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In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

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Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#61

Post by blamazon »

aaronblohowiak wrote: post #47
blamazon wrote: post #31

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…

all you need is a pipe bender, right?

For the simplest case yes, a way of bending big pipe and some way to make two big holes in the ground to then cement the thing in. (Or similar) But it quickly gets complicated - making smaller holes in concrete type surfaces is easier, less intrusive, less permanent than making bigger holes, which can lead to the flange method, but then you need some way to make or buy flanges, and then stick them onto the pipe. I make my own flanges out of plate and weld them on but you could go with threaded flanges, I think Home Depot (or similar) can thread high diameter pipe for you.

You can also skip the pipe bender by mitering two pipes together with a welder or doing like a pie cut thing. I do that kind of thing for pipe that's harder to bend - bend it to 45deg, miter cut and weld to 90 is a common technique for me. If you look up how DIY car exhausts are fabricated there's a lot of relevant tricks there. With a grinder and some elbow grease you can make it look like it was never welded.

For the finishing touch it's nice to have a friend with a galvanizing and powder coating shop :)

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#62

Post by wffurr »

jeffbee wrote: post #16

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:…

Those particular racks don't seem awful other than the way they're (not) secured to the pavement.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#63

Post by ghostly_s »

mrsuprawsm wrote: post #37

For most bike "racks" here in NL it seems like the primary purpose is not security, but just having somewhere to lean bikes against and give people a sensible place to park their bikes (as opposed to "in a huge pile") Most people don't bother physically locking their regular city bikes to anything (only using a ring lock on the bike itself), primarily cheap beater bikes but also there's a guy in my street with a €200…

No one locks their bikes in Japan, either. According to Wikipedia this is thanks to "strong policing and general public disregard for stolen items." I can certainly say I've never heard of a US police department doing anything proactive in response to a reported bike theft.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#64

Post by Rechtsstaat »

levpopov wrote: post #39

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…

Well, I'd say that two locks are nice to have, if not entirely necessary. You can quickly use just the ring lock if you're hopping in and out of a store, and get out the larger one to lock your frame when you're storing your bike for a longer period.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#65

Post by ghostly_s »

spencerflem wrote: post #57

I really like this style of bike racks: https://www.wuft.org/news/files/2019/10/ElectricScooter-1024... (Don't know the name) It lets two fit in next to each other by raising the wheel of one, and the wheel locks means it just slots in so nicely. Plus a raised part for the lock

And impossible to lock your frame except with a useless cable.

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#66

Post by blamazon »

ghostly_s wrote: post #56
aaronblohowiak wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

all you need is a pipe bender, right?

I didn't know pipe benders capable of bending 3" dia steel tubing were accessible to a garage shop. you also need to weld mounting flanges.

I have a pipe bender that looks kinda like this but sideways and yellow and mounted on a tripod. I bought it from a guy who does water-suppression system installs for warehouses.

https://www.harborfreight.com/16-ton-hydraulic-pipe-bender-6...

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#67

Post by contravariant »

_dain_ wrote: post #26
contravariant wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> You're supposed to fix the frame to the stand, why are you just attaching the wheel? Are we talking about the same kind? I mean these pieces of junk: https://twitter.com/PPushbike/status/1511404994007900160

That one is positioned weirdly high (and not to the ground) though well within the range of the chain attached to the front (which the bike needs to attach securely since it seems to be missing a horizontal bar)

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#68

Post by stereoabuse »

saila wrote: post #18
jmclnx wrote: post #11

I have never seen a Sheffield stand where I live, but far better than what we have. The only way to lock a bike to the ones here is to take up 5 or 6 lock points since these are designed only to lock your wheel to them. Have a ulock ? Find a sign.

Not sure what kind of racks you have but for some back-in parking might be easier than front-in. I try to lock one of the back tubes and wheel if possible. I'm also a fan of the Sheldon Brown lockup strategy[1]. There's also a modified version that may be more secure[2]. [1] https://sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html [2] http://www.802bikeguy.com/2011/07/the-modified-sheldon-brown...

I too use this Sheldon Brown style but, because my main NYC commute bicycle has quick release front and back, I pop off my front wheel and position it adjacent to the rear one so the u-lock can go around both as well as the the stand (which is more than likely a parking sign post). Takes 5 seconds, saves me carrying a second lock, and no wheels stolen in 15 years of Manhattan and Brooklyn cycling!

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#69

Post by twelvechairs »

mrsuprawsm wrote: post #37

For most bike "racks" here in NL it seems like the primary purpose is not security, but just having somewhere to lean bikes against and give people a sensible place to park their bikes (as opposed to "in a huge pile") Most people don't bother physically locking their regular city bikes to anything (only using a ring lock on the bike itself), primarily cheap beater bikes but also there's a guy in my street with a €200…

In the UK you absolutely need security - London especially anything not held down will be stolen quickly. Battery powered jigsaws to go through locks and chains, bikes stripped of components, etc. Its a whole different world from the safety of NL

Granted some of this is because of a culture of more expensive bikes but still if you used a beater bike it wouldnt be safe either

Re: In praise of the humble Sheffield stand

#70

Post by dylan604 »

blamazon wrote: post #61
aaronblohowiak wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

all you need is a pipe bender, right?

For the simplest case yes, a way of bending big pipe and some way to make two big holes in the ground to then cement the thing in. (Or similar) But it quickly gets complicated - making smaller holes in concrete type surfaces is easier, less intrusive, less permanent than making bigger holes, which can lead to the flange method, but then you need some way to make or buy flanges, and then stick them onto the pipe. I ma…

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