Bike rooms with vertical wall mount bike racks can save space and prevent bicycle clutte
By Gerald Dlubala
The simple aesthetics of an organized bike room or bike storage space laid out with an attractive, space saving, wall mount bike rack should be enough to provide adequate bicycle parking.
But when you add in zoning laws, bike room standards, tight spaces and other challenges for planners and designers, these vertical bike racks are now the must, go-to solution for commercial use in apartment settings, multi-unit housing complexes, and business offices.
The Future of Bike Rooms Is Now
Design flexibility and planning compatibility are points that should not be overlooked, because as we speak, more and more cities are requiring that bike rooms, long-term bicycle parking areas, or some combination of the two be offered as part of new, updated, or retrofitted construction plans.
Some of the larger metropolitan areas, such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles are updating their zoning ordinances, reflecting the need to provide accessible bike rooms because of the increasing amount of people choosing to make their bicycles their primary mode of transportation.
Zoning laws are becoming more bike friendly, actively encouraging commuting and requiring businesses and property owners to offer bike rooms or some other type of bike storage.
Growing traffic problems in metropolitan areas, coupled with the time lost in traffic, mental anguish, and pollution that goes with it, has caused a changing demographic to increasingly choose a lifestyle featuring the bicycle as their primary mode of transportation, both for work, when possible, for recreation.
Recognizing this trend, businesses, apartment complex owners, and multi-unit housing managers have begun offering bike rooms in an attempt to lure potential tenants and future employees.
Some of these rooms come equipped with security cameras, individual lockers, and maintenance areas including basic tools on a bike repair station.
Those that have space and funding are going above and beyond by also providing complete bike kitchens, with vending machines offering tire patch kits, bike pumps, replacement tubes, and other smaller, general maintenance items.
The maintenance areas may even include a small bike wash station.
In extreme cases, luxury apartments in New York are also providing the bikes as well, for use specifically by their tenants and sporting the logo of the apartment building for a little branding opportunity.
These bike rooms, no matter how big or small, basic or extravagant, can be maintained and supported by a small stipend that is charged or added to the lease or rental agreement.
A young woman commuting in an urban city environment on her street bicycle
Bikes mean freedom, and more and more people are already taking advantage of that freedom on a daily basis.
Some metropolitan areas have bicyclists reaching upwards of 20% of their population, according to a study done by the New York City Department of Transportation.
With the numbers of full time and recreational bike commuters spending larger amounts of money on their bicycles, it's no longer enough to just throw a cable lock around an outdated and rusting bike parking rack, street sign or tree out near the curb of the street.
Riders have become more environmentally aware and responsible, and the engineering and technology now put into the bikes they ride are more advanced than ever.
A more secure way to store and keep these expensive bikes, some costing thousands of dollars, safe and secure is a necessity.
Bicycle commuters expect the same level of security that is available to their auto driving counterparts, namely secure parking areas.
What better way to show your employees that they are a valuable asset to your organization then by adding a secure bike room or storage space where they can easily and securely store their bicycle while they are at work. Preferably indoors.
It's just one less thing they have to worry about.
Likewise, tenants living in an apartment or multi-unit housing complex don't want to drag their bikes up and down stairs, or squeeze them into elevators every time they want to go somewhere.
For a facility or apartment manager, having multiple bikes locked around handrails, landscaping, or light posts is simply not the answer.
Many places are already tight on space anyway, and where one apartment may mean one car space, one apartment may mean two or three bicycles, so bike storage space is at a premium.
More importantly, if you don't have some form of bike room available, you are automatically filtering out potential tenants who have that on their must-have list when looking for a place to live. Bike rooms are increasingly being promoted as an amenity in real estate listings.
Bike rooms are obviously important, but so is the space within that bike room. By including space saving, wall-mounted bike racks designed and manufactured to be secure while using the smallest footprint, you are providing every rider with an easily accessible space for secure parking and storage.
All bikes will be in a common area designed just for them, putting both the tenants and complex manager at ease.
"A wall-mount bike rack is one of those products that is literally changing the way we store bicycles in the building industry," said Michael Kilmartin, senior executive with The Park and Facilities Catalog. "When you have limited space, this is the perfect solution for storing more bicycles per square foot and keeping them neatly organized."
Wall-Mount Bike Rack Storage Solutions
- Offset bike storage solutions with a staggered handlebar design will make the most use of your space, and minimize the amount of clearance needed per bike, allowing more organized bike storage in a smaller footprint. This allows more flexibility and freedom for planners and designers.
A wall-mount bike rack allows more bicycles to be stored neatly in a bike room - A commercial, vertical wall mount bike rack system should offer a quality locking system, allowing the bike frame and front tire to be secured to the mounted rack with a sturdy U-lock.
- Look for wall mount vertical bike racks that are designed and manufactured to be code compliant and meet the zoning requirements for building planners.
- User Friendly. A quality, hanging wall mount bike rack will allow bikes to easily be mounted and stored without the chance of handlebar to handlebar contact. There is also a need for adequate space in between allowing the user to put up and take down their bike without the fear of getting tangled with other bikes. Wall mount bike racks will prevent bike slippage while being ergonomically friendly versus other, overhead type storage applications. Vertical bike racks keep bikes securely off the ground, eliminating the chance of collecting ground debris and clutter.
- Ease of installation. Vertical wall mount racks can be installed with minimal time and intrusion. Using few tools and easy to read templates, they can be installed in either wood or concrete, starting as close as 24 inches from any corner. Choosing a bike rack system that features offset hanging technology provides even more clearance space, more aisle space, and less crowding.
From coast to coast, bike commuter and recreational bike riding are being discussed and acted upon, causing changes in zoning laws, street and urban planning, and both new and retrofitted construction requirements. Cities are investing heavily in bicycle infrastructure so they certainly want to see more bicyclists using all those new protected bike lanes and bicycle parking racks.
As a changing population sees the benefits of bike riding, both as a viable commuting alternative and as a recreational activity, the need for bike storage and parking increases as well.
In order to meet the demand, quality, secure places for these bikes needs to be provided.
Whether it's for your tenants, your employees, or your customers, a solid, secure bike storage area with space saving, efficient storage ideas designed for an ever increasing number of commuting and recreational bike riders is an amenity that benefits everyone.
You can click here to learn more about creative bike storage solutions and bike locks to choose from.
There is a simple solution that is inexpensive. Start by providing a secure, indoor bike room outfitted with a space saving, wall mount bike rack.