Hello all, at last night’s Classroom meeting, we had discussed if there is a need for a bike rack at MakeICT in an effort to keep bikes out of classrooms and hallways (in a place that is not designated for them). I would love to hear from bike riders specifically if they could answer a few questions:
People who ride bikes regularly, what seasons do you tend to ride your bikes and would it be to MakeICT at all, or is it too far away from your residence to ride?
Would it make a difference to have the bike parking inside or outside (with theft in mind)?
Would you have a preference on placement?
I want to hear from bike riders specifically because its easy to speak for others, but when it comes to installing things for a specific group of people, we want to make sure something like this gets appropriate use by the people its intended for. Just because we provide a bike rack, it doesn’t mean it will get used and we don’t want to focus our attention to something that isn’t actually needed. Thank you!
Glad you posed the question.
I ride regularly, as long as it’s not snowing, raining, or icy, I’ll ride.
I purchased an electric bike last summer and now I use it for almost any journey under 10 miles.
It is always a consternation that there are not many places to lock up a bicycle outside of Delano.
I would love to see bike racks at MakeICT.
I think the area between the driveway and the Drollinger St. door would be perfect for some in ground racks. Theft is always an issue but that’s a high visibility area.
The dream would be covered bike racks but I’ll take anything that allows me to park my bike and lock it to a secure steel loop or post.
Thank you for your feedback!!! I’ll be compiling any and all info I get from yall and presenting it to the Board so we can get some specifics settled on.
Mostly spring or fall. Heck, the last time I did it from MakeICT, I took the 10 mile nominal distance to home and turned it into 25 (granted that was only one way…).
I probably wouldn’t bring my bike if I could only park it outside. But I’d also be conscientious to not have a muddy bike dripping its gunk everywhere. If there’s an issue with people putting them “wherever”, maybe we just need a designated area. We have plenty of inside space that isn’t used for much most of the time.
There are some ideas floating around here and there of ways we can reorganize and better use space inside that currently is just feeling neglected or wasted, so this is a good thing to discuss for that topic specifically^^ A designated area is definitely one of the big things needing to be addressed. Thank you for your feedback!
I ride recumbent and it is way too far for me; but, this sounds like something that we should have and we may want to make it a group project and create something that is both artistic and functional for the members that are interested in riding down to the makerspace.
James, Russ, Tricia, and I had a great conversation about this last night. I think we need to do this project we may need to delay because the AC issue is a safety issue for the building; but, we may be forming an ad hoc committee to design and eventually build this project.
I did see some like this when I was looking online yesterday! The bike shapes were cute lol. I thought maybe red gears might look really cool. Definitely wanna play around with the design!
Yeah the AC unfortunately does take priority, especially for Room 2. But we could always have fun working on this here and there in the background in the meantime^^ we could just use this thread for now to float ideas around.
Hey I would love to do this now, don’t get me wrong. Last night I walked into the Metalshop with @jameslancaster and asked @rustin.atkeisson and @K0PSK about what our Metalshop is capable of and we walked around the building to see where it would best be placed. I’ve been compiling enough information and interested people so I can bring it to the Board. I’ve done all I can do until the next Workshop, basically. I’ll be there with everything I have so far.
Personally, I recommend using the plasma cutter on some thick plate steel to cut out giant gears with punchout holes for locks we can half bury in the ground
So I emailed Bike Walk Wichita earlier, and Kim Neufeld got back to me. She CC’d Clayton Pearson, a contact she refers to as “one of our best volunteers and experts on bike parking who is also familiar with MakeICT” and he sent me this:
–as well as recommended a visit to be able to see the site itself and guide us on this, which is super awesome. Now its a matter of choosing a date for that, so I’m going to continue coordinating with Clayton and take all the notes.
For now, if you are a bike rider who is able to ride to MakeICT, where do you WANT a bike rack? Clayton puts emphasis on want rather than “where do you think it should go”, so please be selfish lol! As of last night, the group I was with and I thought it would go nicely on the left of the badge door near the dumpster but considered also paving that part and scooting out the dumpster and the poles that keep it from smashing up against the building, just so they aren’t too close together. Any thoughts are appreciated!
One reason tubing is used for bike racks is its inherent strength. Plate has to be thick or have braces or flanges to achieve similar rigidity. Pipe or tube are also easy to work with. We don’t have a tubing bender but we do have pipe bending capabilities. And pipe is readily available. Round structure also is less likely to damage bikes chained to it. Plasma cut edges can easily gouge paint.
We were planning on it, but I personally have never powder coated anything yet so this project does need the participation of members of the Metalshop who have. Thankfully when I dropped in on the meetup the other night, there were interested parties!
Just saw this. I like biking to the space when the weather is nice and I love the idea of an artistic bike rack! But when I’m there for a long time I’m much more comfortable bringing my bike inside with me. The thieves in this town have no shame.
