The Chainlink

A friend of mine makes steel sculpture. She does not ride a bike in the city, but thought I might be a good person to ask, "What makes a bike rack good?" My first thought was wishing there were more installed throughout the city. Then she talked about doing just that, possibly in a creative way. She communicated this to a few aldermen and got a positive response from the 1st Ward Alderman, Manny Flores. He Represents the Wickerpark/Bucktown area and seems to be happy to work on getting some installed in his ward and having my friend and possibly myself constructing some unique racks in needed areas. We brainstormed some ideas and even picked the brains of some cyclists not using the chainlink. I thought I would help her gather some ideas from our chainlink community. So, I'm wondering what your thoughts are. How could we improve a bike rack, both functionally and creatively?

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I agree with you wholeheartedly that these are not necessarily functional and I would have deep reservations about using some of them. However, by far they are not the most useless designs I can conjure. One look no further then David Byrne's designs for the ultimate in functional dubiousness:


Duppie said:
There are reasons why the standard issue City of Chicago bike rack look the way it does. It is functional, sturdy and (relatively) cheap

I’ll readily admit that the bike racks Chixie posted look pretty darn cute, but I think that most of them are a step backwards from the standard design, either functionally, costwise, or they are less sturdy. In a time where city budgets are under stress, I’d rather get more standard racks than fewer nicely designed ones. Unless of course an alderman has access to funds that otherwise would not be spent on bike related improvements, like funds that are used to improve creative programs in a ward. These funds could be used to subsidize the cost of the rack. (Not sure if those funds even exist).
Ironically, it looks like Byrne's designs are pretty functional too-- I could double U-lock to all of them. And he got the square tubing right in a few instances.
Back to your friend's question:

-Square tubing
-Spacing conducive to double-U-locking (front wheel/downtube, rear wheel and triangle or at least rear wheel -in- triangle)
-easily accomodates 2 bikes locked via above description
-secure to ground/ monster flanges (whether bolted or sunk).

In other words what Duppie said.
The first link is from some city who was considering the same thing: what makes a good rack, they came up with a short list of criteria

Support bicycle frame in at least two points for good stability
Allow locking with a choice of either a cable lock or a U-lock
Reasonably durable
Aesthetic

To that I would add "square tubing" as pointed out already. And some more obvious ones like bolted to the ground in the same manner the U racks are here. And of course anything following my two favorite expressions "form follows function" by Sullivan, and "form follows failure" by Petroski. :)

http://home.swbell.net/mpion/BIKEparking.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?392836-What-is-the-best-bi...

http://weekendcycling.com/2007/01/interesting-bike-racks/
You forgot chains. In the city if you're using a cable lock you..well..wind up getting your bike stolen (a la Peter Sagal's shiny black Felt in October of last year). If I cant get my New York Fahgettaboudit around a bike rack I keep riding til I find a better place.

Chris B said:
The first link is from some city who was considering the same thing: what makes a good rack, they came up with a short list of criteria

Support bicycle frame in at least two points for good stability
Allow locking with a choice of either a cable lock or a U-lock
Reasonably durable
Aesthetic

To that I would add "square tubing" as pointed out already. And some more obvious ones like bolted to the ground in the same manner the U racks are here. And of course anything following my two favorite expressions "form follows function" by Sullivan, and "form follows failure" by Petroski. :)

http://home.swbell.net/mpion/BIKEparking.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?392836-What-is-the-best-bi...

http://weekendcycling.com/2007/01/interesting-bike-racks/
Which brings up a another argument for standard bike racks: Consistency. I have a OnGuard Mini lock which fits snugly around a rack and my rear tire (inside the rear triangle). If I see a free spot on a rack, I do not have to guess whether my lock will fit.

chixieonfixie said:
If I cant get my New York Fahgettaboudit around a bike rack I keep riding til I find a better place.
OnGuard is totally new to me, thanks for mentioning them.

They produce a variety of disc locks [http://www.onguardlock.com/?page_id=329]. These locks are totally new to me.

How do they work?

Thanks,
Cully_J
Cullen Carter said:
They produce a variety of disc locks [http://www.onguardlock.com/?page_id=329].

How do they work?

I don't think they're used with bikes. Typically, they're used with motorcycles, and immobilize a motorcycle by preventing the disc brake from making a complete rotation. While I suppose they would keep a bicycle from rolling, they would not prevent anyone from just carrying the bike away.

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