CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Bicycle racks - suppliers

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  1. Rosie
    Member

    Can anyone recommend a good supplier of bicycle racks in Edinburgh? This is for a golf club. Capacity - 6/8.

    Definition of a good cycle rack here:-

    http://bikeportland.org/2015/02/06/comment-week-43-words-perfectly-define-good-bike-parking-134258

    "A good bike rack provides two points of contact to hold up the bike, allows you to lock the frame and the wheel with a U-lock, works for all types of bikes, and organizes bicycles so they do not block the pedestrian space. Toast racks don’t allow for the frame to be locked, and don’t have 2 points of contact. Ribbon racks don’t have 2 points of contact and often end up blocking pedestrian space."

    Posted 9 years ago #

  2. Kim
    Member

    I don't see why they object to Toast racks, as along with Sheffield Stands, these are some of the most common from of cycle parking around. For something visually more interesting I would suggest the Car Bike Port Lite or Car Bike Port.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  3. ih
    Member

    Hi @Rosie. I can't recommend a supplier yet, but I'll research. The best example of bike racks I've seen and used in Edinburgh is at Sainsburys Gorgie Road - simple good quality Sheffield racks, well installed and well spaced with no impediments to locking up through frame and front wheel - perfect. There are other good examples such as outside John Lewis on Leith Street. Whatever, strongly recommend AGAINST the toast rack style which are crap - sorry.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  4. Rosie
    Member

    Agree about the toast rack. There's one at my dentist's and they're awkward and almost useless.

    ih - if you have some info I'd be very grateful.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  5. fimm
    Member

    What are "toast racks? The same as wheelbenders?

    Posted 9 years ago #

  6. wingpig
    Member

    Toast racks are floor-mounted wheel twisters, as opposed to wall-mounted butterfly wheel twisters. Great for preventing a D-lock being used as anything other than a big padlock for a cable. Prevalence does not mean quality or usefulness, just that they're probably cheap.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  7. gembo
    Member

    Are toast racks the ones on the stem that allow baker's boy type baskets?

    Do any of these racks take 40kg children (previously described as small with mothers cycling the bike wearing boden bourgeois clothing?)

    Ah not Blackburn racks at all. Yes toast tracks you can get at the big red barn in elsrickle, the owne r brings them out and you can park you bikes.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  8. Morningsider
    Member

    Rosie - you could try the following:

    Broxap: http://www.broxap.com/shelters/cycle-shelters-cycle-storage.html

    Falco: http://www.falco.co.uk/

    Cyclehoop: http://www.cyclehoop.com/

    Posted 9 years ago #

  9. ih
    Member

    My definition of toast racks (in accord with other posts on different threads) is that type of stand that purports to be a Sheffield type stand, but usually 3 or 4 individual hoops are connected together at the base by two horizontal bars which are bolted to the ground, a bit like a toast rack really.

    The key problem with them is that the hoops are always so close together that you can't comfortably lock a bike to each side of the hoop, therefore reducing the useful capacity by nearly a half. For an example see Waverley Station platform 3 parking.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  10. Rosie
    Member

    This is what I mean by a toast rack.

    http://bikingintheav.com/2011/06/21/whats-wrong-with-this-bike-rack/

    It's hard to lock your bike's frame to them if you slide the wheel between the bars.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  11. ih
    Member

    I agree Rosie, the type in your link is absolutely useless. Maybe we need some standardised definitions. I still say that my concept of the 'toastrack' type should be avoided in favour of separate Sheffield stands. I'm quite happy to change my definition though to prevent confusion. I (currently) would call the ones in your link 'wheelbenders'.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  12. ih
    Member

    http://www.cyclestorage4less.co.uk/22936_-Cycle-Racks/Sheffield-Toast-Racks.html
    This is what I'd always thought of as toastracks. Do not encourage the proliferation of this type!

    Posted 9 years ago #

  13. fimm
    Member

    Rosie, those are what I call wheelbenders.

    ih, what is the difference between those and a Sheffield Stand? Is it just the fact that they come in units that bolt to the ground, rather than each individual stand being concreted in individually? The stands at the Commonwealth Pool are similar to those in your link, and there is definitely space for two bikes between each stand.

    (I have issues with my Brompton on the Commie racks, because it isn't standard shaped. I try and get a spot on the end of a unit if I can. But as far as I can see, owners of standard sized bikes can get them onto them OK.)

    Posted 9 years ago #

  14. ih
    Member

    Yes fimm, the difference is that they are connected in units, and I could live with that if the individual stands were wide enough apart, but they never are. In addition the toastrack style is often installed too close to a wall (don't ask me why) so you can't get your front wheel forward enough to put the D lock through frame and wheel.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  15. chdot
    Admin

    Toastracks don't have to be too cramped -

    Posted 9 years ago #

  16. DaveC
    Member

    We have an 8? bike toaster rack under the St James centre. As the St James centre is due to be demolished soon, we're installing a vertical bike rack in our building. I'll ask if we will consider selling it as its getting little use.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  17. fimm
    Member

    The Commonweath Pool bike racks are similar to the ones chdot has photographed and there is definitely space for two bikes between them.

