If you get to enjoy the seamless efficiency of locking your bicycle to a nice, practical Sheffield Stand or other appropriate cycle rack when you nip to the shops, work or wherever you’re off to, don’t ever take that for granted.
After all, as you’ve almost certainly experienced elsewhere, there appears to be a never-ending conveyor belt of case studies (many of which have attracted much disgusted gawping on this website) showing that while the act of providing a place for people to safely lock their bikes should be oh so simple, it often isn’t.
Why do designers keep trying to create new (and often utterly useless) bike stands when there’s been a perfectly good design available for years? That’s the question we’ll be asking in a future feature. For now, here’s our journey through the worst of the worst. We’ve got plenty to get through so let’s get moving…
The definitely middle-aisle racks…
New Sheffield Stands? Tick. Dedicated cycle parking housed in an aesthetically pleasing wooden structure? Tick. What could possibly go wrong?
Thankfully Aldi acted quickly to sort out these portable bike racks outside its Leamington Spa store, but not before they’d been ridiculed with the full force of the internet. “Someone discovered that the new Aldi hadn’t actually secured their bike stands into the ground and they can just be lifted out,” one local rider raised the alarm, prompting the parking being dubbed “middle-aisle bike stands”.
Not exactly bargain-hunting if you emerge with your low-cost scran only to find your bike (and the rack it was moments ago secured to) has disappeared…
Déjà vu?
On the subject of a good idea poorly executed…
This is the newly installed Edinburgh bike rack which the council this summer insisted “meets design requirements” and “uses standard fixtures”. No, really… that despite an allen key being the extent of ‘machinery’ needed for a would-be thief to get their hands on your pride and joy.
Every bike rack has its thorn
One more for the poorly executed Sheffield Stand collection…
Because nothing says ‘let’s encourage customers to make more journeys to our supermarket by bicycle and reduce car dependency’ quite like… filling their parking spots with plants for sale. Ironically, the cyclist who spotted this had “only a few weeks” earlier been “saying how pleased I was by the providing of adequate cycle parking provision at the front of the store”.
For more from the genre, see also…
.@roadcc like many other retailers, they just DGAF about those who cycle! Seen it with @LidlGB, with @Homebase_uk as well as @TheRangeUK pic.twitter.com/cToaLaFkOV
— @2_Wheeled_Wolf @ mastodon.social 🇪🇺 (@2_Wheeled_Wolf) May 3, 2022
Right, on with the worst, weirdest and wackiest bike racks out there.
The toast rack
An all-time classic. Tell us you’ve never used a bike rack without telling us you’ve never used a bike rack. We had plenty of fun with this last summer…
Hey when you really have to put your toast somewhere safe pic.twitter.com/rhf6UbdU6f
— Bikeview.ca 🚲 🐰 (@bikeviewca) May 5, 2022
The Turkey Twizzler
[Dermot Ryan @dermotryanie / Twitter]
Enough to give Jamie Oliver sleepless nights. Sorry, Lidl, this is your second mention on this list, this time over in Dublin where Dermot told us “one Lidl bike parking facility in my area still uses the design”. Presumably only to be used properly by two people at a time, one at either end (plus any extras with road bike tyres, and a great deal more patience than most, in the middle). A bike rack to answer the question of how can we use as much material as possible while providing minimal spaces?
The banging your head against the wall bike rack
[Peter Hall @Carlislehall / Twitter]
Outside a Tesco in Macclesfield is where you’d need to head to spot this wildcard. I say spot, because looking at this is about as much as you’ll be able to do with it… good luck getting a bike in there. As Peter explained: “If you could get your bike in here, you’d bend your wheel quite easily.”
Banging your head against the wall part two
[@ajft / Twitter]
I mean, at least this one is usable (by one person at a time). Unless of course we’re not giving the designer enough credit and they’re banking on attracting loads of aero-conscious pro cyclists with super-skinny bars? Hmmm, maybe…
“An overly complicated fail”
“Ableist” and “useless” were just two assesments of Manchester Piccadilly station’s new bike parking provision when it was unveiled earlier this year. The design, which will be familar to many of you from other stations across the United Kingdom, has been accused of being less secure than alternatives and unfriendly for disabled people, presumably all in the quest for a greater number of spaces.
road.cc reader Two-Wheeled Wolf commented at the time: “Alas these ableist cycle racks are being put in and allowed by councils because it sounds better when they claim there is loads of cycle parking despite it being useless for those with non-standard cycles and cargo bikes.”
Good to know those who leave their bikes at the station have as much fun as those who try to take theirs on board…
That’s our contribution to the terrible cycle racks discourse. Now it’s time for all of you who have been itching with anticipation, scrolling through this to get your pictures of crimes against bike parking in the comments. What have we missed?
37 thoughts on “Worst bike racks — from the useless to utterly unusable places to park your bicycle”
The people trying to make
The people trying to make more aesthetically appealing bike racks at the expense of functionality also somehow accept that we are building harsh, unpleasant and ugly as hell public spaces to appease car owner’s entitlement.
https://twitter.com/OfficialMitchll/status/1382709940352135175
These awful racks are exactly
These awful racks are exactly why my bike will only ever stay in two places. Either inside in my office at work or inside in the wife’s flat.
