The Evolution Of Bike Racks
The Evolution Of Bike Racks
The evolution of bike racks on campus — anything that's ever been tried has been tried here.
This community has a lot of posts about the means of mobility, so I was reminded of this article about how bike racks have changed over the decades, at least ones that show up in the USA.
More micromobility options means racks will have to evolve to meet new needs, like accommodating cargo ebikes and the like. I post this so that everyone knows that better bike racks do exist, as many destinations have the older, terrible styles that were barely usable. Where you can, advocate for better bike racks and everyone will benefit!
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Sheffield racks are the peak of bicycle parking designs as far as I'm concerned. Basically the upside down U-design, but wider, providing multiple locking points, and allowing a slight lean to balance the bicycle upon.
I ride a step-through frame, and wholeheartedly agree, Sheffield racks are the most accessible and easy design I've seen. Though they are not the most efficient for mass bike parking, they are one of the only designs I've seen work for almost every type of bike, including front load cargo bikes and recumbent bikes.
Steadyrack's can suck a dick. I know they're great for the types of bikes they're designed for, but my bike is 20kg, they say "no heavy lifting" but you need to physically lift the frame off the ground. Fortunately I can lift my frame... But I'm not tall enough to lift my bike off the ground by the handle bars as this rack requires you to do, and because it's a step through frame the centre of gravity isn't ideal for the rack and my bike juts out at weird angles preventing someone using the neighbouring rack if they're installed too closely (which they always are)
So if that's my only option, I'm the asshole locking my bike to a weird part of the fence instead of the designated bike rack.
TIL Sheffield rack is the name of the wider U rack.
TIL Steadyrack. In California, we only see those in very space constrained places, like indoor bike parking. Or onboard a train. Otherwise, yeah, they're not preferred.
Yeah, the only thing place I see Steadyracks is at high density paid secure bike parking facilities, the basements of large office blocks with a large cycling culture among tenants, or onboard regional and semi-long haul trains
(our metropolitan trains have no bike zones at all, you're expected just to stand up and hold your bike in the rear cab where wheelchairs would sit if it were the front cab, which is fine but some of our lines are 40-50 minutes long so it's a long time to be standing and balancing my heavy frame, especially because I'm too short to reach the overhead grip rail)
A different poster referred to those as the Sheffield rack. In California, we do see those occasionally, but they suffer from a similar issue from my earlier comment. The design certainly allows for more compatibility with various bike designs, but I would add some sort of painted marking in the ground to encourage slightly-angled parking.
After all, if one bike with wide panniers is parked parallel with the Sheffield rack, it may deny a second bike from parking on the other side. If the first bike were locked to the vertical post but angled away from the rack, the second bike can do the same, allowing two to park.