    Equally it is possible to install separate stands too close together.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  18. DaveC
    Member

    Ignore my last comment, turns out our bit of St James is not being redeveloped.
    Dave C

    Posted 9 years ago #

  19. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Toastracks don't have to be too cramped

    Yes but if they could not have the horizontal tie protruding at ground level they are even more functional.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  20. fimm
    Member

    Oh yes, I agree that racks where there isn't that ground bar are much better (I said upthread that I find it a real pain with the Brompton). It was just ih said that all rack with that ground bar are also always too close together and I was pointing out that that is not my experience.

    There was also some confusion between "toast racks" and "wheelbenders" going on (I've never come across the expression "toast racks" applied to bicycle parking before this thread)

    Posted 9 years ago #

  21. Arellcat
    Moderator

    A few years ago we installed Sheffield Toastracks from Bailey Streetscene:

    http://www.baileystreetscene.co.uk/street-furniture/cycle-stands/sheffield-toastrack-cycle-stand-334.html

    which are…alright. I would say they're right on the minimum acceptable spacing. If you have, say, a recumbent with a mesh seat, the chances are there won't be space for a bike on the adjacent stand. My usual recommendation is 850mm between centres, 50mm tubing. You can concrete the lateral tubing into the ground and lay gravel on top.

    Shelters were the 'Oxford' type, also from Bailey:

    http://www.baileystreetscene.co.uk/shelters/cycle-shelters/oxford-cycle-shelter.html

    which are nice and bright, until the roofs accumulate moss and grime and need to be cleaned (or not).

    A better shelter, if you have lighting other than directly above, is the Bi-Rak from Glasdon:

    http://www.glasdonshelters.com/bi-rak-tm-cycle-shelter/cycle-shelters/view

    You might consider Glasdon's Cyclone modular Sheffield stand, but the immovability is somewhat suspect:

    http://www.glasdonshelters.com/cyclone-tm-cycle-stand/bike-stands/view

    Posted 9 years ago #

  22. SRD
    Moderator

    "In addition the toastrack style is often installed too close to a wall (don't ask me why) so you can't get your front wheel forward enough to put the D lock through frame and wheel."

    especially if you have a small framed tandem!

    but as others have said, this is not always the case.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  23. kaputnik
    Moderator

    "In addition the toastrack style is often installed too close to a wall (don't ask me why)

    The "designer" bike-shaped bike racks at Tesco Cannonmills are built butting up against the wall on a very narrow sliver of pavement, making them nigh-on useless.

    Infact, almost without exception, any interestingly-shaped or proportioned bike rack is generally useless. You don't see designers coming up with circular or triangular or wavy car parking spaces, so why do they insist on still specifying them for bike racks as something whose aesthetic is beyond pure functionality? Oversized tubes (like those at Meadowbank shopping centre) are also to be avoided as you can't get standard D-locks around them.

    </whinge>

    Posted 9 years ago #

  24. ih
    Member

    Frustrating isn't it? The perfect solution exists, intelligently installed Sheffield stands, and yet how often do you see it?

    The "designer" bike-shaped bike racks at Tesco Cannonmills are built butting up against the wall on a very narrow sliver of pavement, making them nigh-on useless.

    No 'nigh-on' about it. Absolutely useless tosh.

    Okay @fimm the ones at the Commie Pool aren't too bad coming in at 760 mm apart, although 850 mm as recommended above would be easier to use if they were full.

    Most are narrower than this and very awkward. The size zero of toastrack stands has to be Waverley platform 3 which measures up at just 490 mm between centres.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  25. Rosie
    Member

    @ih I checked out the racks at Sainsbury's on the Gorgie Road side and took a pic:-

    http://rosiebell.typepad.com/rosiebell/2015/02/cycle-racksstands.html

    I see what you mean - they're nicely and even elegantly spaced so cyclists wouldn't be running into each other.

    The Westfield Road side aren't as good though they're okay. I use them about once a week and there are always a couple of cycles parked there. Never more than that so you get two to one stand. Their advantage is that they are close to the door and that staff are often hanging around there.

    I stopped off at Sainsbury's in Shandwick Place last night and not so much as a miserable ring or bar.

    Perhaps my "toast racks" is an Americanism.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  26. chdot
    Admin

    "Perhaps my "toast racks" is an Americanism."

    Might originate there, but -

    https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bicycle+toast+racks

    Posted 9 years ago #

  27. Tulyar
    Member

    Glasdon racks were originally a preferred BR design and practically idiot proof for spacing etc

    Shelters are less clever as have to be craned off truck, and only 3 per truck. Then needs major site preparation & concrete

    Bread bin fietstrommels take 5 bikes and are neat - lockable and 2 per car parking space. Generally need minimal site preparation. Fix down the 4 feet and adjust levels.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  28. Falco
    Member

    Hi Rosie,

    Falco manufacture and supply a complete range of cycle racks, stands and shelters.

    Falco manufactured and supplied 220 cycle racks for the recent Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as well as the high-tech cycle counters which have been installed throughout Scotland.

    Do give us a call on 01538 380080 or drop us an email at sales@falco.co.uk if we can help you in any way.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  29. chdot
    Admin

    "The "designer" bike-shaped bike racks at Tesco Cannonmills are built butting up against the wall on a very narrow sliver of pavement, making them nigh-on useless."

    Posted 9 years ago #

  30. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Also look like they've been bolted to the ground using household fixings.

    Posted 9 years ago #

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