“Hi dad, school was great.
“Hi dad, school was great. What did you get up to today?”
“I sort-of pretended to be another person on a cycling website, I’m using a picture of him and everything! No, not a famous person or one of the journalists, just some bloke who posts comments. It’s totally normal behaviour you know.”
Brauchsel wrote:
Hey, give me time, I’m working on it!
It would appear you’re
It would appear you’re already a household name in someone else’s household!
Well, it’s a start…this
Well, it’s a start…this time next year…
bigwheeler88 wrote:
😀
bigwheeler88 wrote:
FTFY
This one is wrong on so many
This one is wrong on so many levels
Sriracha wrote:
two levels?
It’s not difficult to have
It’s not difficult to have the ultimate bike parking – simple Sheffield stands with a tapping bar:
The tapping bar provides protection against the stand having one of its mounts unscrewed or cut through – thieves would need to cut through the stand twice to easily remove a bike.
Here’s my worst one locally,
Here’s my worst one locally, not counting all the nonexistent ones. This is at a bar/restaurant in one of the most walkable/bikeable areas of town, with great trail access.
It’s not fastened down, all the brown parts are made of wood (likely soft pine) and the metal appears to be thin electrical conduit. The wood sides are too thick to get a U lock around, and if I put a wheel between the bars I can only lock the wheel to it.
Unless I’ve remembered to bring a cable when coming here, I pull the rack away from the wall, put my bike parallel to it behind it, and lock the frame to one of the bars. Luckily this is not a high bike theft area.
Ha! The turkey twizzler! I
Ha! The turkey twizzler! I have one of those outside my apartment here in NL. Absolute crap. Almost impossible to run a lock to the rack, and as soon as the wind blows your bike is on the floor.
My local Sainsbury’s, so
My local Sainsbury’s, so awkward to use I’ve given up and lock my bike to the shopping trolley bays instead.
My local Morrisons has these.
My local Morrisons has these. You can just about secure your bike to the outside edges. Curiously, the middle sections seem to be reserved for people who only lock their front wheels and then (I guess) carry the rest of the frame around the shop with them.
I’ve done that in the past,
I’ve done that in the past, but then your bike ends up partially in the parking space here, and well, frankly I don’t trust drivers to be that careful.
Pfft.
Pfft.
The worst cycle parking I have come across is at my local Tesco in South Shields. I have checked with store management on several occasions and they have confirmed it’s cycle parking.
It is literally some dog rings to put your lock through. It is undercover though
This is the cycle parking at
This is the cycle parking at Tesco in Annfield Plain which is literally next to the C2C route. Impossible to get a bike in and out if a car is parked in the adjacent space.
My local Waitrose did the
My local Waitrose did the plant thing. People complained, so they moved the rack – next to a trolley park (annoying to see bikes getting wet when there’s a nice undercover space 2 feet away; but that’s another issue!). Periodically, the rack got filled with trolleys. On one occasion, I locked my bike to a whole string of them, as that was obviously what they were there for . . .
Motion, by Karl Meyer is part
Motion, by Karl Meyer is part of the Adelaide City Bike Art Trail. The artist has taken an almost, but not quite, completely useless bike rack and by the simple act of inserting some extra, red powder coated tubular steel he has rendered it completely useless.
Some people have mistaken this artwork for anti-homeless architecture.
https://www.experienceadelaide.com.au/public-art/art-in-adelaide/motion/
The Lidl pic reminded me of a
The Lidl pic reminded me of a trip to my local Aldi a while back.
When I asked an assistant why the bike racks were obstructed with gardening items, she replied, “We haven’t got anywhere else to put them”.
I asked why they didn’t put them in car parking spaces insread and she replied, “We’re not allowed to”.
My solution was to use the racks anyway.
I really cannot understand
I really cannot understand how bike rack designs can be so shitty. To be honest though, I am sure none of its designers must have ever locked a bicycle.
If I find a shitty rack and not intend to jump into a store for like 3mins, I will prefer to walk a little more and find more sturdy fixtures to lock.
I’ve not been able to find
I’ve not been able to find the bike racks at my local Sainsbury’s. There is a signpost for cycling parking directing me further down the shop front. I’ve gone the full length of the shop and can’t find them. Plenty of metal barriers for trolleys, but nothing for bikes.
I could lock my bike to the trolley barriers, but then trolleys would clip the handlebars. Instead, I continue home and walk back.
It isn’t just the racks
It isn’t just the racks themselves that are potentially the problem.
A company I used to work for frequently held staff meetings at one particular hotel, a few miles from my house and, naturally, I used to ride to them. First time, I looked for somewhere to park the bike, and there didn’t appear to be anywhere so the receptionist (seemingly acknowledging its absence) allowed me to take it into the conference room here we were gathering.
