Apartments with no place for bikes are a barrier to better cities
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- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- Cities are pouring millions of dollars into making safe bike lanes to enable more of us to use a bicycle for transportation. But there's an underappreciated barrier for many people -- there's no safe place to store their bike at home. This can be a huge problem for millions of people who live in smaller apartments and flats where bike parking wasn't considered when it was built, and for millions of people in newer buildings where expensive car parking is often mandated but storage for bikes is not considered at all.
0:00 Introduction
0:24 Hauling a bike up the stairs of an apartment building
1:57 A residential building with plentiful bike parking
3:01 A new report on the challenges of older buildings
3:54 Converting car-parking space for bikes
5:58 Things we can do to fix this problem
#cycling #bike #commuting
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How have you found space for your bikes in your small living space? Share your ideas to help out the community.
My bike just sleeps with me in my room
I wrote to the apartment management (old building in Toronto), and they installed bike racks on two parking spots, which were filled immediately. It helped that they didn't like having bikes chained to the gates or bikes stored on parking spots.
N+1, we live on a farm and still struggle 🤣
At age-62, I got tired of hauling my heavy hybrid bike up and down the stairs, which also turn at a right angle halfway down. I only haul it upstairs now to do certain kinds of maintenance. The rest of the time it's locked up under those same stairs, and with a cover. My landlord is quite slow to implement any changes here (as in years) so this is the best option right now. This apartment building was built sometime in the early 1960s, when this area was the outer suburbs of Houston. I hope to get a Yuba Kombi cargo bike next year, and will just have to do the same thing with it as it's a heavier bicycle.
Fantastic points in this video - definitely a major issue here in Chicago as well. I'm lucky enough (in this context anyway) to live on the ground floor, so carrying my bike into my apartment isn't a big deal, but the difficulty in general of secure bike parking in residential buildings is a massive hurdle to more people biking in cities.
indoor bike parking is literally mandatory in almost every newbuild in the Netherlands
My appartementbuilding from the sixties has a place downstairs for where every resident can store a bike and if one wishes hè could use his private storage downstairs also. Also in the Netherlands btw.
Same in California
it’s tough because any mandates you make on new builds increase the barriers for creating new housing, especially non-luxury housing
@@drewcollins2899 bike parking facilities are hardly cost prohibitive
That being said, since most of the housing stock in Europe is so old, many buildings have zero bike parking just like they have zero car parking. And still, many people ride bikes, so I don't know how much of a factor it really is. So many bikes are just parked on sidewalks in front all over the place.
I own a single-family suburban home in the US Midwest, so storing my bikes securely at home is not the the issue. I'm generally willing to mix with car traffic where there's no alternative. For me, the biggest issue is secure parking at the places where I want to go.
I'm in NYC which is one of the most bike-friendly places in the US, and yet bike parking is basically non-existent here. It's the main reason why I don't bike as much as I'd like to. I actually bought a folding bike so at least I can take it inside some places, but if I'm going grocery shopping it's still quite heavy to carry around the whole time. The city keeps installing bike posts to lock up bikes, but those are risky because bike theft is common. There are a few car parking garages that have space for bikes, but not many. And those that do charge quite a lot.
There's a gym I sometimes go to which has quite a bit of empty space in the lobby area. People used to store bikes there. You'd usually see like 1-4 bikes, not that many. But at some point they put up multiple signs saying no bikes. What a shame.
Agreed. All too often bike lock-ups provided by large retailers are usually next to a staff smoking area somewhere on the fringes of the property. If on hand, rarely is the lock-up in a desirable location. When confronted with this, I walk my bike inside and lock it up there - this usually starts the conversation.
My town installed a bunch of bike racks in front of businesses over a decade ago which has been great. Doesn't keep up though when there is a large group of tourists with bike rentals. While there are programs to allow business to freely expand out to the sidewalks and even take over street parking for expanded seating there hasn't been any programs to expand bike storage. Then the cases where locked bikes still can get stolen from time to time even from the large bike rack in front of the grocery stores. I wanted an e-bike while couldn't afford it being stolen.
@@14motiI wouldn't say NYC is bike friendly per say, but they definitely have put more effort in the last decade
@@14motiyou spend your money with people that want to work with you !
Since the 1930's all housing needs a shed with access to the street to stall bicycles in the Netherlands, by law. That helps a lot. Also an employer has to provide safe bicycle stalling for his/her employees.
So all buildings in the Netherlands that are less than 100 years old, have bicycle provisions, by law.
That's awesome! I wish Canada cared lol
@@canadiansmarties It is as obvious as sewer, drinking water and internet connection to us. Can't do without it.
I don't know if that is actually true. My house is from the 30s, and it has nothing of the kind. All I ever knew in any house I've lived in, bike parking was on the street, in bike racks, or on a lamppost. What you need is a lock that's more expensive than your bike.
@@rinkinkel Strange... the law change also included that the back of any house could be reached. Either by a passage or an alley, so called 'brandgangen'. Both for fire safety and for a route for garbage not through the house itself. If the back cannot be reached for any reason, the shed has to be in front of the house.
I wish the whole world had the foresight of the Dutch.
Ooh I've been waiting for a video like this. Good storage options is my number 1 problem after getting rid of my car a few months ago. I can't get a cargo bike or even really a nice bike because I just want something cheap that I can leave chained up outside instead of carrying it up 2 flights of stairs just to let it take up space in my apartment. It's pretty frustrating riding by acres of free/cheap parking options for cars daily meanwhile I'm seriously restricted.
In a lot of ways, this problem is one of bike theft as much as storage space. If we could trust leaving our bikes outdoors without fear of them being stolen, we'd have a lot more options.
@@Shifter_Cycling Is that something we'll never have to worry about? Apple products have lots of protections against theft, but I still take extra precautions to make sure they're not easy to steal.
@@chadisrad2011 It's not just the whole bike, Chad. What use is a tag if your bike is stripped of valuable parts?
So, where did you leave your car, when you still had one? Could you just park it on the street? And if so, why not buy an old banger of a van, put that in the street and use it as a shed? Doesn't even have to run...!
@@MigGroningen I'm so glad that you suggested that. I came here to say it. Now I don't feel so weird.
