Cycling UK Forum

Attitude on the part of management makes a huge difference. And that doesn't mean only the cycle parking.

After years of cycling to work, sometimes in places where I was the *only* regular cyclist, I am grateful just for decent stands and a place to shower. My current job offers plenty of decent cycle stands (near the door and visible from the windows of my office area), nice showers, lockers, flexible working hours, an on-site gym, free spinning classes, fresh fruit on Mondays and Wednesdays, and an occasional organised social ride. If I need some shelter to work on my bike, or just load and secure my panniers out of the rain, there is a covered walkway near the cycle parking, and a box of bike bits in the tool room.

It is the most cycling-positive environment which I've ever worked in. I think the only thing they don't do is specifically reward people who cycle to work.

In terms of cycle-friendliness, I'll take my current job over any previous environment I've worked in before, even if they all had bike lockers.

hatless wrote:Would CCTV make sense?

Yes I think so, especially on sites with controlled access.

City offices I worked at had some bike thefts from their underground parking. Access was controlled but there was no CCTV at the bike parking. The parking area was also the building delivery and loading zone so delivery vehicles had free access to the cycle parking. I suspect that the theft was an inside job done by staff who knew where the CCTV blind spots were and I think that CCTV over the bike parking would have prevented the thefts.

I work at a local hospital and they have bike sheds that you can padlock,unfortunatley loads of staff cycle once,pinch a shed,then never ride again...when I work there,often find my padlock is gone due to being chopped off(i don`t work there all the time)the sheds are falling to bits and nobody seems to responsible for the unkeep
I`ve taken to wheeling my bike into the staff room as i mostly do nights anyway

hi all - sorry but steel yourself for a very self satisfied post!

I think I'm pretty lucky. We have a covered area with several sheffield stands. It is secured by an electronic lock and the wall is thick see through perspex over a steel frame, so the bikes are always visible (apart from when covered in snow!) and this is overlooked by plently of offices which makes it pretty secure.

Everyone tends to use the same stand and leave their lock on it, which means no lugging a heavy lock around. The stand is right by the main entrance too. On the other hand, staff car parking is pretty much non existent with probably less than 10% of the most senior staff given parking. No idea if they have to pay for this...

Just to make eveyone even more jealous, there are free showers for staff at the company gym over the road...

I can earn more elsewhere, but am obviously pretty happy with my current arrangements.

hatless wrote:Are there any standards for cycle storage facilities at a workplace? Any ideas about what to avoid and what would make for excellent cycle facilities?

Not a standard, but you mightget a few ideas here.
HTH

Pretty good facilities at my employer. Part of the loading bay has been given over to an indoor stand with racks for about 40 bikes. It's an access controlled area requiring a swipe pass to get in.

Decent showers and lockers too.

Only problem is over demand during the height of summer. But there are lots of decent outdoor racks too.