I stopped by the recently opening bicycle shelter at the St. Clair West TTC Station to take a few photos and try out the racks.
Located on the south side of St. Clair West and beside an station access point, this shelter is designed for daily use and offers some protection from the elements while your bicycle awaits your return.
I’m not sure what these racks are called, so I’ll call them “offset cradle” racks. Offset because one bicycle is lifted higher than the other to allow for handlebar clearance as seen above.
The cradle for your bicycle’s wheel was wide enough for my slightly fatter than normal 700c wheels. Big knobby mountain bike tires, or even balloon tires may have a tight squeeze in these racks. Arches attached to the cradles allow you to lock both your wheel and frame to the racks.
More of these bike shelters are expected to arrive at TTC stations throughout the rest of the year. Remember, these are for short-term parking only which is why they are only partially sheltered. Bicycles left for 48 hours may be removed.
Have you been using the new bike shelter at the St. Clair West subway station? What do you think of this “offset cradle” style rack (and do you know what they are actually called)?
About duncan
Gary Fisher just posted a photo of similar but beefier racks somewhere in Europe: http://twitpic.com/24nivu These may be a great alternative to the standard “hanging triangle” racks we have here that get easily cluttered and are a pain to use with off-shape bicycles.
I guess the ramp is to shorten the depth of the biking lock-up area.
The high loops of tube in Gary Fishers photo – or in the TTC extrapolation – steel rod, are so you can catch the frame and the front rim with a u-lock.
(Or is that tube steel? ..also wondering if it’s HARDENED steel?)
In Gary’s example the sheet steel seems also to act as a stabilizer, fitting as it does between the frame and the front sprockets. so the bike remains up-right.