Comments on current bicycle racks?

Gets harder and harder to find a spot to lock up my bike these days. Places like downtown movie theatres, restaurants, etc. - they all have a ring or two, but never enough, despite having the room for it. It was only just a couple days ago that I suddenly wondered if the proprietors of those places know they can request the city to install more (and such installations are free).

The design of most bike racks in TO put your bike at risk of getting knocked over and damaged. The ones on the ground are the worst (I've heard them called wheel-benders and for good reason - I never use them). Even the city's ring-and-post stands easily allow your bike to be knocked over by strong winds, or passing cars or people. In this respect it is safest to lock bikes up in parallel racks, side by side, around the height of the crossbar (such as these, but these types of racks are few and far between in the city.

Also, a lot of good bike parking spots are taken up by abandoned bikes (there are many on Bay St alongside the Manulife Centre, and many more on a nearby rack behind the Rabba on Charles St West).

The post-and-ring design works well if cyclists lock their bikes properly. Hal has good advice here, but I've always wondered if the post-and-ring design could do a better job being more intuitive and subconsciously encouraging people to lock up properly.

With only a U-lock, the right thing to do is lock the rear wheel to the post, with the lock inside the frame's rear triangle. This way, the rear wheel cannot be removed, the bike cannot be removed without sawing through the rear wheel (impossible), and your bike doesn't fall over!

Contrary to intuition, you don't have to lock the frame as long as you lock the rear wheel inside the frame's rear triangle.

Securing the front wheel is a good idea too, but front wheels are half the price of rear wheels.

I'll second that: locking the wheel and frame will ensure the bike doesn't fall over. Few racks can prevent a bike from sliding down if you only lock the frame or just a wheel.

This might be my paranoia, but just passing the lock through the rear triangle is still just a slightly more secure way of locking the wheel alone. An enterprising thief would only need to snip a few spokes to get away with the whole bike, unless you've locked the whole rim. Either way, it's easier to cut through a wheel and get a higher resale value for the rest of the bike.

First. About March a YEAR ago the city was about to embark on repairing post and rings which proved vulnerable to trivial attacks with 2x4s. Unwitting bicyclists were left without bicycles despite locking properly.
Rather than increase fastener strength via increasing fastener diameter and/or selecting fasteners of greater resistance to fatigue stress via treating and/or alloying, the city elected to double up rings. This process has failed. New installations in the core appear to include doubled up rings but those installations and/or repairs done more than 2 months ago do not necessarily include doubled up rings.
Which bring us to another point. If you are doing research why are you not doing research. It is one thing to reach out to augment research but quite another to source research via ibiketo.

I appreciate that you guys provide me valuable replies. In fact, I don't research the whole "bicycle parking system" but I have to make a proposal for a new design of the bicycle rack only. So I do need to know what's wrong with the current one. Generally, I knew that there's something not fine with the way the bicycle is supposed to be locked right now. Thanks to you, I have a better insight (which I don't have) in the problem.

So far I see that the bad guys have "total authorities" on our bikes with a slight resistance from the bicycle rack. The fact is that the bike, when locked, is on the ground and sometimes it's difficult to be watched by somebody else.

The usual tool of the thief, I think, is the pincers, which is designed to cut through metal. I still wonder if it can cut through the Kryptonite lock.

I know that in some cases if they couldn't get your bike in one piece, they will break it apart or dissemble it. Anyway, it is awful when your bike is eyed by a bad guy.

I think that security is a priority concern but do you have any issues other than that?

You're right, you have to put the U-lock around your rim and tyre. Spokes are weak.

Put your paranoia at ease - Have you ever tried to cut through a rim? It's damn near impossible, much harder than cutting through a frame, since the spoke tension pulls the cut closed and jams the saw. Plus the rear wheel is the most valuable component after the frame, so destroying it makes the theft much less profitable.

just passing the lock through the rear triangle is still just a slightly more secure way of locking the wheel alone

Think again - locking at the rear wheel where it crosses the frame's rear triangle works the same as locking the frame. Try it sometime - a thief can undo the rear quick release, but it's impossible to take the rear wheel or frame without destroying the rear wheel, the frame, or the lock.

I like the racks under the running track at City Hall. The bike is stored upright, and a metal rod holds it in place, securing both wheels. All you do is lock the metal rods, and the whole bike is secure.

Check them out sometime.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

Unless the pincers are mechanically assisted, no they can't get through a crypto lock. Thieves either saw through, or use leverage to break/twist it off.

http://fixedxorbroken.blogspot.com/2009/10/whoa-i-know-loc...

**** The problem with the vertical racks is they don't fit bikes with unusual wheelbases - BMX or Flying Pigeon, for example. And in some cases, they don't fit bikes with fenders.

Add to that the difficulty they pose for children and smaller people, and they're far from winners.

Personally, I prefer the well built "CORA" style racks that most downtown buildings seem to use. They're easy to lock to, don't threaten your wheels, and are about a solid as they come. Now if only I could convince the TD Centre to stop moving them around!

I lock up with a kryptonite u lock locking the rear wheel and frame to the rack, using a cable lock to secure my front wheel.

U Locks can still be compromised with a hacksaw or leverage (bottle jack), but its safer than a cable lock.

If a thief wants your bike, they will get it, no matter how many locks you use. The best way to protect your bike is to have it locked better than the other bikes around it. Locking up a super flashy bike in the city is a bad idea.