I think that we would be allowed to buy a broken RV from the junk yard. We could even remove all engine and oily parts to prevent environmental damage. We could get a towing company to haul it to where we need it to be.
In California, homeless people are doing this for shelter.
I think that for us, the only ongoing costs are shell maintenance and vehicle licensing.
I lived in Vancouver and my apartment building (built in 2020) had 2 nice large rooms in the underground parking dedicated to bikes. Saw lots of people use bikes in my building to commute everyday. Storing bikes was also free of charge while a parking spot was $100 a month. Was pretty cool to see moving from a suburban car centric town in the US to Vancouver where using a bike as a form of transit was much more viable for a number of reasons
These seem good in theory, but they are super common places for bike thefts in Seattle (which I assume has similar demographics to Vancouver, except you all have a dedicated police force dedicated to bike theft so maybe it's actually better). I keep my bike in my unit, even though my apartment has such a room. It tucks behind my door in the entrance, which is a bit annoying since I can't open the door fully, but it works well enough.
@@emma70707 yea they arnt the best I agree lol. my bikes aren't that much but if I had a nice bike Id keep it in the unit too 4sure
A friend of mine in Seattle has 2 bike rooms in his (newer) apartment building. You have to use a key card to get into the garage, and then again to get into the bike room (so if it's a tenant, they know who accessed the garage and bike room), and there are rails in the bike room to lock up to. Plus video cameras. It's pretty secure.
While this doesn't solve the bike storage problem, one thing that building managers could do is install wheel guides along the edges of the stairwells. I did this at my home after getting tired of lugging my 80 lb ebike up the front stairs, it made a big difference to bike accessibility!
Especially if you have a walk mode, or thumb throttle! Could glue some sandpaper to the guide if grip is a problem.
@@ahaveland Even in the dead of winter, grip was never a problem, a quick throttle bump is all that's needed to get it to roller over the top step.
@@lihtan Depends on the incline and the material - a metal rail on steep stairs can require more human push than motor assist, but still better than without!
There are conveyer belts bike rails for on or next to stairs, easy to move your bike up the stairs. Expensive though, about €17,500 to 25,000 for one floor. For downstairs there are bike rails with brushes on both sides in order to control your bike from slipping downwards fast.
@@RealConstructor Another bike handling skill that many people don't think about, is how to maneuver a bicycle inside tight interior spaces, without banging it on walls, or leaving scuff marks with the tires. I always found it strange that train stations have signage telling you not to bring your bike on the escalator. The bike is much easier to control on an escalator. I stand it up on the rear wheel, and lean off to the side, so it's not in anyone's way. If they force me to lug it up the stairs, I find that effort of carrying it means I'm more likely to bump into other people with it.
I got rid of my bike years ago because I didn’t have the space in my apartment and my building’s bike room wasn’t very secure. A couple of years ago I purchased a folding bike that fits in the entryway.
Folding bike FTW
Another thing to consider is security. Indoor bike parking is actually a bit tricky since it's often in a basement with decent sound insulation. All thieves need to do is to gain access at night and then they can break every chain and lock in peace. Bare minimum there should be a solid bike rack which you can lock your bike to, but these are super rare. Most have either no racks or racks which are not secure or even usable. This is why I carried my bike up and down six stories to my apartment for years, the communal bike storage was not secure.
Incidentally, this is one of the biggest advantages of my folding bike I've discovered (and most folding bikes in general); the only safer thing than the best lock chaining it to a good rack is physically being able to bring my bike inside wherever I'm going
I've always been curious about them. Do you find them good to ride?
I have a Tern S10 folding e-bike. I keep it in my condo unit. It takes up very little space. I love riding it. I can unfold it and be in the building elevator in a few minutes. That’s the key to riding. Making it convenient. Even the Tern non-folding bikes can be stored vertically, which saves space. But the folding lets me put it in a car. I highly recommend it.
@@bearcubdaycare TL;DR If you get the chance to snag one at your preferred price point, I highly recommend it! They are *very* fun and a good complement in anyone's bike "stable."
Despite their shape, they're actually quite stable to ride on - if you take away the extra folding bits, you're basically riding a BMX bike with an extra long seatpost + stem. Riding on smaller tires (mine is on the bigger end at 20"; I know some models lean smaller at 16") makes you more nimble in tighter spaces than a "full size" bike - whenever I switch from my foldable to my big bike, I have to caution myself from taking more aggressive lines. Small wheels also means you can accelerate surprisingly fast; great for when you need to get up to cruising speed in the city!
In addition, having so much of the bike's weight down low makes for a nice and low centre of gravity, making them very easy to ride, and having no "top tube" means you can easily step through and into the bike without much more strain on the hips/legs.
Their biggest weaknesses are longer hauls and mixed terrain; smaller wheels do make for faster acceleration but a lower overall top speed, and you will _absolutely_ feel each change in elevation going up and down hills and bumps. Accessories like racks and fenders may also require a bit more digging than your LBS might be able to provide; I had to do some online scouring for an appropriate rear rack to mount, as folding bike accessories are still on the esoteric side (at least in my side of the world).
The compact nature of the bike means a lot of geometry has to be bit more aggressive, the head tube angle on most foldables will be *very* steep, much like a push scooter (some people have described folding bike handling as "squirrelly"), but other than that, the riding position is not dissimilar to most comfort/hybrid bikes. Depending on the model, you can even adjust how tall or short your handlebars to match how aggressive/relaxed you want to ride.
@@bearcubdaycare They are great! When I was watching this video my first thought was "they should get a folding bike".
Currently in the process of being completely ignored by my property manager at my apartment block. All they need to do is convert one or two of our many many unused visitor parking spots into a bicycle shed and it'd be such a game changer. Plus they'd not need to repaint the scratched up walls so much from me and my wife lugging our bikes up and down the apartment stairs every day!
Reminds me of my flat/ appartement building in Weesp suburb of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I had a bike storage space, but with 2 sharp turns. I had to lift up the rear wheel to get around those turns. I had 2 break ins, 2 mountain bikes stolen.
In the end I also transported my bikes to the safety of my flat.
Another guy rode a trike and he had a clever solution; he rented a garage with several other people.
