Ideas Guy and another question [bicycling]

[rebeccmeister]

One of the great things about being done teaching for a little while is that it frees up a certain part of my brain that likes to chew over problems and come up with potential solutions.

A dilemma I've had is what to do with the bicycles that are stacked up in my research lab space. I've made them fit, but it's not ideal to have them in there. I also haven't gotten much/any help when asking around about storage possibilities.

So now I am thinking I should buy a couple of bicycle covers so I can lock up the bikes to the nearest bike rack but keep them covered up so they're at least somewhat protected from the elements. This would then provide a more visible signal to people that there's a storage need here.

I'm not thrilled about shopping for the covers themselves, though. So, do any of you have ideas? As usual I am hoping to avoid buying from the Big Jungle in Brazil.

Comments

[graydon]

This is very much a local conditions thing, but I would never expect a bike locked to a bike rack overnight to be rideable in the morning. I'd expect the presence of a cover to make that work.

(I own, but do not use, bike locks; it's just such bad odds.)

[graydon]

Fabric covers are expensive; Arkel bike covers are 120 CAD, so probably about that in USD by the time shipping, etc., gets dealt with.

If the bike rack is relatively small, I'd be very tempted to put a shed on a hinge over it, but that runs into the "and then a student dropped the shed on themself" problem, so it'd have to be per-bike enclosures and ground attachments and at some point someone from facilities gets mad.

Is there someone from facilities who can be asked about this? There might be a list of approved solutions already.