BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

For those of us that work in the Wharton Towers in the South Side, we have a decent rack in the building's loading dock/garage. It's quite nice to be able to keep my bike out of the elements and the public eye during the workday.

Luckily mine has a cushy spot in our office's basement. It's quiet and the HVAC system actually works down there. I wish I could park myself there all day.

Century Building Bike Center. I pay for the privledge, but my bike is completely out of the elements, free from the nosy hands of the general public, and I get to rub elbows in the morning and evening with other cyclists. What's not to like? Oh, and my office building has a very strict "no bikes of any kind, ever" policy. But don't get me started on THAT....

at our office in the strip, my bike, quizbot's bike and rsprake's bike all sit right next to my desk in our office, along with a couple other bikes. when i worked in the stanwix building downtown i just started ignoring security (and my boss) and taking my bike up to my desk there as well.

One of my co-workers parks his bike in his office, but despite that and the fact that there is an empty cube near mine but I was told i couldn't park there for some reason. So I leave it in this corridor that is full of old office detritus. I'm a little scared the trash people will come for that stuff one day and dump my bike as well. But alas, no bike racks outside.

I got myself a bike locker at Pitt. This morning (likely in preparation for the bike to work day breakfast, setup in front of said lockers) they were power washing the things out. I was happy to see 4-5 bikes the guy had removed from the lockers, as I rarely observe anyone actively parking in them.

The nice guy washing them out suggested I just leave my bike there, and he would put it in when he was done. I guess I looked a little uneasy at that suggestion, because he immediately suggested he do mine next, and then I could park in there myself. I wouldn't mind him parking it, but the hoods hit the top of the locker door jam, so you have to do this funky tilt it sideways, rotate the fork and tilt it the other way maneuver to get it in there.

Anyone planning on buying bike lockers.. Make sure they're tall enough. Neither one of my bikes fit properly in the ones Pitt has.

Cardello building: Indoor bike rack available to all building users. Also, my employer is okay with me just bringing my bike into the office, so I do that.

there's a lovely parking room at the Mellon building on William Penn Place that I use. It has been quite full recently.

I park mine inside, in a room that houses elevator machinery and has a sticker on the door "Danger: High Voltage."

Ansaldo-STS on Second Ave has reasonably nice accommodations for cyclists.

The bike rack is under cover in the parking garage. There is space to tie up maybe 30 bikes, though when I was last there (Summer '09), quite a few appeared not to have moved in quite a while. It's a bit cramped, but workable.

Attached to the rack are a tire pump and a few tools (a couple of wrenches, screwdriver). Inside the building, each floor has a shower/changing room (which female employees who were lactating also used for pumping).

Inside the building, each floor has a shower/changing room (which female employees who were lactating also used for pumping).

That's quite the tidbit of info, Stu.

I thought about not including the tidbit, but I worked with two such women. Knowing that more than a couple of women read this board, and how unusual it is for an employer to reeeally go out of its way to help in that regard, it serves to illustrate how cool a place that is to work.

The rest of Pgh, follow Ansaldo's lead. It's not difficult to do, but you (the employer) just have to care.

+1

@dwillen Anyone planning on buying bike lockers.. Make sure they're tall enough. Neither one of my bikes fit properly in the ones Pitt has.

I've wondered about this.

The bike lockers I've seen are all way too small for my bike. Most lockers look like they would be too small for most bikes.

They are plenty long/wide enough, just not nearly tall enough.

I suspect at 6'2" I'm at the tall end of the spectrum. My mountain bike is a 29er and the handlebars don't fit if I have 2.5" tires on there. I have to take the front wheel off. With 1"ish slicks, it barely fits through the door. Don't forget to remove your headlights, speedometer, etc. or they get crushed when you shove it in.

My 60cm cross check has an uncut steerer and the hoods hit the door frame. This is fine, because it is just two points, not the entire handlebars. I tilt it to one side, slide one hood in, twist the bars, tilt it the other way and nudge the other side in.

What pisses me off is the stupid locker is tall enough inside, they just made the door frame shorter than the height of the locker, probably for some sort of structural support around the door frame. Seems like the manufacturer should have visited any bike shop, asked to measure the tallest bike, and made the lockers a few inches bigger than that.

The best bit, when I asked the lady at the parking services counter when I first rented it, "what if my bike doesn't fit? I've got a pretty big bike" she goes, "oh, it WILL fit, everyone thinks their bike wont, but they all do".

Hmmm, something to keep in mind for when Port Authority gets serious about installing bike lockers. I, for one, never thought about it.

Got any specs on what the smallest locker should be? PAT is going to want to put out a spec, and they'd need numbers.

Even disregarding the tandem/recumbent/trike/tallbike question (them freaks don't need lockers), I'd say starting with the proportions of the Dasani Blue Bikes boxes and scaling up a bit would be wise. Given that some people will be riding bolt-upright cruisers with swept bars wider than their shoulders, we needs mo' room.

I'd love to see width in the 3' range, depth around 6', and height around 4' (to accommodate bikes with, for instance, child seats mounted on rear racks...).

@dwillen My 60cm cross check has an uncut steerer and the hoods hit the door frame. This is fine, because it is just two points, not the entire handlebars

My 60 cm crosscheck has upright bars with some bar ends pointing straight up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjdlc/4630488543/in/set-72157623991929477/

(note: I'm the less lithe one)

Most lockers? Not a chance.

I guess I should get the ruler out and measure for Stu.

I'm not fortunate enough to have an out-of-the-elements parking spot, but I'm still pretty happy with it.

My company has a lot at 13th and Smallman in the Strip where the pod peop...ahem...suburbanites park to ride a shuttle to the main office downtown. I work in a small satellite office two blocks away, so the location is perfect. I lock to an iron fence 50 feet from the guard shack, and as the only cyclist who parks there, I've gotten to know the guards.

I left my phone in the saddle bag a few months ago and went out to get it, sans helmet, and wearing my work clothes. The guard blasted out of the shack and screamed at me for "messing with that bike"...I just stepped back and held up my hands and waited for him to get close enough to recognize me.

I feel pretty safe leaving my bike there during the day. Unless I'm planning to be really late (like after 9pm late, when the last guard goes home), I just leave my lights, computer, etc. on the bike and the tools in the saddle bag and don't worry about it.

Man, don't forget to give that guard donuts every once in a while.

I usuallay park over at the century building downtown in one of the free spots. It is at least covered and very convenient for my north shore commute.

My company does, however, allow you to bring your bike into the office. The only stipulation is that the building (freemarkets center/ariba building/KL Gates) insists that your use the freight elevator. The freight elevator only runs from 730am till 430pm so if you need to come in early or leave later, then its no good. There are racks in the garage under my building too.

Now I just gotta start getting my company to put in showers.