Thanks for sharing. We're often looking to the Dutch for answers to these questions so I appreciate the insight
Ah, that's bad. Back in my old place I would park my bike outside during the nice months, the only thing that was ever stolen was the 7€ bike "computer".
Though that bike was a 20 year old unattractive one, which might have helped.
Finding an apartment with a place to store our bikes was a big concern for me, and finding that in Brooklyn wasnt easy.
Glad you managed to find something that works.
As a daily bike commuter living on a second floor walk up folding bikes are a game changer. All of my bikes are folders now and I couldn't be happier with them.
Where I live, in London (UK), the local authority has installed lock up bike hangars on the street, taking up one car space each. It’s a good solution but there are more people wanting a space than there are spaces available. They have a plan to install hundreds more spaces in the borough but there’s a huge waiting list.
After a big searching of a perfect bike, from Dutch to Gravel, I ended buying a Brompton (I’m in love with it). The price is much higher than what I thought to spend but I can store it in my flat.
Zero regrets so far! ❤
I really admire your passion to keep talking about a better way to share space in our city. Please don‘t give up! Bye and have a nice day.
Thank you for the support! I really appreciate it
I've literally refused to move into some apartments for just that reason. They had parking underground parking spots included with the unit but I don't drive a car, but there was nowhere to put my bike inside the unit or otherwise. It's a real struggle finding a unit that has all the other amenities I need and also having space for a bike, all within my price range.
In another thread, we discussed using an old car or RV as a "bike shed". Your bike shed doesn't have to even have an engine. You just need a towing company to put the "shed" in the parking space.
In fact, you could get a free/cheap car as a parts car. You could sell off the parts to pay for the car and the towing cost.
Videos like these just make me really appreciative of how well built my own city is (Malmö, Sweden). The building I live in, like many others in the city, was built right after WWII and we have bomb shelters that are often used as bike storage, here I also have as a wood workshop (people use it for woodwork, fixing bikes, spray painting, ikea hacking etc, so you don't have to do it in your apartment or disturbing neighbors). It's fairly easy access. just a stair/bicycle ramp down to the cellar with an automated door, and then you go through one short corridor. It makes it really simple to own a bike. We also have a pretty big back yard, with playground, grass fields, trees as well as outdoor parking. The back yard is secured by locked gates and we rarely see any theft here.
Hey Tom, this is the reason I have an e scooter and don't use my bike that often. Convenience. I have to go to parking level 2, unlock a chain and a a pad lock, unlock my bike, lock the chains back up, ride up 2 levels and open two garage doors on the way. Meanwhile I keep the scooter in my apartment, take the elevator and out the front door.
Convenience is an absolutely essential to get folks on two wheels.
When people are deciding which transportation option to choose, convenience may be the most important aspect. I totally agree with you. And that's why so many people continue to choose cars.
This topic applies to where I live specifically in New York City. I lived in a three story walk-up for a few years and hauled my bikes up and down the stairs every single day but I got to a point where I wouldn't ever again live in an apartment that was more than a first floor or elevator because I wasn't giving up my bikes. A few tips that help storage in a small apartment - 1. Fold up bikes are always an option. 2. Bike hooks whereby bikes can hang from your wall and thus reduce floor usage. 3. Store bikes upright so they take less space. 4. Consider striking a deal with your landlord to store your bike in the garage. All these is assuming your building isn't equipped with bike storage to begin with.
Folding bicycles for the win. e scooters too. That said my city could use some secure bicycle parking downtown. The downtown is fairly walkable.
For people without bike storage space, a Brompton is a great option. I store mine indoor underneath my desk even though i have a safe garage. It folds up to abot 65x65x30cm. Ikea also has the Dimpa bag that fits perfectly for carrying or storing it and the Baggmuck shoe tray that also fits it perfecly for storage indoors
Another great video! I note three barriers to cycling. City infrastructure, theft, storage. The last two are related. Large bikes take up more space. I in part blame the industry which is not very innovative in marketing smaller , not just folding types, city bikes such as are available in Asia and Europe. Smaller bikes exist but I think users believe any bike with smaller wheels than 26 inches is for kids. My two cents.
Theft and storage are totally related. Being able to leave your bike locked on the street would make a huge difference.
You are right about the bike industry. Despite all the advances in material science, and bike geometry, only a tiny handful of companies are using that knowledge to bring innovative products to market. It takes real effort to design a bike around a smaller frame, and adjust the geometry so it rides properly. The same goes for folding bikes, in making sure that they're both convenient to use, structurally sound, and don't weigh too much. It seems that the way to go is with companies like Brompton and Tern, which specialize in making folding bikes. I've found that other companies that only dabble in it, end up making horrible overweight bikes with terrible handling.
I definitely have this issue in my 100 yr old building in a small college town. I used to park my bike directly outside the building entrance until someone stole my tire. Asked my landlord to provide some space to store, but "all of the building interior space needs to be empty for fire escape". There is open area in the hallways that fit some bikes with no issue and even have elevator access. Had to do some research to find a solution, but I just store it vertically where it heavily blocks a closet door as a compromise. It could be better but it wouldn't deter me from using a bike
Definitely agree that having to carry a bike up to an apartment, such as mine that is 2 floors up through a tight spiral staircase, isn't very convenient. I often use an electric scooter because it is more compact to carry up stairs, even if it is quite a bit heavier than a run of the mill bike(also works better on packed light rail trains). A folding bike would probably be a good solution but I enjoy scooters. I had considered talking with my apartment management about building a potential bike cage since there is only a single bike rack(which I'm surprised it has), but not sure how far a single person will go in getting a large corporation to build a bike cage that could handle the elements outside.
I just ordered a Segway scooter. Love my ebikes, but scooters are much more practical for car transport, to take on public transit, and not worry about theft because they are so small and can be easily secured.
You know how people were pitching those container storage units for bikes around 2020/2021? It was aimed at creating secure on-street bike parking for areas like downtowns where people would work and lock their bikes up for a day without worry of theft. But really, a couple of those taking up 2-3 parking spots could provide enough bike parking for an apartment with 10-20 households or so (conservative estimate since not everyone will bike, at first). Or imagine it going on a city block and people living nearby could chip in for a membership instead of getting a parking permit (which is usually $20-50/mo in the cities near me).
