Comments on She Rides a Bike: Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Bike Rack Band

As another Louisville cyclist, I can attest to the...

2009-11-01T14:44:06.522-08:00

As another Louisville cyclist, I can attest to the unevenness of bike rack placement around town. Many racks downtown are so artsy, you might be hesitant to use them, and others are too small for more than two or three bikes at a time. And few of them are sheltered in any way. I'd like to see more spaces with a degree of protection to extend the life of my chain, deraileurs, and other moving parts!

My employer has a bike rack in the executive parking garage, and cyclists are permitted to use it free of charge. However, the PARC garage across the street - where I have employer-subsidized auto parking - has grumpy signs about "NO BICYCLES" at the entrances, although there are several areas that would be perfect for bike racks.

Great observations! I definitely prefer the undul...

2009-11-01T07:16:20.705-08:00

Great observations! I definitely prefer the undulating rack to the other design, which provides zero stability. I never use them for all the reasons identified. Perhaps a little signage could have partially overcome the location factor but I would not have used the racks with the rings. For work, when a rack is full I usually just put my bike in a vacant office, often leading to questions about how I am able to bike wearing nice clothes.

Would be nice to dress up in a disguise and, under...

2009-10-31T17:52:31.435-07:00

Would be nice to dress up in a disguise and, under the cover of night, re-distribute the lonely empty racks to places where they are needed : )

I was thinking along a similar line as Carlos. The...

2009-10-31T12:11:48.513-07:00

I was thinking along a similar line as Carlos. The top rack is so close to the wall that you could only lock a bike to the very ends; you would not be able to push the front (or back) wheel of your bike through the stand to be able to lock the frame, not the wheel.
It also looks like the one in parking garage is of a similar configuration.
Good for those places to try tho'. So many can't be bothered.

Another reason the first rack pictured above may b...

2009-10-30T17:49:39.774-07:00

Another reason the first rack pictured above may be shunned is that its design tends to be harsh on rims; whether accidentally or intentionally, it doesn't take much to knock over a bike locked to one of these, and the rider will often return to find his/her rim in need of serious truing (or worse). Undulating racks (like the full one pictured) and good old sturdy signposts are preferable because it allows you to secure the frame to the post rather than just the wheel. With a U-lock securing the frame, a potential thief may see the task of cutting a cable to steal wheels or a saddle as not worth the risk. But if that U-lock is only gripping the tire and the cable is securing the rest of the bike, it's much more tempting to come in with bolt cutters and steal the rest of the bike. I've seen so many of those wheel-bender racks with only a front or back wheel locked to them, and I'm sure some thief made off with the rest of the bicycle.

Welcome Sushi K! Great points about the bike rack...

2009-10-29T22:10:08.613-07:00

Welcome Sushi K! Great points about the bike racks. The first few are not even real bike racks, as it would be impossible to lock the frame to the actual rack unless you can get a parking spot on the very end. So much room for parking cars, so little room for parking bikes. Too bad.