Bike tree - wold you use it?

Only if it cooks my dinner

Looks awesome, not sure I'd trust it not to scratch my sunday best ride tho...

On the same page on the guardian site was a link to this - v interesting, and I hope Boris has read it too.

why go for a cannondale? there are so many more interesting/appealing bikes for that money

Love the bike travelator at the end of the video

Looks sweet. Why not.

or wood you use one of these!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTBpcFJNNhI

I think I've seen this for cars too.

I'd feel compelled to wave at my bike everytime it dissapeared up the tree. See you later, have fun with the other bikes, don't speak to those unipacks, I'll be back soon xx

what im thinking of is the cost. It must cost millions to build these things, which im guessing out weighs the regular income it would generate, no? Perhaps thats why these 'trees' are rare,

Forward it to Boris - he'll find the money for them. Just think, he could utilise the old, unused tube stations around (they must be deep enough) so on a construction level, half the work is done. Mind you, BJ will find some way of increasing prices to a level that will make people ignore them and carry on locking them to street furniture with signs that locks won't fit over!

Id actually go out of my way (well a bit) just to use it!

But probably only a couple of times, the I'd go back to using the staff car park... Think is the cost of the staff car park is thousands of pounds a year (the electricity bill alone is a couple of grand!) so if instead of the company car park we leased three spaces (for that is how many cars are parked in the company car park) plus built one of these we'd be quids in...

I'm going to investigate this further. I potentially have an investor or 10 and can do the research in Japan easily. If anyone's interested I'll keep you posted on start-up costs.

I'm going to investigate this further. I potentially have an investor or 10 and can do the research in Japan easily. If anyone's interested I'll keep you posted on start-up costs.

that'd be good to know, whether its a realistic possibility for london.

i think the Japanese one is too much, however the second one, the actual 'tree' shaped one is great.

I'd back the shit out of that

i think the Japanese one is too much, however the second one, the actual 'tree' shaped one is great.

I'd back the shit out of that

BJ will see it and think it's a wonderful idea, but instead of letting the Japanese company who designed and built it loose on the London version, he'll spend all the money he allocates to it on research and development leaving enough spare for half a dozen bicycle racks outside his office. Twat. Wealthy and without doubt intelligent, but a twat nonetheless.

ok, if people dont mind slightly changing the thread direction a little, maybe we could post pics of our bike storage....i'm also doing this because of a questionairre on here asking about it.

here's my mini bike tree (its actually a guitar hanger - the Tele has been demoted)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hauska/4085779576/

That actual bike tree looks a bit dodgy to me, looks like a thief could just lift out any bike they wanted, just like picking an apple.

There was a whole exhibition a few years ago called 'Reinventing the Bike Shed', which showcased a lot of new and innovative models designed by students. My favourite in that was the Bike Tower, but there were a couple of good ones.

http://www.reinventingthebikeshed.com/
http://www.archive.org/details/TheBikeShowfromResonanceFM

Hello everyone. I'm new here and really happy this thread has been posted as I'm in the nursery still. Bike security is one of the reasons for joining up. I am currently designing custom build fixies with security in mind; not to mention that they are hopefully going to be stylish one-offs. Whilst discussing my designs with a friend last week, the inspiration and imagination was flowing nicely. By a bizzare coincidence or syncronicity I came up with the idea for secure bike parking in London theft hotspots. Bethnal Green sprang to mind initially. My idea was a little less techie than the bike tree. It could be much simpler. Electronic swipe cards or key pad passwords (mabe both incase you lost your card). Once inside there would be traditional bike stands to which you lock your bike to. Cost wise, if it was funded for ground rent, elec, CCTV (yurgh) etc. there could be a pay as you go system. With a dedicated web site one could simply register themselves and their bike(s) before being able to get a card. ??? Ride safe all !!!

My idea was a little less techie than the bike tree. It could be much simpler. Electronic swipe cards or key pad passwords (mabe both incase you lost your card). Once inside there would be traditional bike stands to which you lock your bike to. Cost wise, if it was funded for ground rent, elec, CCTV (yurgh) etc. there could be a pay as you go system. With a dedicated web site one could simply register themselves and their bike(s) before being able to get a card. ??? Ride safe all !!!

There's plenty of examples of this sort of thing around, spinny. If you want to find inspiration for your design, go to Finsbury Park station for a TfL-funded one, or to Walthamstow Central, Leytonstone, or Leyton Tube stations. Who knows, they might well be improved? A good contact for the ones in Waltham Forest is Gina Harkell at the Council, as she led on building them.

Thanks Oliver. Being the driving force behind something like this is a bit out of my professional sphere. Just throwing it out there. Although I haven't seen secure bike parks I'm not the least bit surprised they already exist. We obviously need more of them, especially around popular areas with pubs, clubs and cinemas etc. Bike parks at staions are good for commuters.