Walking back from Voting earlier I noticed this interesting contraption on the pavement.
The first thing I saw was the solar panel, so I initially wondered if it was an ebike charging station. I crossed the road to have a closer look.
It's not a charging station. I couldn't see any power outlets. So what is it?
It's another attempt by some designer to "innovate" in the bike parking space.
The intention is kinda sound. Dense bike storage in min space. What's not to like? Thread time
1/n
This photo from the other side shows things much better. First off we can see a bike actually attached. But what speaks the most is the comparison between the high tech, super innovative modern, revolutionary bike rack, and the simple sheffield stands (Nietje in Dutch, lit "staple") in the background. One of these is storing lots of bikes, one storing one bike.
Why? Simple. No really. It's about simplicty. Nietje stands are almost idiot proof. You don't havce to lift anything.
2/n
There's no moving parts. There's no lifting needed. Just wheel your bike upto the stand, wrap your lock around it. And you're done.
Compared to the cyclecity circle thing at the start of this thread which requires pulling the stand down, hooking the wheel up, making sure it's all aligned, and letting it lift your bike up into space. It looks like you don't need to actually lift the bike yourself. But it's still a lot of faff. Esp compared to a sheffield stand.
3/n
Cyclists see this a lot, various attempts to make a better bike rack. None of which has come close to the simple usability of the sheffield bike stand. None. Some are denser, the Cyclecity circle is definitely a dencer way to store bikes. But if you look around here, there's not a shortage of space. It's just not needed.
What's with the solar panel? It's to power lighting. Or rather, to part power lighting. It's not big enough to provide enough lighting in winter.
4/n
@quixoticgeek is it even denser? bikes can be hung in a full circle around the stand, so it needs at least a 6m diameter of free space. this even more convoluted version had a bicycle merry-go-round so that only one access route is needed (and it was for rental bikes, so they all had to come back to it)
@th manufacturer claims 20 bikes in 14m²...
OK, calculation time. A regular 2-tier rack like you can see everywhere fits around 2 bikes per 0.8m2, so about 34 bikes in 14m2.
Reference used for calculations : https://cycle-works.com/products/josta-2-tier-rack/ (it isn't even the most compact design you could find)
Both numbers don't take into account the area required for access and maneuvering. Admittedly this number might be lower for the rotating system that you can only access from one side. Still, considering all the pros and cons, it still baffles me why anyone would go with a more complex, more expensive, less accessible, and overall less capable system.