My university here in Austria actually offers that. The installed those containers and you can rent them at a third of the cost of a normal parking spot. IMO that's still too expensive compared to a car, or the car not expensive enough, but at least it gives you options.
I think I have also seem some that were installed by the city near a tram stop.
Thanks for shining a spotlight on this big issue... I live in Budapest and use an ebike and scooter for everything now. They each weig about 40kg, and I live on a 3rd floor flat.
Fortunately we have a small and basic elevator which I can just get the bike in vertically, and the scooter rolls in with an inch to spare. It's manageable - just! On leaving the elevator there's a short corridor and a half-floor of steps down to the main door. Lugging 40 kg up and down these at the age of 60 is quite an effort, but it keeps me fit!
However, if the lift is out of service, then carrying them up 3 floors is not fun! I find myself using the scooter more as I can also use it as a shopping trolley and don't have to worry about parking or locking it up. Can also use it to commute to work and park it next to my desk! The ebike is great for long distance adventures at the weekends.
Petty theft is common here - things go missing whether they are nailed down or not - would be great to have a secure lockup with a charger just 30 seconds away from the street!
Thanks for sharing your story. There's so much room for improvement in this area in our cities.
As usual there are car parking/storage laws for new buildings but no bike parking or storage requirements if you don't want to keep a car indoors. Not that it's any picnic for car drivers either since developers and landlords think it's ok to provide the space as required by law but then take it away and rent it or resell it back to you for a premium.
The minimum parking requirement already exists so we should amend it to say new builds are required to provide 1 parking space OR secure storage space of equivalent size for no additional charge. Then people have a true choice, own 1 car or truck OR own bikes for the whole family, a big cargo bike, some mountain bikes, a road bike, a beach cruiser, some kids bikes. You pick.
Seems like folding bikes would be ideal for this. There are some great and affordable ones too. I commute into a city in northern England via train/folding bike and its fantastic.
A folding bike is the right solution for another problem: bike theft. After 2 bikes stolen, I put my hands on a Tern Link D8 and never looked back. Now I have a Brompton and is a very nice bike for urban cycling → Goes by my side at all times.
@Entropía Organizada Exactly. My workplace provides bike sheds, but occasionally, there is a spate of thefts. Mine comes into the building with me and stays by my workbench. I've got a Tern D7i and am loving it, although I am considering a brompton for my next bike.
@@6JackOfClubs9 I went around 500 times before buying the Brompton, mainly because of the price compared to the Tern. I found a second-hand Brompton in very good condition and I have the Tern as a backup, although I haven't used it for several months. cheer up!
In Singapore most housing estates will have street level covered bike parking, but it’s publicly accessible. Partly because of this, a huge number of people ride foldable bikes and mini velo’s. I’d estimate that close to half the bikes ridden in Singapore are foldies.
Now that I live with landlords who also bike, I have dedicated bike storage! It's amazing and means that I feel okay about owning a bike because I primarily use the local bikeshare. Owning a bike and having real bike storage means that I can actually use my bike regularly for fun bike rides at least 1-5 times a week.
Our building (circa the 1910s) in Vancouver has a combo storage locker/bike room. It's very secure, but unfortunately our building is not accessible. That means any bike has to be carried up and down the front steps of the building.
For my wife, she will not use our cargo bike to take our daughter for rides if I am not around, because the cargo bike is too heavy for her to lift.
The bike room is also located behind the laundry room, so I need to navigate four doors to get my bikes in and out. This is a bit of a hassle, so I typically use the Mobi bike share service for shorter rides if I don't need the speed of my road bike or the carrying capacity of the cargo bike.
As an apartment dweller for most of my adult life, I've always kept my bikes in my apartment. I value the security of my bikes over the convenience of taking them out. That said my current building has an elevator, so that makes it a lot easier.
The bigger problem in my experience is not having anywhere to WASH your bike. I've always lived in areas where it snows for part of the year, and sometimes in the winter you have to wash your bike after every ride lest it crumble into rust. Let me tell you, washing bikes in the shower gets old fast. This has always been more of a burden to me riding all year long than the weather or the bike storage aspect.
I often wash my bike at the gas station. Is that an option for you?
@@ThePianoman-- Would have to be a coin operated wash and not an automatic wash.
Hey Tom, love the video! One thought I will share is the perception of secured bike parking as secure. Living in Calgary like yourself, I got into bike commuting last year and was very happy my condo included a room for bike storage. 2 weeks after purchasing a new bike it was stolen from that "secured" storage room. Weeks later, another similar incident happened in my building. I've also seen stories in our city of safety concerns with people storing bikes in storage rooms and being involved in altercations with thieves.
I think while the idea of retrofitting older buildings to accommodate bike storage, and incentivizing it in newer builds is always a good thing. However I would raise the point that bike storage in North America is only as good as its level of safety and security. I think these areas where we store our bikes need to meet these criteria, and not just be a convenient spot to park in order to get more people on bikes.
That is an excellent point. Although bike storage rooms are step in the right direction, they're still too tempting of a target for thieves. Centralizing it one area, and giving everyone in the building access to it, also invites trouble. I think the only thing that's going to work is to have individual high security bike lockers for each tenant. With the increasing use of ebikes, it would also be a good idea to provide dedicated charge bunkers that can safely contain a lithium battery going into thermal runaway.
Simple don't have expensive bike... In my apartment there is 2 expensive bike stolen inside lock up garage.... While there is 30 cheap bike happily parked in common area unlock....
I know this wasn’t the point of the video but Frankie’s set up for biking with his dogs is so stinking adorable! Years ago I lived in an upstairs apartment so I never road my bike. We moved into a ground level which was great because we used the patio to store our bikes… until someone hopped the fence and stole my husband’s bike :(
I didn't really need to include that dog setup in this video, but I couldn't resist 😜. Sorry to hear about the theft of your husband's bike.
@WhitneyOpfar I had to comment as well about the dogs, oh how I wish my dog would sit on the trailer the same!
Even in new builds bike parking is unideal.
