Bicycle stands

Cycle stands: simple, and better for it

A cycle stand is an inverted U in the ground. That is all it is, and that is exactly why it works. No moving parts, no mechanism that jams, no slot a wide tyre will not fit into. A cyclist leans the bike against it, locks frame and wheel in one movement, and walks on.

We supply and install cycle stands for local authorities, schools, companies, shops, hospitals and residential projects, from two stands at a shop door to hundreds on a station square.

Why a stand beats a classic front-wheel rack

A front-wheel rack only clamps the wheel. That is the weak point: a thief takes the frame and leaves the wheel behind, and the bike falls over in the first gust of wind, damaging the spokes. With a stand the bike leans against a fixed point and you lock the frame as well.

On top of that, a stand accepts every bike: city bikes, road bikes with narrow tyres, electric bikes, cargo bikes, bikes with wide tyres or with panniers. A rack with fixed slots does not, and the spaces that do not fit simply stay empty.

For the public realm and for company sites the stand is therefore the sensible choice in most cases, even though it looks less like a "system".

Versions

Classic Sheffield stand

The standard. Robust, timeless and usable from both sides, so two bikes per stand.

Stand with a cross bar

An extra horizontal tube lower down, giving a child's bike or a bike with a low frame a locking point as well.

Stand with a leaning profile

A version with a rubber or plastic strip that prevents scratches to the paintwork. Worth considering where expensive bikes are parked.

Stand with a top ring or name plate

Carrying the municipal logo, a house number or a zone number.

Decorative stands

Stands in a shape that ties in with the streetscape or with a village centre. We draw those to measure.

Dimensions and spacing

This is where things go wrong in practice. A row of stands that fits on paper turns out to hold half as many bikes in use because the spacing is too tight: handlebars hook into each other and panniers take up width.

Allow enough room between two stands and account for the free zone behind them for manoeuvring. Where stands are placed in a row at right angles to a wall, the distance to that wall counts too. We set out the layout rather than simply delivering a number, and we say so when fewer stands fit in the available space than you asked for. Better twenty usable spaces than thirty of which half go unused.

Material and anchoring

Hot-dip galvanised steel is the standard: strong, repairable and long lasting, and it can be powder coated afterwards in a RAL colour or in the municipality's house style. Stainless steel is used where appearance is decisive or in salt-laden air.

There are three ways of anchoring. Set in concrete in a new foundation is the strongest and the most resistant to being pulled out. Anchored on a base plate is quicker and movable, but the bolts have to be of a tamper-resistant type. Driven anchors are suitable on some substrates.

Always give a stand enough embedment. A stand held by two screws in block paving is simply pulled loose during a theft.

What determines the price?

Cycle stands have no fixed unit price. The cost follows from the tube diameter and wall thickness, the version - classic, with a cross bar, with a leaning profile or bespoke -, the finish, galvanised or additionally powder coated, the quantity, because over a series the cost per stand drops noticeably, the anchoring method and the substrate, and the site conditions during installation.

Send us the quantity and a site sketch, and you will get a quotation with those items visible, together with a layout plan.

Putting your location to us

Send us a few photographs and the number of bikes that need to fit. We will set out the layout and tell you what is realistic in the space available.