Suggestions for outdoor commercial (security/parking) stands

Question

I'm looking for suggestions for space efficient stands for parking multiple bikes.

A sports club (not cycling) for which I sit on the committee is looking to solve a bit of a problem. At the moment many people come to train in the evenings/weekend by bike and end up piling them up in one of the gym rooms. This has been mostly fine because it's dry, relatively secure and they aren't really in the way. The numbers are increasing, though, and ''something has to be done''.

So we're on the search for some stands. We have an amount of outside space that can host some racks, but we want to buy something that can maximise the numbers held, while hopefully still allowing random access (i.e. any bike can be taken away at any time by its owner).

The current suggestion is http://www.esedirect.co.uk/p-2246-the-s-stand-bike-rack.aspx - we've space for about five of these style (i.e. ten bikes).

I feel sure that we must be able to fit more bikes into the space.

So without knowing the dimensions within which we must work, I'm looking for a few candidate types of solutions which are particularly space efficient.

Edit

The main problem I think with these 'S' stands that have been proposed is that, when placed against a wall, I think that the asymmetric nature will mean that, when busy, the slot facing the wall is likely to not be used.

I must admit that my initial reaction is that you have to argue as to why to not just get the Sheffield stand. The wall mounted option looks like an interesting idea and that was certainly the kind of response I was hoping to get!

Answer 1

It is hard to beat a “Sheffield” stand, as they make it easy to lock the bike and don’t bend your wheels if the bike is knocked over.

Cambridge Cycling Campaign did a good write up on the options.

Answer 2

If you need to fit a large number of bikes into a small(ish) space, hanging them on the wall is usually the best option.

The simplest and cheapest route is to mount hooks into the studs which will normally be at 16" centers. If you want different spacing you can mount a header like a 2x6 or 2x8 to the to the wall and attach the hooks to the header.

We have a bike cage in our parking garage that we patterned after the plan below. By offsetting the racks/hooks we have space for 18 bikes in what used to be one oversize parking space.

The plan and rack are from CycleSafe, and I really like that "tray" style of rack. I have seen similar rack arrangements at a few local businesses where the racks are mounted to the outside of the building. This style of wall rack is also nice because you can secure your bike with a standard "U" or cable lock.

Answer 3

The recently opened Berkeley Bike Station has a few of these, and I've been quite impressed:

They're really easy to use, and are the highest bike/sqft solution I've seen. They also have some of the less fancy ones, which are similar to the solution suggested by Gary.Ray:

Answer 4

The Dutch cycling association has instituted a quality mark for bicycle stands called Fietsparkeur (a contraction of the Dutch words for bicycle (fiets), parking (parkeren) and quality mark (keurmerk)). Getting the mark means the stand:

• doesn't damage your bike directly
• allows bikes to be removed easily
• is vandalism proof

Fietsparkeur has a site with a single page with English information, a list of manufacturers and an overview of various bicycle parking stands. The model called "tulip" produced by VelopA is my favorite. It is used for the streetside bicycle parking facilities near almost all Dutch train stations.

The first one linked by Zigdon here is very nice, the best for space efficiency I would say, but not suited for a public space because they can be wrecked relatively easily. If they'll be behind a fence during the night you should be fine.

Finally, to boost the credibility of my suggestions, check here for reference material about the type of issues we're dealing with in The Netherlands.

Answer 5

Just another idea (plus the ones already shown):

Some time ago I figured out the best way to store my bikes at home is to put them side by side with the front wheel sligtly turned, about 30 or 45 degrees. So I put a bike against the wall, with front wheel pointing slightly to the wall.

The second bike goes the same position, leaning against the first, so that the handlebars don't interfere with each other, and the front wheels form a ////| pattern (last vertical line is the wall).

This principle can be expanded to optimize space in any kind of bike rack, but last week I went to a place where the bike rack was only a single horizontal rail placed 1,5 meter above the ground. Then the bikes were hanging in the same position I explained here, the rail stucked behind the fork crown. The rear wheels were still in the ground, with the bikes tilted around 60° in the "wheelie" position.

I was afraid to damage the painting, but surprisingly it was extremely simple and "comfortable" to hang the bike and close the lock, while saving a lot of space for the rack owner. A simple plastic cover on the rail would make that the perfect bike rack, in my opinion (except for recumbents or tandems).

Answer 6

If you are looking for more modern solutions since you have double tier parking systems nowadays such as this one:

Figure: "Fietsparkeersytemen" from VConsyst.

This system makes it easy to have 10 bicycles in a small space. A gas cylinder in the top rack makes it easier to lift.