March 2024
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Bike storage at work

  • See also our page on a wide range of other aspects of bike storage
  • See also our page with links on a wider range of workplace cycling issues

Many employers now provide secure bike storage for employees.   However, particularly for small organisations in restricted premises, it can be a big problem.

Encouraging your employer to provide bike storage…
  • See the Spokes factsheet on Workplace Cycling on this page
  • Set up a Bike User Group to press for bike storage and other improvements.
  • Get your employer to try for a Cycle-Friendly Employer award.
  • Contact your local Council cycling officer – there may be something they can do to help, either with the employer or nearby.   For Edinburgh Council, the email address is activetravel@edinburgh.gov.uk.
Meantime, if there is still nothing at your workplace…

Here is an enquiry to Spokes …

I wondered if you had any ideas/ suggestions as to anyone (workplaces/ orgs) or anywhere on Leith Walk that offered or could potentially offer shared bike storage.  I wondered if you knew of any organisations/ schemes in Leith that could offer shared cycle storage.  I am loathe to leave it on the street all day and have to carry a lock on my commute from Fife every day.  One option is to park it outside Leith Cycles and hope that is some kind of deterrent for thieves!

And our reply, which may give you a few ideas …

Does your new office have anywhere at the rear of the building near waste bins, where the bike could be concealed under a tarpaulin during the day (whilst of course also well secured to an immovable object)?

If you think Leith Cycles might be helpful then, of course, have a chat to them.  A bike outside their premises helps people to notice that there is a bike shop there, but maybe there is too much demand on their bike rack spaces.  Maybe you could promise to have your bike serviced there!

If you can find somewhere to lock up your bike, think about buying a good quality lock (invariably weighing nearly as much as the bike and only slightly cheaper) and leaving it in place at the work location, fixed around the street cycle rack or handy rainwater pipe, so that you are not carrying a great heavy lock to and from work.  You see locks left like this all around the city.  Securing both wheels is still a problem but perhaps add a long thin steel loop as well.

Another suggestion is that you walk around the new office location and see who might have space and be agreeable to letting you store your bike.   It is quite a big favour that you are looking for.

Maybe an office colleague lives in a nearby tenement with some storage space at the foot of the stairway?

For the longer term, tell the Active Travel Team in the Council that you are in need of an on-street secure bike store and ask them how soon it could be provided.   That may unfortunately take years, but it all helps move the subject of on-street parking away from single cars to groups of bikes.  The Team’s email address is activetravel@edinburgh.gov.uk

There is a lot of emphasis on cycling and active travel around Leith at the moment and you might like to look at the Council’s page on this:
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20087/cycling_and_walking/1155/active_travel_forums_for_walking_and_cycling

For instance, they have produced a map of their bike racks around the city on this page:
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20087/cycling_and_walking/1477/bike_security_parking_and_storage

Maybe the city could be prompted to provide some covered storage as part of the “Leith Programme” – see http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20182/regeneration/835/leith_programme