Design Public Buildings Around Bicycle Racks

May 07, 2006 31 Replies

"RicodJour"

Just take it up the elevator and into the office. Lean it against your desk. Install a dumb-waiter for bikes.

"Matt O'Toole"

I wonder if Trump bikes.

Only with Superglue and Industrial Strength Aquanet.

"eds"

You hit the nail on the head, EDS. I just posted something similar. Sometimes some "design" solutions are but mere matters of a change in mentality, which of course lead to changes in behavior and expectation.

I've seen pictures of design offices, for example, with designers' bikes in the offices leaning against everything. They're attractive machines and they add to the office decor and ambiance.

If you're fun enough, you could even add a bike track that circumnavigates the office for those who want to get in a little excercise during their breaks. Yes, you can even drink coffee while riding a bike.

In fact, here are two of my older alt.arch posts on the subject. (Good god I was using my own name! :)

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And...

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It'd explain why he's always wearing that helmet.

R

"JeffWills"

Well that explains it. ;)

I think

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might do well to come up with a front wheel drive aluminum-framed, full-suspensioned recumbent, if they haven't already cancelled their bike line prospects. (they have a motorcycle line)

Two things I dislike about recumbents are their frames and ridiculously-long drive chains. A front-wheel-drive recumbent, if done properly, would be excellent!

Ever seen a recumbent motorcycle, btw?

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"We all love the open air aspect of motorcycles, but when the temperature is low and rain is falling, they're not the most comfortable vehicle one could occupy. Taking your lady out to dinner and a movie takes on a whole new meaning if it's a rainy 40 degrees outside! Now you can have your cake and eat it too if you own an Ecomobile. The handling and fun of a two wheeled machine with all the comforts of a fine European automobile. Who would have thought you could ride along in a contoured bucket seat listening to digital stereo music with heat and a windshield wiper, on a motorcycle! And yes, the Ecomobile is classified as a motorcycle."

Secure area, I said.

Behind a locked door (or an exit door that can't be opened from the outside without a key).

Employees can get in and lock up their bikes. Thieves can't just come by and take the bikes.

Of course there's always the possibility that an employee in the building is a bike thief....

I was wondering what that was.

I've seen lots of FWD recumbents, in both the fixed boom and swinging boom varieties. Here's a swinging boom FWD built from a mountain bike:

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a fixed boom FWD (and world's fastest HPV):
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I like the open-air version:

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Jeff

"JeffWills"

That looks clever and funky. I tried to get a movie to see how the thing rides, and if one's legs turn, too, and also how solid the pedaling area is, since those should affect pedal efficiency. It seems rare to have something where the production-model is still, in a sense, the prototype. Perhaps there's some kind of engineering term for this.

I may have read about that. It would be cool if there could be a lighter, human or electric-powered production-model equivalent of a Ecomobile/Monotrace... Maybe there is.

That looks awkward, and I'd be curious to know how it rides and handles, how safe it is (with the engine in front) and/or if it made it into production. From the blurb on that link it still looks like it's in the planning stage, and from a brief Google, the death of someone working on the bike:

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The Ecomobile/Monotrace is a proven design, and apparently surprisingly safe, even in a crash.

ooooh boy...there goes your Trump Towers IV contract!

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