Drumroll please...
Similarly at Wandsworth Town station this cocktail bike rack as been recently installed - though possibly better described as a chocolate tea pot pic.twitter.com/wQRKBXveVF
— Human & Travels (@humantravl) January 4, 2024
'What's so confusing about that?' I hear some future commenter ask. Well, perhaps not the how to use it aspect of this 'bike rack', but more the commonly seen decision of councils and planners to opt for seemingly novelty bike parking solutions rather than just giving us a practical row of Sheffield Stands. It really is that simple. A row of properly installed, secure metal racks, that's all we're after.
The matter is even more important for riders of cargo bikes, trikes, or other types of bicycle that might not be able to be rolled up in the air and locked in place as this one asks. It's a similar discussion to what we hear about bike storage facilities on trains (obviously without some of the added booking, availability and cost-related issues there) where storage often requires riders to hoist their bike upright to fit in a tiny cupboard, for want of a better word.
Fine if you're relatively strong and riding a road bike with narrow bars. Not so for many other types of bicycle.
Human & Travels spotted this "chocolate teapot" bike parking 'facility' outside Wandsworth station in south London, saying it had been recently installed. Needless to say it's caused a fair amount of eye rolling, eyebrow raising, face palming, and any other ways of expressing negative emotions with your facial features...
Ben Furfie suggested in reply, "Insurers should sue stations that install those. It's impossible to securely lock bikes to them; and don't get me started on bikes used as mobility aids for the less abled, or bikes used as car replacements like cargo bikes."
"There is a similar set-up at a place I've biked to. Totally worthless. All the bikes were locked around the area to signs and posts," another said.
On the plus side, at least we've now got another one for the collection...
> Worst bike racks — from the useless to utterly unusable places to park your bicycle
Let the record show there's more than a touch of sarcasm in that headline. Adwi's story about the Altrincham vicar having a pop at a cycle lane for driving away his congregation (welcome to 2024 everybody!) has at least attracted some of the best comments we've had on a story for a while. Top work!
Forgot Joseph and Mary took an Audi A3 to Bethlehem.
"Our bells have been ringing out since the mid-1800s" The first car was invented in 1886....
— Andy (@AndrewButrz) January 5, 2024
Rendel Harris:
"We can show you the way to salvation and eternal paradise."
"Sounds great, what's the catch?"
"You will have to drive a little way round the one-way system."
"Stuff that, can't be bothered."
Clem Fandango: "Forget tanks & drones. How about we build a cycle lane along Ukraine's border with Russia — surely that's a guaranteed way to prevent Vlad's boys from entering Ukraine?
And it came to pass in the land of the faithful that a new cycle lane emerged, diverting the path to the sacred church by a mere minute
Yet, some among the believers, vexed by this slight detour, found themselves absent from the pews, their hearts swayed by the unexpected journey pic.twitter.com/YgKLxrfpIu— Harry 🚲🥑🏗️ (@H_H_Gray) January 5, 2024
"Our bells have been ringing out since the mid-1800s… Now we face extinction simply because of a crazy traffic system..."
You might have seen an old favourite return with a fresh new update for 2024...
> 20 of the most hysterical Daily Mail anti-cycling headlines
One comment made us chuckle, so we thought we'd share...
Dear Simon,
My eyes hurt having read this article and I'm beginning to wheeze; you must have the strongest of constitutions to have written this piece with no ill effects to your physical or mental health. If you are suffering then I'm sure that there's a voluntary organisation with a 12-step programme which will help you recover from the trauma of having written this article, stay strong; we all believe in you.
Best wishes,
Jaymack.
road.cc contributor Laura Laker's bike has been nicked...
"I definitely should have used the good lock today," she wrote on social media. "Thankfully the legends at my bike shop had the frame number handy when I called them."
The security at a nearby BT building reviewed their CCTV and found that at 11:38 yesterday morning three men arrived, one of them using an angle grinder to cut through the locks and release the bike. By 11.40 they had left with the bike...
@StolenRide stolen from an Aldgate bike rack by BT HQ 04 Jan '24. A 2022 Medium magenta Trek FX3, mudguards and rack fitted https://t.co/HsobOFl4IOpic.twitter.com/sPPHrDyTsb
— Laura Laker (@laura_laker) January 5, 2024
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford meeting Rasmus Hojlund ❤️ pic.twitter.com/vaZCFJa6il
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) January 5, 2024
It's a bollard Sheffield Stand...
Additional new bike bollard combination stands at Old Street station. However, it's impossible to fit a standard bike frame parallel to the stand. Who designs this rubbish? pic.twitter.com/zCqw5NOsOv
— Bob From Accounts 🚲 (@BobFromAccounts) January 4, 2024
This is the original post from Bob From Accounts who sparked the dodgy cycle racks discussion. Two-thirds practical Sheffield Stand, one-third giant bollard.