Cycle? We need more stands and security

Bikes are great, but getting your bike stolen isn’t. Pretty simple stuff, but at Imperial an average of two bikes per day are stolen. Now I’m sure that some of them are down to the individual, but I think a big part is the facilities and security available at Imperial. That’s why the Bike Users Group has started up a petition for an increased amount of stands and an overview of security for bike parking.

I’ll get back to what college should do, but it’s your bike, so let’s do things sensibly. When you see bikes locked with a chain that a mouse could chew through, or maybe nothing locking the bike frame to something solid, you just have to wonder. I’ve been there, and the worst thing about getting your bike stolen, even if it’s a rubbish bike, is the fact that you don’t have that option anymore. I know it sounds obvious, but if you cycle a bit, not having your bike is a killer, now you have to go back to going slower, and paying for a smelly journey. So let’s all promise to lock up our frames with a solid D-lock (Sherfield security sells them for under half price - £28) or a motorbike chain, then something piddly for the wheels etc.

Now, if this all magically happened, it would be great, but bikes would still be stolen. If you’ve ever used the faculty building bike park, you’ll know that you can’t have your bike upright in the stand and lock the frame (at least with one lock you can’t). If I had my way, and money wasn’t an issue, all of these stands would be replaced for ones that can be used securely. But it’s not just that, the stands themselves are mostly unscrewed and wobbly, you could even slide locked bikes out of them as they are at the moment! Then when your bike does get stolen, we’ve been told that there wasn’t a clear enough image on the CCTV to do anything with.

A couple of years ago, there were a lot more Sheffield stands. The way I hear it, the Rector at the time didn’t like the look of bikes, so got rid of them. Well we’ve got a different Rector now anyway, so why don’t we have more Sheffield stands outside buildings? Obviously they can’t be in the way of vehicles, disabled access and fire congregation points, but there are plenty of spaced which would be perfect. South Kensington is one thing, but it is almost impossible to lock your bike up in some of the other campuses after 10, so we need more stands.

So this brings me to what we are doing. We have a petition for effectively changing or reviewing all of the above at tiny.cc/icbugpetition. Whilst you’re there, you can also sign up to the Bike Users Group, either a discussion forum for bike users or an announcement list for all events like police marking, Dr. Bike sessions and auctions.