Hi All,
My workplace has got a quote for installing better bike parking facilities. The cage they are going to be stored in looks really good, but I have no experience of the racks/hooks they have got a quote for.

The first picture in this PDF is the configuration that has been quoted for – any experiences?

http://cycle-works.com//wp-content/products/en/openaccess/individual-racks-vertical/josta-wallrack-vertical/docs/CW_Josta_Wall_Hook.pdf

Looks like a really good use of space to me.

The quote includes the security bars as seen in the pics, presumably to have something to lock your bike to.

Will it fit 650b tyres? 😉

Looks a tidy solution to me, as long as it can be made properly secure. Even in a ‘safe’ work environment, security is key.

Everywhere ive worked the bike rack/shed has turned into the smoking area.

Doesn’t look too bad, at least there’s a hoop to run a lock through and it’s off the flor to getting leverage with boltcropppers will be difficult, but personaly if there’s space I’d ask for sheffield stands set into the floor as the most secure option.

Nothings completely secure though, ours is in a private underground car park under and out of town ofice block (i.e. you’d have to know it was there and make a trip), and the thieves climbed the cage and got in through the 1ft gap at the top where the AC ducts, cable trays, plumbing etc run. Cut the locks, and passed the bikes out over the top.

I’ll try not to be negative because anything to improve cycling facilities should be a positive. But no good for bikes with hydraulic brakes. Hanging will help add air in to the calliper. Also if not already the wall will turn into a dirty mess when wet bikes are hung on it. Dirty tyre marks up the wall.

“But no good for bikes with hydraulic brakes. Hanging will help add air in to the calliper”

house (bullshit bingo)

this will only happen if your brakes are not propperly bled or are letting air in – either way you should see about getting them fixed

What he said, I’ve soted bikes every which way without brake issues (that weren’t already related to resevoirs full of air).

The cage for the bikes looks very impressive, made from Fortex358 prison fencing!!
Another quote says “palisades fencing” which I can’t get any info of what it looks like, but doesn’t sound as good to me.

All my bikes get hung up, never had a problem with air in my brakes, all Shimano though. If I used Avids then yeah I’d expect air in there but I’d expect air in there if the bike was horizontal too with Avids 😆

bike shed, dirty wall, why cares? It’s not the executive conference room

looks good to me, better than the crappy bike sheds we’ve got. We do have 30+ security guards on site though and full CCTV and it’s a closed private site so any thefts would almost certainly be somebody who worked here. Never had a problem in 10 years.

The biggest problem with bike storage is management and removal of bikes stored for months stopping regular commuters from being able to secure their bikes. All the other problems have been solved by suppliers.

The quote for the cage appears to be like the one on this page for Hampshire council:
http://cycle-works.com/product/custom-made-solutions/

Our quote is for vertical hanging bikes as we have very limited space

this is palisade fencing. I’d be looking for a full cage with a roof though.

“I’d be looking for a full cage with a roof though. “

you work in the bronx or need to think about getting a cheaper less desirable commuter.

parkesie – Member

Everywhere ive worked the bike rack/shed has turned into the smoking area.

At my old office, that was the best security measure, there was almost always someone standing guard.

bigblackshed – Member

Hanging will help add air in to the calliper.

Er, what?

Avids, Tektro, Hayes, Formula. All leaked or induced air into the system when hung. Not tried hanging Shimano, but Hope recommend not to hang. You may have different experiences. The Formulas were fine if unless hung. This of course is IMHO. All worked OK and except the Avids, probably because they were Avids.

The comment about the wall was from the linked PDF. It’s not going to look like that after a winter of dirty bikes hanging from it. If its outside will it matter? Probably not. Inside might be. I worked for a company where the MD banned bikes because of the wet tyre tracks made the warehouse look dirty. Didn’t say a word about the forklift tyre tracks though.

One potential issue with those hooks is the height they are installed at. If they are too low, then you can struggle with guards scraping the ground. Not that anyone would be stupid enough to make that mistake in their own garage 😳

bigblackshed – try some good brakes and you’ll be fine 😉

and sounds like that MD was a bit of a dick

try some wellbled brakes.

i have never heard of hope saying that – its not in their current manual either.

if the brake is well bled and the diaphragm has been rolled on – there is no air in the system to migrate so it shouldnt be an issue. If there was no air – then you hung the brake up and you have air in – you have a leak.