I'm lucky enough to live in a pretty new building(built in 2010s), in a big bicycling city, with bike storage on every floor and bike parking has still bugged me. The bike room is all the way across the floor so probably 100m away; it's annoying/awkward to get the bike through the door while keeping it open; and then the bike needs to be hung vertically which is more time and annoyance, especially if you have a bulky crate on (I am encouraging my girlfriend to ride but I know this in particular will be harder for her). All of those combine to make an impediment that really shouldn't be there.. Why not have dedicated horizontal bike storage for each apartment AT the apartment. Of course there would be a cost passed on to the renter because it's more complex to build (more locks, hinges, doors, labor, etc) but if we don't define bike storage as GOOD bike storage, companies will only do the bare minimum.
I would love to watch a video that lays out what the ideal bike storage solution looks like for new apartment buildings and talk with a builder/architect/etc to see if that's feasible, if there are places already doing it, how much it would add to one's rent, how much time it saves.
As someone that does renovation and construction work, I've thought of the same idea of having integrated bike storage lockers right inside the dwelling. If it were up to me, it would be a requirement that every unit had enough storage for at least 4 bikes. This way a couple can each have a bike or two, plus still leave some room for a guest to park their bike somewhere safe. The concept is very feasible. In my own home, I've built a wooden platform that allows me to stack two bikes right by the front door. The upper platform has a simple wheel guide that ensures the bike is positioned correctly, so that it can engage with a wall mounted lock that secures to the handlebar.
You raised a very important point, one that is coming to more prominence lately. Biking numbers can’t increase as much as they should unless we provide plenty of good parking in homes and workplaces and businesses. I want you to know I enjoy all of your videos, and not only that, I just noticed you have a really nice voice.
I've used command hook broom holders in a space where I couldn't screw into the walls to hold a bike upright. It works for tires up to about 40mm. Luckily was the first floor, so my only barrier was the limited stage space inside.
Great solution. Thanks for sharing.
Great video. I actually just finished my architecture school project where I designed a bike Hotel where patrons could store there bikes in there room in a hole in the wall with racks you would commonly find in the Netherlands.
Where my grandparents used to live in a block of flats, they had these small storage rooms on the ground floor for every flat. So while they weren’t designed to store bicycles, you easily could do that, and it was right next to the front door of the building. So it’s really not difficult to solve this problem at all. You could do it a lot better, but this ground floor storage system would be more than adequate.
This is the worst with a dirty mountain bike D:
fiancé currently hates me for this
This is a good point too! In addition to having proper bike storage, people also need places to clean and maintain their bikes. In the last building I lived at, there was a bike storage rack that replace a few parking stalls, as well as a car wash area with a hose nearby. If it went mountain biking, or commuted home in the rain, it was simple for me to clean the bike before putting it away.
Here in Germany all buildings
have a cellar
at least in our city / state
and that makes bike storage easier.
Nice to hear a good solution. Thanks for sharing.
It took me quite a while to realize that have a storage unit in the basement is actual not that common in North America, or at least that is my impression. Here in Austria it is very much the norm. And old buildings often have a room with a clothes line in the basement, that could be changed into bike storage. That usually still means carrying the bike down some stairs, but it gives you some options at least.
None of that solves the issues in North America though 🤷
Edit: just remembered that my university installed some metal boxes that people can rent to store their bikes. Not sure how they are called in English. I assume they aren't the safest option but I have also never seen any of them damaged or obviously broken into, so maybe it does work well enough.
I was lucky that our first appartment was really spacious, so we got one bike in the storage unit and one bike in our living room. My partner had to lug both our bikes up the stairs though because I was not able to do that at all.
Every time I see a Not My Bikes video I want to know how they do bike parking in Amsterdam appartment buildings. I bet it's awesome!
This is sooooooo true!! Denver and the Toronto area are both great places to go bike around... if you have your own garage or a car with a bike rack. Ironically when I rented in Los Angeles it's typical to have ground level storage units, for earthquakes? Idk, either way it was secure and *perfect* to just huck my bike in after a day near death car dodging.
The irony of living n car-centric, low-density places is that there is often ample room for bikes. Yet, when living in more bike-friendly urban areas, it can be really difficult to find secure bike parking.
I definitely feel the struggle of storing my bike in my apartment, although im stubborn enough to not let it deter me from using it as daily transpot. Great video!
Never had to worry about this particular issue, I've got a shed here that could probably fit 8 bikes parked normally still being able to easily get every single one in/out without having to move a thing (if I got rid of some stuff that's in the shed). At my parents place we always had the barn that hasn't been used for farming since the previous residents, my dad is good at filling the stable space with various stuff he thinks he'll use one day though. And during my student days the most inconvenient one was a one level down storage area in a 3 story appartment building (did have one of those smooth slopes with a bicycle gutter in it). I don't know if I've just been lucky or it comes with most buildings here in the Netherlands.
The difference was pretty big, I'm glad the first guy found a decent workaround for his old building. The dogs seemed to know very well what was going to happen as well. Folding bicycles might be a great option, I usually mainly think of them as a solution when getting to public transport isn't feasible or it leaves you stranded too far from the destination but it'll solve the storage issue in most cases. And is at least less of a hassle at the stairs since the shape rather than the weight is typically more inconvenient.
For urban biking I own and prefer minivelo (20" wheels) bikes, either a folding 20" wheel bike or solid frame 20" wheeler. They squeeze between cars better, turn better, and fit in tight studio apartments better. Also lighter if you have the misfortune of having a walk-up.
I'd add, biking families have an even bigger challenge; we're a family of four, we have a large cargo bike and a compact cargo bike. There's no way we could haul these things up stairs(or down stairs in our case). We're very fortunate that we have secure outdoor bike storage that's only mildly inconvenient to navigate. We actually wanted to get a bakfiet instead of our large cargo bike (which is a longtail), but it would be too unwieldy to navigate through our back yard path (two gates, a couple awkward angle turns, and two steps). Our landlord has four cars in their household (large household), and there's limited street parking, so it's not like it'd be easy to park another two cars around here even if we could afford to drive in this city
Ive chatted with different superintendents/landlords, my dentist, doctor, and various local shops about thier poor bike parking. Some of those places have got better and some worse after renovations. Not consistent progress as most people just don't think about bikes or bikes are just an afterthought. Thanks for the video bringing awareness.
