New Bicycle Parking System Comes to Riverside, CA
by Andrew Posner, Rhode Island, USA on 05. 4.08
Cyclists in Riverside, California will soon be able to enjoy greater peace of mind when locking their bikes around town, thanks to the installation of 12 BikeLid systems at the Riverside and Corona Metrolink stations. The somewhat odd-looking BikeLids are certainly not as attractive as other systems we've seen, such as the Cyclepod, the Slim, or the bike tree, but they are made from a polyethylene shell that is reinforced with steel and is "attached by a spring-loaded hinge to a steel bike guide/frame. The Bikelid bolts to any ground surface, from earth to concrete." What's more, the company claims that the basic unit "is made from up to 90% industrial plastic waste materials (when supplies are available) and recycled steel." The unit is 100% recyclable. Oh, and a bicycle has yet to be stolen from beneath a Bikelid!
So, how does one use a Bikelid?
Well, here are the four steps to using the system, courtesy of Bikelid:
1) Lift the shell by the front handle; the shell is counterbalanced so as to open with greater ease.
2) Roll your beloved bicycle inside--there is room for two!
3) Close the shell over your bike and whatever else you have in there. . .
4) Lock the shell down with a lock such as a u-lock or a padlock.
Via: ::BikeLid
See Also: ::TreeHugger Picks: Bicycle Storage Options, ::In-Lock: Bike Parking When There is None, ::Reinventing the Bike Shed, ::New York Unveils Plan to Be More Bicycle-Friendly, ::How They Store Bikes in Tokyo, and ::McDonald's Cycle Center Chicago
Thats cool... these kind of steps encourage people to ride a bikes instead of a car for traveling short distances with confidence.
So, if you can break the padlock, then you can have access to the bike? Given that the actual attack resistance of most u-locks is not that great ... a Gold Sold Secure rating means that it can resist tools for 5 minutes.
Bikelids will protect your bike from inclement weather, but it's still too much material for something that elies on your own easily-crackable consumer bike lock.
So, if you can break the padlock, then you can have access to the bike? Given that the actual attack resistance of most u-locks is not that great ... a Gold Sold Secure rating means that it can resist tools for 5 minutes.
Whether intentional or not, some of the benefit of such a covering is that would-be thieves don't know if what's underneath is worth stealing; given the risk involved in stealing bikes, that could be a disincentive to breaking one of these open, especially compared to the opportunity to steal a visible bike instead.
Well, from my point of view there's a lack of scalability to this system. The system shown on the photos lets a max of 12 bikes 'park' on those 10 metres used... In my home town, Copenhagen, Denmark, thousands of people bike to and from work every day - a system like this can't handle numbers like that.
This is cool... I go to UC Riverside... my bike was recently stolen... :'( lol
But yeah... I can't see this being used on a large scale... Even for students that go to class, we fit about 3 times as many bikes in the same area... Cool though...
It's really useful gadgets! Anti-theft and anti-strike device is very necessary inventions for bicycles. Their inventor is very clever and practicle.
these have existed for years in Europe.
This is actually more interesting when viewed as a weather-resistant mini-garage than as a temporary security system. A string of these in apartment or dorm parking lots might be just the ticket for those who don't want to haul bikes inside.
With the car-sized versions long in use in some countries, owners keep tool sets and spares locked in the units -- ready for weekend puttering.
Hi,
Maybe you should take a look at http://www.velominck.nl/, they offer unmanned underground bicycle parking space systems. The main advantage in Holland is that it's very difficult to steal a bike when it's parked below ground (which is the most commonly commited crime in most cities in Holland) and they can be placed on busy places without creating giant iron obstacles on the sidewalk like in the picture that can be seen here.
I love these. I caught a guy trying to break into mine. I knocked him over the head with my books and while he was dazed I got my bike out and locked him underneath. About a day later I saw on the news a little clip about this but they didn't mention that he was trying to steal my bike.