To the people talking about locking the rear rim through the rear triangle, yes in theory this method works, but do bike thiefs know this? Most likely if you lock up like this, some crackhead will think its an easy steal, undo you rear wheel, then proceed to bend the sh*t out of you bike & wheel in an attempt to remove it.

As already stated above, the city posts are absolute shite. They're alright for short grocery store lockups, but I would never use one for an extended period or overnight since the bolts shear right off with a little leverage applied to the ring. (Right behind my building are three posts with no rings for this very reason).

I usually lock to street posts, or the tube on the multi garbage/recycle boxes found downtown.

For your bike rack design- the ring and post would be alright if they were really securely welded or had more/stronger bolts.

With more and more people using bicycles as a means of transportation, why would any business remove bicycle parking? Well, the CIBC building at King and Bay has done just that. Where there were once several bicycle racks there is now a big empty patio with planters. If I had an account at CIBC, I would be writing to them to threaten to close it, in response to their callous disregard for customer needs.

A few weeks ago, I requested that the Toronto Humane Society (Queen & River Streets) put in bicycle parking. I buy my pet food there and it is always a challenge to find parking. There are usually two bicycles locked to the wooden bench in front. I was told that the organization head "doesn't believe in bike racks". Huh?

Maybe it is time to actively boycott businesses that are disrespectful to cyclists.

In that case, somebody should indeed assure them that Bike Racks do exist.

What a bizarre stance. Doesn't believe in them? You could always put a request in to the City of Toronto to put some ring posts near by, or how about sending this info to The Toronto Star or other media. I'm sure they'd be interested in the Society's very puzzling policy.

I can confirm that what you need to do is lock your bike up more securely than the next one over. I had gotten into the habit of threading K cable thru both wheels and the post, and just using my U-lock to secure the two ends of the cable, because it was quick and easy. Went to a movie early Sunday evening, and came back to find the cable neatly cut and my bike gone, because the cable was the only thing securing the bike.

Now, with my new bike, I'm always using my best u-lock for the rear wheel, frame, and post, and a second not-so-nice one for the front wheel and frame.

That bizarre weirdness needs to be forwarded to newspapers

hi

really this is true there is no quality and secure "bicycle parking system" but if any one make a proposal for a new design of the bicycle rack that's good and it's demanding from bikers. thx for great initiative. i bought Italian Bikes when i was in italy but there was no secure system for bikers then i sold them out on cheap prices. i was not happy that day.

I live in Ward 6 (Etobicoke Lakeshore). The Bike racks in my ward are inconsistent.

The No Frills in Mimico has a usable bike rack. The one at Browns Line does not. It is a spoke buster. The one at the Valu Mart on Lakeshore is too small for my 27 inch wheels. It is mainly used to tie dog leashes to.

Similarily the libraries in Mimico and Long Branch have good bike racks and are used. The New Toronto branch has an unusable one and is not used. I have talked to the librarian there and they are unwilling to do anything about it. A great attitude from a City of Toronot site that can get free racks.

Many community spaces have little or no bike parking. What they have is good though. James Bell school has space for 6 bikes. That includes the community center attached to it. Most of the schools have little or no bike parking.This is quite consistent with the school boards efforts to dissuade children from cycling to school.

A consistent style of bike racks would be helpful. No Frills and Valu Mart are the ones who are trying, they are just doing it poorly. I have written about this to Councillor Grimes who is also head of the Toronto Small Business Association. His website says " Councillor Mark Grimes is committed to building a community with an active, liveable lifestyle. Etobicoke-Lakeshore offers its residents and visitors the beauty of waterfront parks, a flourishing arts community and the use of outstanding recreational facilities". Adequate bike parking would help.

Hi,
I am another UofT Engineering student. Currently we are working on a project of designing a new bike parking system to replace 16000 post-and-ring. It is rather a simulating project for us to practice. I hope this clears the whole explanation how this topic started.
Your comments are extremely helpful, some of which, my team never thought about.
I have been using my bike in Canada for more than 3 years. So, this topic becomes very interesting because I never got it stolen nor I was annoyed by this bike stand. I love biking. Anyhow, it will be cool if we can share our design(s) with you after this school term.

a comment: I hacksawed my bike's lock (the key just didn't work) 2 weeks ago, during the day, on king's college street. It took me more than 15 minutes, luckily I didn't get into trouble with the campus police. I meant, what if I were a thief dressing like a student? of course, I would do it quicker.

The ring-and-post style racks are very poorly designed. Not only do they have a built in weak point that has already been commented on, but they can't accommodate more than two bikes (sometimes even more than one, depending on how a person has locked their bike). The most effective design I've seen is a type frequently installed in Chicago. It's a simple design: a one piece, squared-off arch, anchored firmly into the pavement at both ends. With a little effort you can lock up to four bikes to a single rack.

Here's an example:

http://letsgorideabike.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/its-amazin...

The other issue that needs to be addressed is more effective monitoring and removal of derelict bikes from racks.

Toronto Bike Plan

1) Expand the basic bicycle parking program to serve all public cycling destinations;

2) Develop and provide enhanced bicycle parking facilities which provide security from theft and protection from the elements;

3) Require and encourage the private sector to provide bicycle resume parking at their buildings;

4) Develop effective strategies to prevent bicycle theft.

Did Carey Chen leave Urbane? I haven't seen him around, and just noticed he's not listed on the "staff" page of their web site. I wanted to ask him how his Tikit has held up.

I hope he's okay and all.