Great video as always, your videos have always been good but you have leveled up big time recently, loving these
My personal solution is a second-hand bike I'm not too afraid to simply let outside, with a good lock. I have been lucky until now, but if my bike ever gets stolen, the monetary value to the loss is limited. That said, I will still be upset, if only because now, I have to restart the search for a decent, larger frame bike that doesn't look too good, either, so it's not really a good solution. There is a bike storage, but with 2 gates (the inside door being a simple flush door, so not very secure once a thief gets into the garage, either), it's just too cumbersome for daily use. I might use it when going on holiday, though. Before that, I also had a fold bike which was very practical to bring up to my apartment.
A more interesting new project might the this: in my city (Brussels), with lots of older housing stock (often with steep stairs and no common basement), so really no good space available for bike storage. New buildings are required to have bike storage (but that's still quite recent, and not all buildings use the dedicated bike storage rooms for this purpose), for people in older buildings, there are 'fietsbox' outside storage units you can rent, and the latest experiment is trying to convince owners of empty stores and garages to rent them out as bike storage for the neighbourhood. It's just started, so we're still waiting for the results, but I think it's promising.
I have a recumbent trike, that measures 35" wide - try getting that through a 32" fire door.
We have new owners of the apartment complex - after watching this video, I'm going to advocate for bike storage inside the building. Thanks!
Almost a perfect ad for folding bikes
Thanks! This is an aspect I hadn't thought about before but it definitely would impact whether or not you'd use your bike regularly. Great video.
I've been lucky to find apartments with a patio and have been storing my bikes there but the rain wears the bikes out faster.
I would consider replacing my commuter with a folding bike if I needed the space. In my previous apt I stored my bike in the middle of the living room whenever people weren't visiting. Both places also had elevators.
Patio worked because I wasn't on the first floor.
My previous apt had outdoor bike racks but only a few were covered.
Current one is a 5 over 1 with a bike repair room that has storage rack, right next to the repair stand🥲
Thanks for the idea to start discussing improvements with the management. There are lots of shops and workplaces less than a mile away but few people cycling.
Oh yeah, I live in a tiny apartment in a city and while I appreciate that it’s semi safe enough to lock up my bike outside overnight, I still want to invest in a folding bike to bring it upstairs. But I shouldn’t have to worry about that in the first place
I have a similar issue, though much much less severe. My wife and I keep our bikes in the living room because there is no other place to put them. Luckily we don't have any (significant) stairs to deal with.
What I really really want is a cargo e-bike. But storing that inside is a complete non-possibility.
Luckily I own my own residence and might be able to build a small locker on the side (though there is barely enough room in there, and technically is not permitted). But it is a huge barrier for us. Weird that we have enough space to park our car on the street which is WAY bigger than a bike, but no place to put a cargo bike... Ideally there would be really secure bike lockers that could live out on the street on every block, taking up a car parking space but holding many many bikes.
But for some reason that is impossible while repaving the road is well within budget. Sigh.
Great topic! My experience in downtown Toronto was I always had to lock my bike to a pole/stand on the street while at home or out and around. The biggest problem was finding bike parking and hoping my bike would be there when I returned. I didn't know anyone, myself included, who did not have their bike or parts stolen at some point in time. As a result, I could never have a 'nice' bike because there was always to possibility it would be gone when I got back, and because a bike isn't a high enough cost the police didn't even care to investigate. I hope you can do a video on this problem and suggest ways to overcome it. THX!
This is demoralizing. I watched this video to see how we could store our bikes when no space is available.
Thanks for the video. I'll try to speak up when I can.
This is the reason I got a folding bike. Even if I don't fold it, it's still small and light enough that it fits in the elevator easily and can be carried up stairs if the elevator is broken. I can even fit it and my trailer, both unfolded into the elevator at the same time. On the stairs I have to take them one at a time up each flight but it's still doable.
Folding bikes are a great option for this.
Thanks for all you do, Garry
Raleigh N.C.
Some longtail cargo bikes can be stored vertically, their footrests and backlight form a triangle, that way they take up no more space than regular bikes (yuba mundo). If you have a tiny apartment, get a folding bike, store it under your table your bed or on top of your cabinet or wardrobe.
I had forgotten about this. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for continuing to educate people.
Thank you for the support of this channel! It is very motivating.
It's crazy that many apartments have mandated parking spaces for cars but no allocated space for bicycles.
In the big cities in the Netherlands the solution is to simply grab say every 8th car park place and put bike parking racks there so people can just as easily park the bike and secure it with some chain. This is great for your cheap bike, and quickly on one car park I see like 10 bikes in no time there. The other thing is that most old houses (say 1930's) pretty much all have a small bike shed where you can store 3 bikes per appartment, indoor secure locked, and out of sight. Another solution is to grab your race/road bike and park it at your balcony
I never thought about this before. And I'm like yeah I been hesitant about buying a bike bc I would need to take it 3 flights of stairs. So thanks for making me realize this😅
Same issue. I live in a 7-storey condo where there are storage "cages" (usually for laundry) where I park my bike. The problem is going up and down the elevator. It can be busy during peak hours and oftentimes I get too lazy to use it.
We live in an apartment in a dense part of Seattle. I keep my town bike in the secure bike room and our nice road bikes in our apartment. If not for the bike room, then we'd have to keep fewer bikes, which means we would have to choose between a hobby bike and a transport bike. The bike room is completely full, and I'd say it holds around 40 bikes in the space that would hold 4 cars.
I have seen a Florida developer advertise that their new development has hundreds of bike parking spots. Upon investigating they were talking about the balconies of every apartment (so good luck dragging your bike upstairs)
I am very lucky. The place where I live has great parking and I have my own allocated spot, BHG28. Other residents say they’ve been on a waiting list for two years. Simply having lots of parking isn’t the whole answer. Install bike parking and in no time it will be full of bikes that aren’t being ridden. I’d say about 5% use their bikes regularly. The last layer of the problem is that parking needs to be managed, weighted towards regular riders, commuters etc You also need a way to recognise and deal with abandoned bikes.
The problem with a lot of indoor bike parking is that it turns very quickly into a cluttered bike storage unit. Since storing your bike in the communal bike storage doesn't cost anything nor are there any limits, it will gradually fill up with junk and make it unusable. It should have more similar rules such as car parking does: you have a specific spot & pay a monthly fee. This would ensure that you always have a space for your bike and keep the space organized.
