Bike Storage Is Not Fit For Purpose At Most Companies

Ahead of employees returning to work, many are looking at buying a bike to get there. There is predicted to be ten times the number of people cycling to work after lockdown, so this is not a surprise. In fact there has already been a spike with a full 5% of the UK population buying a bike since lockdown began representing a 677% increase in sales of bikes over ￡500 according to Sigma Sports.

As a cycling advocate this is fantastic news and looks to have potentially pushed the cycling agenda forward by several years in just a few months. However, it creates several headaches for companies, key amongst them is bike storage and security.

These are two pictures from a popular office location in Shoreditch from May 2019. I know these bike racks well because before lockdown I used them every day.

In order to make sure I got a spot here I would need to arrive at the latest 15 minutes before work began. If I was late I would need to lock my bike somewhere even riskier.

These bike racks are 'normal' but have several issues, firstly with that many bikes that close together it's simple for thieves to hide their work. It's simple to kneel down to cut a lock and and be totally hidden from view. Similarly, as you can see from the street view, it's not a street with much footfall, making it even easier for thieves to act without being disturbed.

I have also taken a shot of the bike on the end of the line as a demonstration of how simple it is for a thief to steal this bike within a few seconds. As you can see the black B-Twin bike has a D-Lock, but it is being used to attach both ends of a thin cable rather than locking the bike to the rack. A pair of cheap bolt cutters can get through this cable with one snip, so in under 10 seconds a thief could easily cut the lock the bike and ride off. With the added low footfall on this street the chances of being caught is small. 

However, the biggest issue they have is that with ten times the number of bikes needing to be stored after lockdown, there is nowhere close to enough space.

Unfortunately this kind of setup is common in London and across UK cities where office space is at a premium and therefore not typically equipped for bike storage. Even facilities that have some provision, such as WeWork buildings, have limited spaces available. When I worked in a WeWork building the capacity of the bike storage facilities was met when the building had under 60% of their offices filled. How are they going to cope with this unprecedented increase in bike numbers?

In the past the provision of cycling infrastructure has sat on the individual or the local authorities, but relying on a safe public space for bike storage is not an option. Not only is public bike parking generally inadequate, but with 10 times the number of cyclists they will also be full. 

With a lack of decent bike storage, combined with new cyclists, and a lack of education around correct security practices we are going to see a spike in bike thefts. This has already begun with Admiral insurance reporting a 46% increase in bike thefts since lockdown began before people have even begun locking their bikes outside work.

Before COVID-19 having your bike stolen would have been a bit of an inconvenience as the way you would like to get to work has been removed, but you would have one obvious option - public transport. However, we now live in a world where for most people using public transport is simply not an option. With the potential for a second spike very real, companies should also be aiming for their employees to avoid it as much as possible. Having your bike stolen could therefore be the difference between getting back to work and not at all. 

There are simple ways to fix this, but googling 'bike racks', buying the cheapest, and sticking them outside the office is not going to be good enough as many bike racks currently on the market are not good enough. For instance, one of the most common bike racks consists of two relatively thin bars that sit either side of the front wheel which then keeps the bike upright. However, in order to keep a bike secure with these racks you need long cables to even partially secure a bike. The issue with cables is that they are easy to cut, making them less than ideal to be used as the main locking mechanism.

Suddenly bike storage is more than just an enabler and a nice-to-have for employees, it is instead a problem that must be solved by companies ahead of their employees coming back to work. In an environment where public transport is not an option for a major portion of the workforce, bike storage and security is paramount.

This article originally appeared on cyclingforwork.co.uk