitely stands, the premise that a bike needs two locks is just silly and impractical. Get wheel locks for your bikes - pinhead, hexlox (my favorite), etc. If your wheels are secured to the frame you just need to lock the frame with one lock/chain. Takes way less time to park and you dont need to lug multiple 5lb locks (unfortunately thats how heavy secure locks…
In my car-centric city (southeast USA, population ~125k) when I visit private property with no bicycle parking, I try to find the owner and offer to install one of these just for the cost of materials. The idea being, they can put in another one when they see more than one customer on a bicycle at the same time. It's very cheap, less than 100 bucks typically as I have the requisite tools in my garage to make them fro…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They don't work for many bicycle geometries[1]. Small vs large frames, small vs large wheels, wide vs narrow tyres, tricycles, tandem bikes, cargo bikes, recumbent bikes, hand-cranked bikes etc. Also if they are too finicky about the exact way you lock the bike (particular orientation, particular lock-point) it can be hard to make it work when there are obstacles (such as other bikes). The Sheffield stand makes the f…
You're supposed to fix the frame to the stand, why are you just attaching the wheel? Wheel "grabbers" (usually just called 'fietsenrek') are pretty common in the Netherlands, especially the 2 level ones, because they allow the greatest number of bikes in a small area. This does have some downsides obviously, but in the Netherlands 'largest number of bikes' tends to outweigh other concerns.
This is a very angry person. He claims he's going to explain why the alternatives are crap. The first he starts off OK. I've never seen this specific design, but fine, you can't securely lock your bike. No explanation on what "securely" means (presumably at least two locks, one through each wheel) He talks about "wheel benders", but doesn't explain what makes them deserve such a name. It goes downhill from there. Num…
In my car-centric city (southeast USA, population ~125k) when I visit private property with no bicycle parking, I try to find the owner and offer to install one of these just for the cost of materials. The idea being, they can put in another one when they see more than one customer on a bicycle at the same time. It's very cheap, less than 100 bucks typically as I have the requisite tools in my garage to make them fro…
If I was an owner, I'd have a lot of problems with this just because I'd be worried there'd be some regulation I was violating that would get me fined.
I say probably because, knowing this country, I am positive someone can find a municipality that bans storeowners from putting bike stands on their property.