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st3v3
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Joined: 16 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: 01:24 - 24 Oct 2021    Post subject: Storage while working/shopping Reply with quote

Just looking for feedback and ideas.

I'm in the middle of using my company to build out a secure bike storage venture, park your (e)bike in a specially kitted out shop for a tenner a day sort of thing.

I keep getting asked (mostly by landlords) what are the negatives I expect from doing this, but I really can't think of any and it always leaves the conversation a bit awkward, naturally i'm full of energy and optimism for a plan we've spent 9 months scribbling down and typing up, seeing bad bits - or as you'd say 'in hindsight'; but i'm not there yet.

How could/would you abuse a staffed parking facility?
Only asking because I expect it could benefit LOTS of hard working people and provide many jobs if it goes on to launch and grow properly, harsh experience shows me having a blindspot around a new idea isn't pretty.

(I'm aware it isn't *new*, there's a few brilliant subsidised versions coming along but commercially?)

Also i'm really struggling with business rates, anyone have experience in this area?
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stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 09:40 - 24 Oct 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

People leaving their bike there and not picking it up for ages but expecting it back immediately when they want it back.

People not paying.

Someones e-bike catching fire in your shop.

Disputes over ownership of a bike in your posession.

People trying to steal bikes and how are you going to stop them.

Someone leaves their bike with you then claims damage was caused while in your posession.

Comes back and finds their tyre has gone flat/bike has discharged and expects you to sort it out.

Dealing with the general public who can be utter dicks.

Then there are the usual bickering and gripes of industrial premesis of parking disputes, access niggles, building and site maintainance hassles, noise complaints...

EDIT: I think a couple of days visit to Amsterdam for genuine business research rather than weed and hookers would be a very useful thing to do. Nobody does bicycles like the Dutch.
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 11:14 - 24 Oct 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I think we can summarise Mr. Stinkwheel's excellent post in one word: "liability."

Just to expand on the "abandoned bikes" point, in the City such a facility would see a lot of action on a Friday where ppl have far too many after work drinks and end up taking the train so maybe a special weekend rate. Also I wonder whether £10 a day is optimistic. I'd consider also offering discounted monthly and yearly plans in the same vein as ppl purchasing seasonal travel passes.

Staffed you say? Maybe you could leverage a higher price if you trained them in basic bicycle maintenance and they kept a selection of tools, inner tubes and a pump on hand. Credit card machine at the ready to overcharge for quick repairs for some bonus money.
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st3v3
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PostPosted: 14:00 - 24 Oct 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

The catching fire thing is an issue, admittedly, we have no specialists round here so I have to tinker with my own eBikes myself and i'm no electrician.. I have blown a few parts and forked out for replacements. Not in any rush to see a battery go up.

stinkwheel wrote:


EDIT: I think a couple of days visit to Amsterdam for genuine business research rather than weed and hookers would be a very useful thing to do.
What madness is this you speak of? Shocked Laughing who am I to break cultural tradition? Twisted Evil

Easy-X wrote:

Staffed you say? Maybe you could leverage a higher price if you trained them in basic bicycle maintenance and they kept a selection of tools, inner tubes and a pump on hand. Credit card machine at the ready to overcharge for quick repairs for some bonus money.
That's part of the plan, there's bigger things to grow into but establishing the idea as viable is the hardest step.

Rates have been the 1 struggle.
Our council are sticking to the script on "we must collect rates regardless" because I haven't exactly been graceful on other topics - gotta love politics.
They have quoted this but i'm reading a snippet of that here, as a loophole?
Linky 2 wrote:
(3)A relevant leasehold interest is an interest under a lease or underlease which was granted for a term of 6 months or more and conferred the right to exclusive possession throughout the term.
If you took a 4 month lease, isn't that too short to lawfully count as collectable? Naturally, they have gone quiet when I've asked them directly, haven't had much luck finding any kind of solicitor to check.
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 17:42 - 24 Oct 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

There was a spate of short term leases for empty shops. The pattern: shop closes, 3 month lease, new guy fills the place with cheap tat, sales cash only, bugger off before the bills are due.