I’ve stored juicy 3’s, 7’s and now elixir 3’s in all sorts of positions with no issues.
Any workplace willing to pay for cycle improvements should be commended. We had a rubbish set up at my old place.

We’ve got similar racks at work (without the lockable bars sticking out but we don’t need them – secure indoor facility). They’re good, it’s a well planned use of space.

But no good for bikes with hydraulic brakes. Hanging will help add air in to the calliper

Utter bollocks.

bigblackshed – Member

Avids, Tektro, Hayes, Formula. All leaked or induced air into the system when hung.

How does hanging a bike up induce air into the system or cause it to leak? (Avid, Tektro and Formula- all used here and hung or stored however was convenient, no problems)

What does happen is that air in the reservoir gets into the working fluid, which causes loss of braking. But that’s nothing to do with hanging and everything to do with bad bleeding.

The Hope recommendation was from a Hope Tech Shop. Another LBS has bikes hanging from the walls. When I said about the problems I’d had in the past his reply echoed my experience. He needed to bleed the brakes after they came down off the wall.

Maybe I need to find better shops and advice.

sounds like that

10 years in a shop with bikes stored that way + 15 years of storing my own bikes that way and never once had to bleed a brake because it was stored in the vertical.

my bikes are hung in my garage just like this and never had any issues with the hope brakes in 3 years.

the racks look good, many old style bike park places in works use the old ‘stick wheels into metal gully’ approach and with a D lock you can only lock them by the wheel which is no good with QR’s. I suspect you might get comments… ‘oooh i can lift my bike into the hook’ from the more casual cyclists.

I have to leave my bike fully exposed to the elements and locked to a bench (which also limits its utility as a bench). 10/10 to your employer for willingness to pony up the dosh for something proper.

parkesie – Member

Everywhere ive worked the bike rack/shed has turned into the smoking area.

to the point where even ‘attention-all-staff’ emails from the adminisphere refer to ‘the smoking area’

(it ****ing stinks)

those wheel-hanging hooks do save a lot of space, i like them, but even i* wouldn’t fancy lifting a 50lb eleccy-bike up and onto one…

(*i’m hugely strong and stuff)

bigblackshed – Member

Avids, Tektro, Hayes, Formula. All leaked or induced air into the system when hung

I put my bike in the car upside down (for quite a few hrs at a time) and no probs here with my hayes! I think you need to invest in a bleed kit or find a better lbs! 🙂

How ‘disability friendly’ is that?

It’s fine for a fit bloke with a road bike but would a short person with arithritis be able to lift a heavy Dutch-style town bike in and out of the rack safely?

Why not sheffield stands?

Do you not know that during transit from the factory, through the various distributors around the world, to your LBS all brakes have to be kept horizontal so air doesn’t get introduced into the system? 😆

Not that anyone would be stupid enough to make that mistake in their own garage

yes who would do something that dumb 😳

never had any issues with brakes from storing like that
its basically either air tight or it is not.

Pipe lagging on the large bars will keep the scrapes and scratches to a minimum – just cable tie them on.

Hope and Formula here, hanging from the wall with no issues.

I did once get shouted at by someone once when I went lay someones bike down on the grass after/during helping fix a mechanical. Apparently the brakes had to stay right way up at all times otherwise they went soft 🙂

this is palisade fencing. I’d be looking for a full cage with a roof though.

So would I.

Pallisade fencing looks nice and secure but is actually really easy to get through IME

I’ve got a wall hangers at home, and have used sheffield stands at my old work, and on balance I’d go with wall hangers.

What I dislike about sheffields is that they scratch the paint on your frame, and your bike often ends up tangled up with the bike on the other side of the stand. Even with the recommended spacing, it doesn’t leave a lot of room to get a bike with panniers in.

The downside of wall hangers is that you’ll scrape your rear mudguard (if you have one), and you need to take panniers off before you can put the bike on the rack, so make sure there’s somewhere that you can lean a bike whilst you sort out panniers.

I’ve found that hydro brakes can go a bit spongey after being hung, but it always comes back after a few pumps. I’ve always put this down to the seals retracting a little bit as the fluid is pulling them back under gravity.

Whatever you go for, make sure that they’re generous with the spacing. Trying to squeeze more racks in is a false economy if you end up with some spaces being unusable.

I got some installed at work a few years ago. If you can, get Sheffield stands installed right next to reception – good because it shows the company’s cycle friendly/green credentials and is a much more secure location than a cage in the furthest corner of the carpark.