Here's an idea for you city dwellers:
-I've noticed that a lot of the apartments and townhomes in the "city" in my County (Jackson, Wy) come with a dedicated parking space in a lower level garage, because you can't park on the street here from November to April.
-So, you've got a space. Ditch the car, which seems to be where most of you want to go.
-Use your parking space. Get a cage that will fit your bikes, and put it there. It can be light, and still be secure. Put a bunch of sandbags in it to make it too heavy to carry off.
That said, I inspect commercial properties for real estate deals, and see efforts to provide bike storage: older buildings usually have a common storage room accessible only to tenants. But I inspected a new apartment building recently that had individual, lockable cage storage dedicated to each unit.
We are talking about this in our city with densification coming we need to be thinking about where bikes can be safely stored when all the new developments don’t have parking or a place to store a bike off street securely.
thank you for making this video. my wife and I live in Calgary, and have been looking at moving. We currently have a house, but would like to downsize to a condo. We have the same issue, as we want a secure space for our e-bikes. As a result we are now looking at townhomes that have a garage, even though most townhomes are still more living space than we actually require.
We saw some units at a ski hill where the parkade had garage doors for each parking spot, making it more like a single car garage (a few were doubles even). This would be awesome if more buildings would implement this. Again, it is more space than we need, as we don't have a car, but makes that allocated parking spot more useful than just collecting dust.
After moving to Cyprus, I was amazed how handy a 2 square meter storage room in the building underground parking can be! It's a perfect parking space for the commuter bike (I still keep my fancy bike in apartment as a piece of art) and acessories, I go everywhere on a bike and don't have to buy a car like most of the locals do. Every building should have these.
This is one of the reasons I didn't want an apartment when I moved out of my parents' place. I love to be able to grab and go when it comes to my bike. A requirement I had when house hunting was bike storage. The place I bought has ample space for my bike, car, and lawn equipment.
Crust Clydesdale fork in the front and Burley trailer in the back. There’s a party no matter what end you start!❤
North Vancouver resident here. In my building, bikes aren't allowed in units, but everyone in my building does that, because the building's excuse for "bike storage" is a wire locker in the "visitor parking" section of the parkade, where anyone can just walk in (nobody waits for the gate to close after driving/walking in), take bikes, and leave. It's also on the far side of the building and takes 5+ minutes to walk to after you reach the main floor. There's no good route to access it either; you have to walk out the front door of the building, then back in through the parkade gate, then hope a driver doesn't turn a corner too fast before they can see you wandering around there. I just roll my ebike up into the elevator, and into my unit. It can be awkward on occasion if there are people using the elevator already, but I just offer to take the next one.
Yup, parking in general is a major pain. I got foldables and they've been really helpful. My wife doesn't bike every day like I do, so her bike lives in the balcony folded and covered, those lockers would be amazing though! As a company, we're trying to solve parking at destinations for now, but parking at home needs to be addressed as well!
In Paris, a lot of bike commuters use old run down bikes that they park in the street (sometimes they remove the saddle).
In eastern Europe and cis countries many standard design apartment buildings were made with an additional corridor behind a locked door leading to the apartment doors, from the main corridor where the elevators are. So this additional secure corridor is a like a "front yard" where you can lock up your bicycle(s) with no problem. Warm, dry, clean, it's really a nice thing.
Finally, somebody talk about it! Thank you. Mention Klychko please, maybe he will improve bike parking situation in Kyiv as well.
I live in Chilliwack about an hour east of Vancouver. My building is only about 10-12 years old but has no bike parking. Many people surprisingly leave them just sitting around the parkade, often not even locked... We have a common room that is unused and I have thought of advocating with strata to convert it into a bike parkade, but our bylaws prohibit us from bringing bikes through the rest of the building which I have been doing for years and I don't want to get forced to store my bikes down there if we got a bike parkade.
At my last building which was new when I moved in and built only about 4 years ago now, there was no secure bike parking either, but I worked with the strata and a bike parking specialist company and got them to install a secure bike parkade within the 1st level of underground parking. It was a decent parkade but the strata didn't manage it so it turned into storage for bikes people never used, one family stuck 5 bikes in there rather than using their storage locker, and I lost my spot when I went to work one day.
in my (US) city, we abolished parking minimums and almost overnight new developments pared back on the car parking and started providing a lot of secure bike parking instead. seems like a pretty easy win-win.
The real key may be the daunting task of addressing the human suffering that leads to bike theft. I normally live in Vancouver and even underground parking tends to be a problem due to thefts. In our building we have ample parking for bikes but it took a lot of effort to add enough cameras and harden enough layers of doors to make it a safe place to store bikes. Theft is also a huge problem at your destination. Racks are only so safe, and worse yet there are some parts of the city where with a car you can park out front, but you need to lock your bike 3-4 blocks away for a decently secure rack. Right now I'm living in Korea. I hear bikes are stolen here too, but I have yet to meet anyone who has experienced it first hand. Everywhere i go there are bikes kept outside under any covered roof or bridge. Bikes are never locked to anything. The norm is just a lock through the back wheel to prevent a ride away incident. One time I forgot to lock my expensive e-bike for a week and it was still there. In the city I'm in there are loads of people cycling. And why not, it's so convenient not to have to find a good bike rack at the destination. Instead, just put the kickstand down on the edge of the sidewalk and run in.
Great video! ❤
I live car free in a small studio apartment. I've got a brompton I can put anywhere, but I've also got a full size bike standing behind the front door on a bike nook. It's a great stand, the only downside I can think of is not working with fenders
Fantastic. keep up the good work .more bike parking for business employees would be great
I used to store a bike of mine in my aparment's bike room and loved it, but one day my bike and several other were stolen from the room (the way the racks were, with a Ulock you could only lock around your wheel not through the frame. Even if you went through frame, could only be with like a cable lock which are easy to break). The door they were behind, normally opened with a keycard, was like crowbarred open in the middle of the night. That one door was easily accessible to the public. Despite the cameras in the room, police never found them and the apartment didn't reimburse any of us; I was just out hundreds of dollars as a college student. Every apartment I've been in after has had no bike storage anyway, unless you count the stairwell haha.
