Rim damaged by hanging bike on a hook?

[Matt O'Toole]

[email protected] wrote:

> Where do we get such racks?
>
> Matt O'Toole asked whether I could produce a reference to
> these hanging bike racks on buses. Alas, I am amazed at
> the lack of information on the web (ala Google) here or
> abroad on such racks. All I could find was a picture of
> Swiss Railway bicycle rentals SBB where you can see such
> storage. The density should be obvious. Buses with such
> racks can take up to 8 bicycles in the back of the bus.
>
> http://www.rent-a-bike.ch/2004/index.html

Thanks for looking! I wasn't able to find anything either.
However, if I knew which bus company or transit authority
had these racks, maybe I could just find out from them. On
whose buses have you seen them?

Racks are usually on the front because of safety concerns --
the bus driver can see when someone is done putting the bike
in the rack, and if it has been done correctly. Plus, having
anyone doing anything behind the bus probably makes lawyers
nervous. But if rear racks are already being used *somewhere
in the US,* then selling the idea would be a lot easier.

Matt O.

 

[Jobst Brandt]

Matt O'Toole writes:

>> Where do we get such racks?

>> Matt O'Toole asked whether I could produce a reference to
>> these hanging bike racks on buses. Alas, I am amazed at
>> the lack of information on the web (ala Google) here or
>> abroad on such racks. All I could find was a picture of
>> Swiss Railway bicycle rentals SBB where you can see such
>> storage. The density should be obvious. Buses with such
>> racks can take up to 8 bicycles in the back of the bus.

>> http://www.rent-a-bike.ch/2004/index.html

> Thanks for looking! I wasn't able to find anything either.
> However, if I knew which bus company or transit authority
> had these racks, maybe I could just find out from them. On
> whose buses have you seen them?

I've seen them both in Europe and here but didn't note
whether the ones I saw here were tour busses for which the
driver loaded the bicycles or what. The hooks are staggered
so the handlebars do not interfere.

> Racks are usually on the front because of safety concerns
> -- the bus driver can see when someone is done putting the
> bike in the rack, and if it has been done correctly. Plus,
> having anyone doing anything behind the bus probably makes
> lawyers nervous. But if rear racks are already being used
> *somewhere in the US,* then selling the idea would be a
> lot easier.

I think that is a compelling reason for most buses to not
use rear racks. Front racks cannot be vertical because they
would obscure driver vision. The trouble is that front racks
usually hold 2 or 3 bicycles after which you cannot get on
if the rack is full.

When I first got a good bicycle I hung it from a hook that
came straight out of the wall on our back porch. The hook,
much like the vinyl covered bicycle hooks that are available
today,caught the front wheel about a spoke above the tire
contact point. This holds a bicycle just off the floor or
higher, perpendicular to the wall. My mother didn't want the
bicycle in my room so that was the next best.

Jobst Brandt [email protected]