Bicycle restrictor

[tyreon]

Apologies,don't know the name of the contraption,but it's like an inverted V metalled contraption that impdedes cyclists going thru,say,an alley ie the cyclist has to dismount from his/her bike to get thru the passageway. Anyways,most recently I feel it best to have raised the handlebars and seat on my commuter bike(age and arthritis). Howsoever,this will now almost certainly stop me from using a very convenient alleyway that allows me to cycle to the city whilst avoiding the main roads. Basically,no matter how I work it I will not be able to get through that alleyway with my bicycle unless I am able to lift my bicycle some 6' in the air over my head(over the inverted V contraption). Now I'm asking,is this right? Is it worth complaing to my council,or would this be an exercise in futility in trying to get this apparatus removed or altered in some way.

I have seen some buggy mums struggle with this contraption. I guess some just give up,never go the route.


I think I read somewhere here some taking on this contraption with the legislators...but never knew if they won.

Any others here with experience.

This 'safe' route to the city is now going to be closed to me,making me go the long way round or onto the Death roads around here.

Thanks for help and advice

[Elizabethsdad]

They are called 'A' gates, and seem to be universally hated for the reasons you state - also loathed by recumbent and trike riders. I suspect they do not achieve their intended aim of making the path safer either, since any lout will just get back on after passing it and continue along the path as fast as possible scattering people out of their like skittles. If you raise it with the council it might take a long time if at all before something is done - but nothing will happen if you don't. You could also write to the local paper and try and get a petition going.

[gloomyandy]

To make matters worse these are often used to restrict access to Sustrans bike paths (certainly they are in my part of the world). I think the intention is to prevent motorbikes from gaining access. Depending on the type of barrier the angle of the restriction can sometimes be adjusted, it has been known for this angle to change mysteriously in the dead of night, reports of a keen cyclist being seen in the area with a socket set are I'm sure pure fiction...

[gaz]

Last year a K-Frame was put in to stop motorcycle abuse on the extension of a new route. It didn't work although it probably inconvenienced them a little.

First step was removing the adjustable steel plates at the top of the frame. That still wasn't quite convenient enough so they removed the fence alongside.

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Chances of getting it removed on the grounds that it doesn't do what it's supposed too, it just gets in the way of cycling, IMO nil.

Previous thread.

The new extension won't be opened until the motorcycle abuse is stopped, so the new extension isn't going to be opened any time soon, possibly ever. Doesn't stop me riding it .

[Mattyfez]

They are a pain, i always presumed they were to stop motor bikes, which works.. But i have to dismount and squeeze through on my bike at a funny angle, so I can see how they present a significant obstacle to a less abled cyclist.

I'm just not sure we can have it both ways, a gate wide enough for a cyclist to ride through would also let motorbikes through.

[Annoying Twit]

I can just cycle through them. Maybe they are better designed around where I live.

[andrewjoseph]

tyreon, have you actually tried to get through? it's not clear from your post.

even on my wide barred mtb, i can get through any motorcycle barrier i have ever tried. the tight ones i just wiggle the bars through.

[RickH]

My strategy is to chop straight bars down as narrow as I can (basically move all the controls, grips & bar ends in as far as they will go & remove the surplus).

I was out for an off-road group ride a while back. I could ride straight through all the barriers we encountered, some folk with the (currently trendy) really wide bars had no end of trouble - if they turned the bars far enough the wheel caught. Everyone else had to shuffle though holding their front wheel up, bars slightly turned.

Personally I've never found myself thinking "I wish my bars were wider" but I have been glad they weren't!

Rick.

[ericonabike]

Can a wheelchair/mobility scooter/hand cycle user get through it? We have had some success with barriers by using a sympathetic disabled cyclist on a recumbent trike argue that they were discriminatory and hence illegaL More chance of succeeding than by saying that they inconvenience cyclists.

[Mattyfez]

There seems to be various types and sizes, the ones near me you simply can't ride through, you have to get off and either put the bike on its back wheel and walk it in font, jiggling it through, or dismount, bend down a bit and wheel the bike though whist kind of crouching.

[9494arnold]

In my experience the Mopeds can manage these gates very easily. Me on the trike: a different scenario.

[pwa]

Just to explain things from the other side (as I've done before) A Frames (as they are commonly known) are designed to inhibit motorcycle use whilst allowing bicycles, pushchairs, wheelchairs and most motorised wheelchairs to get through. To work properly they have to be installed correctly, and thet sometimes aren't. A company called Centrewire makes a lot of them, and their website includes a detailed plan that you can look at to get the correct widths at various heights. If you think you have found an A Frame that does not conform to the manufacturer's installation specifications, contact the body that installed it. That will usually be the Local Authority.

In a previous job I installed several, and they are very awkward to get right. I recall one particular A Frame, installed on a path that runs between two houses. Residents on the estate were complaining that the path was being used by motorcyclists. We installed an A Frame and the problem ceased. It worked. The A Frame is not 100% motorcycle proof, and nobody expected it to be, but the use of that A Frame and others around that estate did greatly reduce the use of motorcycles on inappropriate paths. Disabled users are still getting through on their scooters, as are parents with pushchairs. Cyclists have to slow down and put one foot on the ground, but that is a small price to pay for the removal of a problem that terrorised local people.

The alternative to this sort of measure is policing. And if you live in an area where the police are well resourced and have a lot of free time on their hands, maybe that is the answer. Trouble is, none of us live in that sort of area.

(Just to add, there is no point in A Frames installed alongside flimsy, easily broken fences that illegal users can divert through.)

On a practical level, I recommend that the OP looks into cutting the bars down to a width that goes through the A frame, assuming that the A Frame conforms to its installation specs.

[hamster]

I have similar problems with some locally, however wheeling the bike vertically on its back wheel solved the problem. There is a knack to flicking the bike onto its rear wheel - a quick shove on the saddle simultaneously pulling up on the bars does the trick. As somebody was killed on the stretch by an illegal motorbike, I cannot blame the authorities for putting it in.

[pwa]

I have similar problems with some locally, however wheeling the bike vertically on its back wheel solved the problem. There is a knack to flicking the bike onto its rear wheel - a quick shove on the saddle simultaneously pulling up on the bars does the trick. As somebody was killed on the stretch by an illegal motorbike, I cannot blame the authorities for putting it in.

Hamster, do you feel that cutting your bars down a little would help? Or is that impractical? Even on a tandem I have my straight bars cut down because I prefer them that way, and as a by-product I find correctly installed A Frames no problem with that bike. I have to stop and put a foot on the ground, of course.

[Bmblbzzz]

My strategy is to chop straight bars down as narrow as I can (basically move all the controls, grips & bar ends in as far as they will go & remove the surplus)./quote]

On a practical level, I recommend that the OP looks into cutting the bars down to a width that goes through the A frame, assuming that the A Frame conforms to its installation specs.

Hamster, do you feel that cutting your bars down a little would help? Or is that impractical? Even on a tandem I have my straight bars cut down because I prefer them that way, and as a by-product I find correctly installed A Frames no problem with that bike. I have to stop and put a foot on the ground, of course.

Imagine if car drivers were advised to cut their wing mirrors off (and stand their cars on their back bumpers!) to access the motorway!