Ever since then I've always kept my bike in my room, propping it up vertically similar to the video but instead of a ceiling mounted book with like a ground based stand. But even with an elevator it is it a pain. So many doors to open and awkwardly get though, tight turns, bringing in mud and filth into your apartment, taking up a lot of elevator space, and in cities more expensive than mine, not having that space for furniture. Additionally, I live alone but if I wanted multiple bikes, or lived with someone else who had a bike, storing in the apartment would also be a bigger barrier than if we could just park our extra bikes in a bike room.
Living in a really old appartment on the 3rd floor in Hochelaga, Montréal. We have no outside storage and our balcony is small, so we have got 5 bikes inside. It's taking place, but they are my favorites objects so I don't mind too much. The thing is, when you really get into it, you also want to be able to do some maintenance and this takes place too. My kitchen can turn into a garage from time to time.
This is one of the reasons I love my Brompton folding bike. I have other bikes, but the Brompton makes it very easy to store your bike somewhere secure.
They are not cheap, and there are cheaper folding bikes in the market, but I really do think it's worth it for the design, size, ownership experience and practicality.
Your lucky to get home with your bike and your life riding in big cities here In illinois.
The amount of people who have told me they haven't bought an ebike because they have nowhere to store it isn't an insignificant number. My building just so happened to have space in the basement and doesn't mind me locking my bike to a random poll.
I hope the company Oonee (which I have a small share of) is able to expand beyond NYC because it's a much needed service.
Thanks for mentioning Oonee. I agree that we need this.
I'm in that boat! Plus no interest from govt in ebikes in any way in Australia.
Reminds me of my dorm days trucking a bike up and down 4 floors multiple times a day.
I lived in London and the local gov introduced bike parking over 1 car parking space and the backlash was huge, lots of angry people saying it ruined their lives that the car space had gone, scary
Meanwhile the bloody Range rover guy takes two spaces and nobody bats an eye
@@888SpinR I see such photos complain about such almost every day on social media. Plenty of people care including car users.
Yes there's bike hangars that hold 6 bikes. It takes up one car space. The waiting list to get a space is over 6 years and counting. Some apartments do have a little room used for bikes but the security isn't good. All thieves have to do is break in the main front door and that room either isn't locked or doesn't have a good lock neither are the bikes secured to anything.
Some new builds are including secure bike parking. I saw building plans of some recently.
Other options are getting the cheapest unattractive bike there is and locking it outside on available bike stands or if it's possible to fit your own bike stand in your front garden for that bike, do it. Some street lamps have loops to allow a bicycle to be locked there. Many older places do not allow bikes sheds to be built in gardens. Planning permission is only granted for bin storage cupboards in these front gardens. They don't find bike sheds in keeping with historic neighbourhoods. Some people are fighting to get this changed. Note long ago people rode more bikes that using cars , these needed to be stored then and before that they used their feet or horses that required stabling. The downside to bike sheds is that thieves already break into bike sheds in back gardens.
Foldable bikes are popular in cities for a reason. They are easier to store indoors. They can be partially or wholly folded to make getting upstairs easier too or fit in tiny elevators.
I live in Geneva (2nd most expensive city in Switzerland and one of the most expensive in the world) and can't take my bicycle into my place. So I have to park it outside all year round. That means my bike's paint is super faded after 6 months, and it's quite often that it gets damaged by other road users, especially motorcycle users trying to cram their motorcycles in bicycle parking places and squish the bicycles in them. My previous bike got its frame cracked for that reason and with my current bike, I had to replace the whole crankset a couple of months ago too. Currently looking for a more bicycle and pet friendly place.
have you considered a lightweight folding bike which you can also take on train/trams/busses there? wouldn't solve the pet problem but might solve the outside storage problem. more expensive but many are easy on maintenance (and parts replacement is fairly straightforward and inexpensive) and can carry the shopping too. not the cheapest though...
You can migrate to amsterdam.
@@esgee3829 That's actually pretty smart. I always neglected folding bikes but you're right, that would solve at least some of the problems if not all. Thanks
@@anubizz3 Would love to. No more hilly backbreaking terrain, the best cycle culture, and plenty of infrastructure. I'm currently waiting for a decision regarding my disability but either way, I'm excited to finally visit friends I have in the Netherlands and Belgium and cycle there.
@@firbolg Good now we can have 1 more migrants slot that appreciate Swiss good public transport and scenery.
I live in a townhouse on the edge of the downtown area of my town. There are four townhouses in this cluster, and four driveways with no garages and no outdoor sheds in which to secure bicycles. It's an older structure which is not at all disability accessible, with suicidally steep dangerous staircases. I store my bicycle in the living room, which requires me to make an immediate 90° turn from the entry door, and to even get to the entry door requires me to push my bicycle up three stairs to a very small porch which really isn't wide enough to fit my bicycle, in the first place.
When you consider the condition of my heavy ebike fully laden with briefcase and handbag in the rear basket, plus two rear panniers and front basket filled with groceries, it's a huge hassle to get my bike into my unit, and only marginally less of a hassle to get it out, plus being force to store my bicycle in my living room is a terrible imposition, especially considering the fact that this is a heavily snowy climate, so that means studded tires in Winter and the necessity of protecting the flooring from both the studs and the snow/water/grime dripping off my bike.
I live in West Hollywood California. Had my bicycle conveniently in an unused back of the laundry room for many years. Used it daily to get around town. The new owners of the building cut my lock and had my bicycle removed. I can't carry my bicycle up the flight of stairs to my apartment. I can no longer use my bike conveniently.. They took away the use the my bicycle for no reason. ☹️😢
It is better for the environment to not drive if you don't have to. Especially in LA! It seems the people with a little money and power don't care about any of that. Took it away from me.
😒
I live in Freiburg and we have at least 2 different bicycle parking. Recently, I asked the property management to add more and they said they'll schedule a meeting with landlords about it.
The condo I rent doesn't have any bike parking, so I ended up getting wall mounts for me and my partner's bikes that hook into the pedals to mount them horizontally. Works fairly well, but I wish there was a better solution that didn't take up unit space.