Bicycle racks

Alternating heights

In most racks the spaces sit at alternating heights: one bike high, the next one low. That is not an aesthetic choice but a practical one. Handlebars and pedals of bikes standing next to each other otherwise catch on one another, and then a rack with ten spaces has six usable ones.

So when you work out capacity, do not count the number of hoops but what actually fits in practice, certainly with the wider handlebars and fatter tyres of today.

E-bikes and cargo bikes

This is the biggest shift of recent years. E-bikes are heavier, which makes two-tier harder without gas-strut assistance. Cargo bikes simply do not fit a standard rack: they need a separate space, wider and longer.

For cargo bikes we supply adapted cycle stands: wider hoops with enough room between them, where a cargo bike or a long bike can be locked by the frame. That is something other than a bike locker or an enclosed cargo-bike box, it is the simple, robust solution that is enough in most public locations. Allow roughly the space of two ordinary bikes per cargo bike, and take account of a wider turning circle when riding in.

Anyone designing cycle parking today without thinking about those two is building a facility that will stand half empty in five years while the bikes lie on the ground beside it.

Locking

A good rack lets you secure the frame, not just the front wheel. A hoop you can get a chain lock around is more theft resistant than a slot that only takes the wheel, and it also protects against the buckled front wheel that results when someone walks into a parked bike.

Material and anchoring

Hot-dip galvanised steel is the standard outdoors: it does not rust through and lasts for decades, even without maintenance. Powder-coated steel is chosen when the colour has to match the rest of the street scene or the building. Stainless steel is the more expensive, sleeker choice.

Anchoring is done into concrete, into existing paving or onto a base plate. On new paving the rack is usually planned in from the start; on an existing square it is drilled and chemically anchored.