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news
Bike racks unscrewed Edinburgh (Edward Tissiman)Cyclist raises theft fears as bike rack easily unscrewed... but council says cycle parking "meets design requirements"
An Edinburgh cyclist has raised the alarm about bike thefts after seeing one of the city's cycle racks, installed as part of the Trams to Newhaven project, unusable having been seemingly easily unscrewed from the ground.
Edward Tissiman shared photos on social media of the cycle-parking facility, the middle of the five racks lying on its side with the attachments used to fix it to the ground next to it.
"It appears that a bike has been stolen at Dalmeny Street/Leith Walk," he warned. "The thief has just unscrewed the rack. Please share far and wide so no one else suffers this. If only someone had warned the Trams to Newhaven project, eh?"
The question came a month after, in another social media post, Edward had asked the council to confirm its bike racks were "immovable" as per his bike insurance provider's requirement that bikes are "securely locked to an immovable object". At the time, the Edinburgh cyclist speculated that the racks could be easily removed with an allen key, but never heard a response from City of Edinburgh Council.
My bike insurance only covers me if my bike is "securely locked to an immovable object". @TramstoNewhaven @edinhelp could you confirm that the bike racks installed on Leith Walk and elsewhere are immovable? @SpokesLothian @harts_cyclery @LeithCycleCo @esbikes @EdinburghBikes pic.twitter.com/xJTJHbhcQI
— Edward Tissiman (@edtiss) June 27, 2023
A little over a month later and the fears became a reality.
Woops pic.twitter.com/rsWabrfHdj
— Edward Tissiman (@edtiss) July 31, 2023
Responding to road.cc, City of Edinburgh Council was keen to point out it had not received any report of the criminal damage resulting in a bike being stolen, and stressed the racks "meet the project's design requirements and use standard fixtures".
Councillor Scott Arthur, the council's transport and environment convener, told us: "The cycle parking installed as part of Trams to Newhaven meets the project's design requirements and uses standard fixtures. We have not had any report of a bike being stolen, but we are aware of unacceptable criminal damage to a bike rack.
"We will continue to remain vigilant and monitor the use of the bike racks, and work with police where appropriate."
Returning to the insurance question, Edward contacted his provider, Admiral, to ask for further clarification on whether locking his bike to one of the racks would keep his cover valid.
"An immovable object is," he was told. "A solid object that cannot be removed by lifting it under or over the object. A purposely designed fixed bike rack like those found in town centres, train stations etc. A purposely designed bike rack securely attached to a vehicle."
Definitions and terms will differ with other insurance providers, however Edward said, despite the second 'fixed bike rack' mention he had "been advised not to use them".
IMPORTANT: your insurance may not cover you if you use these racks. Much depends on the interpretation of an "immovable object":
"A solid object that the bike cannot be removed from by lifting it under or over the object"
I've been advised not to use them. https://t.co/hSRriMH68z
— Edward Tissiman (@edtiss) August 1, 2023
Back in June, cyclists in Leamington Spa raised similar concerns after discovering that new cycle stands at the entrance to Aldi could be lifted out of the ground.
Work to fix the stands was undertaken immediately, the supermarket told road.cc, while West Midlands walking and cycling commissioner Adam Tranter, who praised the facilities last year as an example of how it is "possible for supermarkets to do cycle parking right", also expressed disappointment at the pick-up-and-go bike stands, saying he "had such high hopes."
Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.
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16 comments
"Councillor Scott Arthur, the council's transport and environment convener, told us: "The cycle parking installed as part of Trams to Newhaven meets the project's design requirements and uses standard fixtures. We have not had any report of a bike being stolen, but we are aware of unacceptable criminal damage to a bike rack.
"We will continue to remain vigilant and monitor the use of the bike racks, and work with police where appropriate.""
Why do the replies in these cases invariably read like an aboslute pisstake?
Everything from Scott Arthur reads like an absolute pisstake. Because he's a cowardly halfwit who's miles out of his depth.
"unacceptable criminal damage" = unscrewing a fundamentally insecure rack installed at public expense and leaving both the rack and bolts at the scene. If no bikes were stolen, I'd call it public service.
Why lug a portable angle grinder around when a portable Allen key will do the trick.
Now then. I fancy a brand new souped up roller skate.
Taxi to Dalmeny Street please.. just give me two minutes please driver....
Council planners = idiots(£***wits)
Standard fixings can be removed using standard tools.
Security screw. The security is you need a screwdriver to remove it, and if you haven't got an electric one it can take 20 seconds! Even the "professionals" forget about this cunning bypass!
There appears to be a more secure metal bike rack in the background of one of the pictures!
Edward Tissiman has made the cardinal sin of preemptively asking his insurance company, now if he uses one of these racks they can say, "ah well, we told you not to use these, policy invalid"
Likely due dilligence in this case simply meant "buy from a supplier who can deliver at a reasonable price". It's possibly their "arms-length" tram company again.
To be fair to them the "bolt-down" rack seems a very common design. Like a cheap lock probably "good enough" much of the time - until it's not. Maybe there are some with some kind of security bolts - I'd imagine those could be retrofitted in many cases?
EDIT - looks like you can certainly get one-way shear-off bolts. Probably be a couple of grand by the time they factor in all the "going round getting it done" and paperwork but surely that would be "the right thing" plus extremely small beer in cost terms. What has the tram as a whole (or even this recent extension) cost us again...?
I'd be leery about leaving any bike worth more than a couple of hundred secured in any public area overnight - angle grinders will find any weak link. My good bikes aren't getting left out of my sight.
Seems maybe they don't comply with Edinburgh's guidance:
"Surface fixing (3) is permittable only
in exceptional circumstances where
utilities in the ground do not allow
core fixing or retention sockets."
Yes - like many councils we've got all the paperwork. Nice to find someone who hopes that all things the council is involved in will follow that though...
Anyway - a good spot. I'm not on whatever Twitter is calling itself now (is it back to "Twitter" already?) but might be worth a ping to the reporter (Edward Tissiman) and the transport convener Councillor Scott Arthur / Spokes (local campaign group)? (Who am I kidding - "utilities" has been cited to cover all kinds of woes with the tram project).
Excellent work. Note that they are non-compliant also in that they lack the required "tapping rail". If the did have the tapping rail then the crims would need to cart your bike away with the Sheffield Stand still attached, which might make them think twice about the wisdom of unscrewing it from the ground in the first place.
That "tapping rail" across the middle? I don't think I have ever seen a Sheffield stand with one of those...
(And I've started checking the stands I regularly park at - the ones outside the Clifton Down shopping centre in Bristol have no tapping rail and are bolted down. Looks like a 15mm nut)
"Tapping rail" is the recommended standard in Edinburgh. Forgot the they have the added advantage of preventing the lock being slid off the end! Here are some on Forrest Road.
Nobody at City of Edinburgh Council or its 'arms-length' bodies (translation: all the easier to fist the residents with) ever pre-empts anything to do with cyclists' safety or security, or Edinburgh's rampant scofflaw driver behaviour (see episodes passim: getting many cyclists injured and 1 killed on the fundamentally unsafe tram tracks from Trams phase 1, resulting in them being sued for millions; lack of bollards to prevent pavement parking all over new cycle infra; failing to enforce its own newly installed left turn prohibitions resulting in pedestrians nearly getting killed, etc)
Council planners = muppets