Bike stands: could they be improved?

Metrobest

Does anybody share my complaint that bicycle parking stands on Dublin's streets are impractical and badly designed? I'm talking about the ones that look like a 'D'; usually located at the edge of the footpath. They do not make use of the space available and it can be hard to lock your bike when another is parked on the 'other side' of the stand. Provision is woefully inadequate, and sometimes they are so badly designed you have to stand in the street, in busy traffic, to lock your bike. Who is responsible for this farce?

Enduro

Are you critisising the stands, or their positioning?

I have no problem with the stands themselves. They are easy to secure a bike to using multiple different methods. They are rock solid. I've never had a problem with them that wouldn't have been worse on every other bike stand design I've used. Simply put, I haven't seen a better design. Have you?

robfitz

For the cyclist the D shaped bicycle stand has a good securing options and good
support. For the councils the D shaped bicycle stand has a compact footprint and is cheap to provide.

It can be difficult to lock your bike, could it be your lock? I use a big cable lock rather then a U-lock and have very few problems, I think it's Specialized's Big Rapper http://www.specialized.com/SBCEqSection.jsp?sid=05EquipLocks.

The positioning of the stands could be improved, there needs to be room for the cyclist to lock there bike safely and for the free flow of pedestrians.

Metrobest

Enduro wrote:

Are you critisising the stands, or their positioning?

I have no problem with the stands themselves. They are easy to secure a bike to using multiple different methods. They are rock solid. I've never had a problem with them that wouldn't have been worse on every other bike stand design I've used. Simply put, I haven't seen a better design. Have you?

Both. From an aesthetic point of view I find them ugly. The positioning can border on insanity; sometimes you have to stand in the road to lock the bicycle.

Again, the better design is to be found on the streets of Amsterdam. In terms of effective use of space, you could probably quadruple the capacity with a different type of stand - the type where one wheel is slightly raised off the ground, then the 'next door' stand is slightly lower. I'm not sure how to describe it. The only example I can think of is at UCD Earlsfort Terrace. The bicycle stands there are excellent!

Robfitz, I use a very chunky chain lock. Very thief-proof. I do find it difficult to lock my bike when there is a bike parked on the 'other side'. The fact that that each stand can handle just 2 bikes - and generally there is only four stands per location - raises important design/capacity issues.

Enduro

I think they are aestheticly excellent. But thats a matter of personal taste, so each to their own! Not much point in debating an emotional reaction.

I haven't had a problem with positioning of any of them that I use. But then, I don't use that many, And I don't doubt Dublin CC's ability to feck that up.

I think I know the type of stands your talking about, and I really dislike them. I like to use 2 locks to secure my bike, one (D-lock) through the chainstays and back wheel, and one (coil) through the main triangle and front wheel. Its very easy to do that with the existing stands. Its not possible to do that with the ones you're describing. Also, because they hold the bike in position by the wheel, it is very easy for the wheel to get damaged by someone bumping into the bike. Wheels don't take side impacts very well. On the current ones the frame takes the impact of anyone bumping the bike.

I totally agree that there needs to be a lot more bike parking facilities. There aren't enough stands around to handle the demand in the City Centre. But I would prefer one good stand to multiple inferior ones.

On a final point, I think Dublin CC adopted this design as their standard after consultation with the Dublin Cycling Campaign, who expressed a preference for the current design.

Metrobest

The ones I'm talking about have a 'slot' for anchoring the wheel, plus a waist-high metal thing for also locking the frame of the bike.

Examples attached. Also examples of the Dutch-style cycle paths which Dublin should learn from.

What has happened to the Dublin Cycling Campaign? Do they still have the monthly cycles? It seems as if they have disapperaed.

Metrobest

More cycle paths...

daymobrew

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dublincyclingcampaign/
AFAIK they are still active, with monthly meetings on the 2nd Monday of each month, in the Ormond Quay Hotel between 7-9pm.

I've never been to one.