Article by Able Canopies:
When it comes to spotting the best bike or cycle shelter compounds, I am the one to ask. I have seen so many schools, colleges and council offices in the Essex area that have cycle shelter compounds, I wanted to write about what important qualities people should look out for before they buy!!!
A cycle shelter or compound allows you to store bikes and offers protection from the weather. This can be a single bay shelter consisting of five or six toast racks or a cycle compound which has space for a hundred bikes.
Bike shelters have improved immensely over the past few years both in terms of how they are made and how they look. They now look so much better than they did and there are companies out there determined to find the best solutions for you for bikes.
I have seen some very old bike shelters whilst looking around Essex which were mostly made out of wood. The newest and you can certainly see the difference mostly by the materials which are used.
Companies providing a cycle compound should be able to provide lockable toast racks for any desired number of bikes and should have clear visibility so that you can see through them.
The best type of bike compounds are covered with a clear P.E.T covering. Some compounds are covered with sheeting that you can’t see through. This can be dangerous and people can lurk behind them and hide. In a school situation it would be better to have clear sheeting so that children can’t hide behind them and also outsiders. Also Ideally you should look for a shelter which has a P.E.T covering that protects against the suns UV rays as this can be an additional benefit to the shelter.
One excellent feature some shelters have is to use a whole sheet that goes from the top to the bottom, so that it is curved in a smooth line. Also it is important for the shelter to come out far enough to cover the bikes. This is where many shelters fall, because they are not made long enough to provide suitable cover.
There are a vast number of colours out there that cycle compound can be found in. The idea is for the colours to match that of the organisation or the colour of existing buildings. If it is a school or college, the colour and construction can add an attractive feature to the grounds.
Not only this but by introducing cycle compounds you may even encourage those to bring their bikes in. Cycling is something which is encouraged a lot now by local councils to reduce traffic congestion and also to increase fitness. This is something which the BPSA, the Bike Parking and Security Association really encourages. They have ambitious targets to meet with regards to the number of people using bikes.
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