BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

This is the chance for parking chair bike corrals! I wish I could actually design/build such a thing.

At only $2k per stall you will need to be creative - Maybe reuse of some discarded material would send a double message.

Ooo Ooo old car parts!

For the most part artists are expected to contribute their labor for no compensation. It is extremely rare to get compensation beyond basic supplies. You have to cover your own time, liability, meetings, documentation &tc. It is a sad state of affairs, nationwide. Yet most everyone wants access to creative work.

I really just want something simple. What is in front of OTB is great. No weird shapes or angles. You can go double u-lock to get front and rear wheels on the corral racks if you are so inclined. It's open enough to get in and out of quickly. It is pretty obvious as to what it is to cyclists and drivers. I don't see what should be different, just scaled to the space available.

I'll be happy so long as they don't get rid of the 'U' style racks. As much as I appreciate the rivers rack designs, I hate trying to bolt up to weird shapes.

I kind of agree: even doing something that straightforward would eat through most of the $2K budget anyhow. Maybe something creative could be done with colors/bollards/thermoplastic with the remaining bit?

It seems to me that if you're willing to donate the time then doing something interesting with welded parking chairs can't cost any more than the welded staple design illustrated in the RFP. In both cases you are welding bent galvanized pipe to a steel base.

I'm ALL OVER THIS.....

I'll see what I come up with

I posted this once in another thread, but maybe something like this:

For the corral, you could have several in a row. Because the back crossbar is left out, you could pretty easily lock three bikes to each chair, one on each side and one through the back.

If they were wide enough, four: one on the outside of each side of the chair, one on the inside of each.

That's what I was thinking of. Basically, you take the staple design in the RFP and make one of the staples twice as tall and turn it 90 degrees to make the chair back. Then make two right angle pipe bends and weld them to the sides of the chair back to make the chair sides. The bottom of the chair sides are welded to the base. I don't think you need the cross piece between the chair sides to give the idea that it is a parking chair and leaving it out makes it easier to roll a bike in from the other side. So you end up with a little more steel, a little more welding, but you get the parking chair idea across. And win the RFP!

I think you wouldn't even need the chair back. simply make it in the shape of a chair from the side, 2D

But without the top of the chair back you can't lock to the side of the chair back. Unless you're thinking of it differently. In any case I'm not a pipe bender or welder but maybe somebody here is? I hope.

I really wish one of the requirements was that it has to use Dero's staple racks. We may end up with more lousy, inconsistent bike parking if people who don't ride bikes regularly are making the decision. See Trader Joes.

I would like to see green space added in some fashion but don't know how to present the idea.

"In any case I'm not a pipe bender or welder but maybe somebody here is?"

I have a JD Squared Model 32 tube bender and a serious mig machine. I only have a die set for bending 1.5" O.D. tubing, however. I would like to get more use out of the tube bender given the cost. Let me know what you need.

Well, to do this seriously we need someone who can work as the prime contractor and do the installation, painting the markings on the road, etc., and preferably somebody who has done stuff like this before. Bikeygirl said she was all over this -- does that mean she can do it? Otherwise, who did the bike corral in front of OTB? Because if we can fill that part I'm pretty sure Jake can do the construction, based on what I saw in his garage Saturday.

In Cleveland they're doing bike boxes out of old shipping containers. Cleveland. Get to work people.

Wow! I really like this design (and reuse). The container really covers the bikes and offers them protection from the elements and other vehicles. Also, it's unique to the streetscape (i.e. it doesn't look like car parking). And lastly, it exhibits civic pride.

Man, Cleveland. Bravo.

It's called spec work

http://youtu.be/DsstOs-K7gk

I'd be more more content with a standard functional design than getting something installed that is aesthetically pleasing but functionally annoying

The container design is pretty neat. and it does have the bonus of shielding the bikes from accidental collisions (well, up to a point.)

I'm going to have to disagree about the container thing, the roof part is just too obtrusive, especially for walnut st. I'm certainly in the "less is more" camp, what OTB has is fine, or maybe something like this:

Although, apparently what actually got installed has "BIKE PARKING" in metalwork across the front, which is a bit ostentatious for my taste.

I have an idea for this that involves *really tall poles* instead of staple racks, but using the same type of pipe. Tall enough that they could be visually interesting and prevent thieves from simply sliding the bikes up and onto a flatbed truck. Thoughts?

http://gothamist.com/2012/06/07/video_thief_steals_uws_bicycle_by_s.php

@Salty - yep, seen that one before, but I'm thinking REALLY tall. I suppose a flange could be welded to the top of the pole as well: anything wider than a the typical opening in a ulock.

The video has a funny comment about the thief being polite enough to return the ladder: I'd bet that this is a regular stake-out for this dude and the ladder gets a lot of use for this same purpose.

Like 100 feet tall? that would be cool

Just welding a thick cable across the top of poles would do. Thick as in the sort they use on highway guardrails. Thick enough that someone would have to work quite a while with not-hardware-store-variety tools to get through it.

Performance artist Nancy Popp.

It's not a plastic person on the pole: that's actually her.

bikeygirl if you're out there, I sent you a PM, let me know if you got it.

Flag poles could be cool.

Also meant to tell you Pseuda I would probably not lock up to one of your racks during a thunderstorm. Nothing personal.

thanks for the feedback