Cue … a quiet word from the hotel manager to our MD that it couldn’t be allowed to stay inside, and had to be parked in the dedicated parking spaces outside.
Duly chastised, the manager led me around to the back of the hotel where there was a very nice, well built, easy to access set of Sheffield stands, completely out of sight of reception or any security staff, no windows nearby, no CCTV and surrounded by trees. Perfect for angle grinding through a couple of bike locks with complete impunity.
Given they had clearly not been used recently (not surprisingly) and the receptionist didn’t even appear to be aware of their existence, I had to wonder what the point was. Other than to be able to say they had dedicated cycle parking.
Jetmans Dad wrote:
You have to remember that a set of sheffield stands with bicycles locked to them is incredibly unattractive and takes up lots of space. So they have to be out of sight wherever possible.
Wheres an acre of asphalt or gravel filled with cars is clearly a joy to behold.
I think?
In the past I’ve simpy taken
In the past I’ve simpy taken my bike round the shop with me, and never had a problem.
That doesn’t fix it, however.
Sounds like a need for a special critical mass inside the shop.
mattw wrote:
I took my bike into B&Q once and despite the constant announcements that they sometimes have to operate fork lifts inside their store I was informed that it was a danger to others and had to go out again.
Don’t forget the worst bike
Don’t forget the worst bike racks in Scotland.
Installed at a cost of God Knows how many hundreds of thousands of pounds by the Scottish Executive, and utterly useless.
Appropriately named after a horse’s fart.
And they claim to be a cycle-friendly site.
Nah – worst ones are the
Nah – worst ones are the completely insecure ones that the Tram folks put in. It’s just them – the rest of the council’s ones seem fine. The council has guidance, but … don’t expect a tram company to do anything apart from trams. (Or indeed – even trams!)
I rather like these as art (took me a while to get it mind). Granted, I’ve never tried to lock a bike to them. If they’re actually affixed to the ground securely and have a loop in them (seems that way) they’re better than a lot I’ve seen. For one they seem to be spaced sensibly.
Someone here pointed out the
Someone here pointed out the Edinburgh Waverley station multi-level bike racks to me and I’d nominate those as pretty crap. They’re a real puzzle to lock to with a D-lock (and putting a chain on the front wheel/frame can also jam them) and the upper ones have an extra pivoting part and lack springs / gas piston so just drop heavily on you. They’re also capable of biting your fingers!
(By comparison the Haymarket ones work OK for me although some say they don’t like them. Plus the area has become very tatty and insalubrious).
These, in new-build flats,
These, in new-build flats, take bike parking to a whole new level – (sorry). The builders refused to change them…..
This is a good place to
This is a good place to notify people that Merseyrail has excellent trains and very helpful staff for transporting bikes cheaply from Chester/ Ellesmere Port to Southport. This doesn’t cost much more than just one stop under the Mersey. FYI the best way to ascend to a higher level when encumbered by a trailer is up the escalator, if you can persuade the very reasonable attendant that you’re not going to fall. The lifts are more of a faff. I haven’t yet braved an escalator descent, though. I suppose the main advantage is that you can just turn up, although it’s sensible to avoid rush hours
Here in Fort William we have
Here in Fort William we have a lovely bike rack. Never used because it is tucked away next to the Public Toilets in a car park off the main street with no CCTV.
Needless to say the local cycling fraternity use the very functional and sturdy street lamps, road furniture and the sides of the excellent seating to lock their bikes too.
To make it worse when they put in the local e-bike hire scheme they ripped out very usable racks and replaced them with the docking stations for the hire bikes. No thought of replacing the “analogue” bike racks.
Cambridge’s Cycle Point run
Cambridge’s Cycle Point run by Greater Anglia Railways probably takes the top spot. Nearly 3,000 bike spaces and 100 cameras should make it secure. However this wasn’t taking into account the farce that is CCTV operators having no idea what GDPR is, nor the police, nor the rail company. This allows thieves to roam and nick bikes with impunity. At its worst peak, about 30 bikes a week stolen….
Was chuckling my way through
Was chuckling my way through these thinking to myself, “I’ve got a few photos I could add here” then burst out laughing, there’s one of my photos from twitter (ajft). Here’s another offering, from our local monster shopping mall https://flic.kr/p/6nJiNA or smaller local shops https://flic.kr/p/2k6iMr2
One of my local bike stores
One of my local bike stores (Tisos/Alpine bikes) have completely removed the bike racks so there’s nowhere to lock your bike to which is somewhat questionable for a bike shop. However the B&Q nearby has an excellent section for locking bikes with well spaced out racks you can lock the frame to with a shelter overhead and in a visible area the staff are frequently nearby. Given there can’t be many cyclists going to B&Q I do wonder why it has such a great bike parking facility but I’m certainly glad it’s there.
JohnMcL7 wrote:
The bike shop kind of makes sense as then customers will likely bring their bike inside and then a helpful member of staff can ask if they’re bringing it in for a service and act surprised if the answer is no (“that chain looks a bit rusty”).
Maybe B&Q have decent bike racks for their own staff to use?