Two Polls about new Parking Bike Corrals

[lentower.livejournal.com]

There are two print media polls about the new bike corrals in Somerville.

Please take part in them!

A few screens down on the right hand side of
http://www.thesomervillenews.com/

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Today's Poll

Are you in favor of the new bike corrals being installed in meter spots in busy business areas?

O Yes
O No

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On the right side of
http://www.somervillescout.com/

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Question of the Week

What's your opinion of bike corrals?
O I use them and love them. The City should keep making life easier for bicyclists.
O Not a biker, but cars should be used to sharing the road.
O Not a fan. We need more car parking spaces, not fewer.
O Not sure.

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Thanks!

Comments

[ron_newman]

Scout doesn't seem to keep track of the fact that I've already voted once.

[totient]

Well the results of those two polls certainly tell you something about the demographics of the two readerships in question.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

The Somerville Scout's phrasing for answers annoys me. "Not a biker, but cars should be used to sharing the road" sounds kind of grudging. Whereas I'm more "Not a biker, but I think the corrals are an awesome use of a single space here or there"

And just think - if the corral encourages at least two people to bike instead of drive somewhere, then that makes *more* parking spaces for the non-bikers, not fewer.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

I said that I use them and love them, even though I don't use them (not a biker) but the statement was more accurate for me.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

I didn't vote in this poll. I am a biker and LOVE the idea of bike parking that occupies a space formerly reserved for cars. But I've tried to use those bike racks, and they are not bike-friendly. Each loop only accommodates one bike comfortably: the last time I tried to use one of these racks, I had to move someone's bike to make room for mine, because while there's plenty of physical space, the rack didn't offer anything the right height for me to lock to.

[ron_newman]

Is your bike of an unusual style, height, or length? I've never had much trouble parking and locking my ordinary hybrid (Trek 730) to the Diesel and Bloc 11 corrals.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

I am short, and I think I have 24" wheels on my bike, which are an unusual size... but shouldn't bike racks accommodate a great range of bicycles, including kids'?

[ron_newman]

Yes, and I'm going to pass this feedback on to Sarah Spicer, who ordered these corrals for the city.

[lentower.livejournal.com]

(Ron: Please pass this on to Sarah)

The best bike rack design is two vertical posts about two feet apart.
Optionally made out of one piece of pipe bent into an upside down "U".

This fits all sizes of bikes!

Spaced so two bicycles can use one pair of posts.
Less material (which is "greener"), and easier to get the bicycles in and out.

Something like
http://www.occoutdoors.com/bike-rack-u-design.html
though those posts in those "U"s could be another 6" to 12" apart.

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I can see why the city would like a "corral",
that is a fence on three sides.
It increases safety for everybody,
and keeps the bicycles safer.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

One corral is easier/cheaper/faster to install and maintain than 6 u-loops.

[lentower.livejournal.com]

http://www.occoutdoors.com/bike-rack-u-design.html
is in one piece.

That configuration might even be made inside a corral.
I didn't do deep research.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Corrals also have the benefit of preventing bikes from protruding into the street, or cars accidentally hitting the bikes.

[bettyw.livejournal.com]

My bike is a folding one with 20" wheels, so I'm likely to have the same issue (haven't tried the corral yet).

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

I'm unsure how this happened. The corrals have structure at every height from the ground up to the top edge thanks to the diagonal bits. Can you clarify "the rack didn't offer anything the right height for me to lock to"?

[42itous.livejournal.com]

The part of the corral which the bike is supposed to be locked to is a horizontal soft-V shape. This offers only one point on the vertical axis to which one can lock a bike (as opposed to an inverse U shape, which offers two). When I park, I want to lock both my frame and my front wheel (I have a standard U-lock, and this is easy to do on a street sign or other vertical post). When I arrived, there was already a bike locked to each V. I had to move someone else's bike out of the way (which is doable but not ideal) to get to the point of a V, and even then I was only able to lock my frame, and not my wheel.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Why restrict yourself to only the vertical axis? The sections of the V near the point, but on the upper or lower extents, are quite suitable for locking.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

It's true, if I'm only going to lock my frame, I can use other parts of the V (I guess I didn't because I was still hoping to be able to secure my bike as thoroughly as I normally do). But I still say that a well-designed bike rack allows for locking both frame and wheel.

[lentower.livejournal.com]

You can carry two U-locks, so you can always lock frame and both wheels,
even if you only find one post.

Lock front wheel to frame, and back wheel and frame to post.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

or one u-lock and one cable, which is what I have always used to lock both wheels and frame.