I don't see so many of those shops these days so I can only assume councils have shut down that loophole Thinking
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ThunderGuts
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PostPosted: 16:45 - 25 Oct 2021    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just trying to get my head around the business model; is this for people to store bikes who don't have the facility to do so otherwise (e.g. those without a garage), or as a "docking place" for people who work in a city centre but don't want to chain their bike to the railings (and find it, or bits of it, missing later)?

Either way, security is going to be a big thing; if it's deemed a hotspot for high value bikes then it'll become a target. Thieves are so brazen these days CCTV etc.. won't put them off and your potential customers are going to want either a massively impressive security system, an insurance arrangement where if it gets nicked they are covered, or both.

Edit: other thing is pricing needs to be competitive. I realise it was a figure probably plucked from the air, but I can't see many people willing to spend even a tenner a week, let alone a day, to park even a high end bike.
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sickpup
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PostPosted: 21:52 - 07 Mar 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

There were a few of these in London but seem to have disappeared. One was called Bikepark in Macklin St Covent Garden, closed at short notice and became Bikefit. I used to know the mechanic there pretty well.

They charged £6 a day for bike storage and a changing facility which kept away the riff raff so few problems with anything. They did go broke but lets say the reason had little to do with the bike parking.

It can work. It shocks me that it can work but it does but generally only in conjunction with a bike shop/workshop.

And good luck, you've proved me wrong in business before Thumbs Up
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st3v3
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PostPosted: 21:33 - 12 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

ThunderGuts wrote:
Just trying to get my head around the business model; is this for people to store bikes who don't have the facility to do so otherwise (e.g. those without a garage), or as a "docking place" for people who work in a city centre but don't want to chain their bike to the railings (and find it, or bits of it, missing later)?

Either way, security is going to be a big thing; if it's deemed a hotspot for high value bikes then it'll become a target. Thieves are so brazen these days CCTV etc.. won't put them off and your potential customers are going to want either a massively impressive security system, an insurance arrangement where if it gets nicked they are covered, or both.

Edit: other thing is pricing needs to be competitive. I realise it was a figure probably plucked from the air, but I can't see many people willing to spend even a tenner a week, let alone a day, to park even a high end bike.
Aye it's for people who don't want to find their £2,000 e/bike damaged or stripped or stolen after a shift at Specsavers or Starbucks.

I almost have the local council onboard, impressive imho, their glass-half-empty finance guy just complimented the idea as "it might actually break even".
I have various plans of additional services, e,g one being I will create the UK's first RAC stylee kiddy cargobike breakdown service, something that needs a centralised base of operations city by city.

£15 per day here to park a car and leave it.
Nobody steals an alloy wheel off a £20,000 BMW or takes the exhaust backbox off while the owner is shopping.. but little skets do take £400 ebike batteries while they are parked on open racks, it happened to me 2 years ago.
If you've spent 4k on a Babboe you probably don't mind spending £10 to park it somewhere safe and know it's fully charged when you return.


sickpup wrote:
There were a few of these in London but seem to have disappeared. One was called Bikepark in Macklin St Covent Garden, closed at short notice and became Bikefit. I used to know the mechanic there pretty well.

They charged £6 a day for bike storage and a changing facility which kept away the riff raff so few problems with anything. They did go broke but lets say the reason had little to do with the bike parking.

It can work. It shocks me that it can work but it does but generally only in conjunction with a bike shop/workshop.

And good luck, you've proved me wrong in business before Thumbs Up,
That's a genuine shame, I spent a long while last year using the existing subsidised examples across London to sell this commercial version however nobody saw the vision, now though with the eBike boom more are open to the idea. Cheers Embarassed
If I can get some affordable indoor space agreed soon then I expect it will be a huge change in how people get around. I mean, who doesn't use these hire eScoots now?? Tier have absolutely dominated this city over the last 12 months.
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Kawasaki Jimbo
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Joined: 09 Oct 2015
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PostPosted: 22:35 - 12 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just wondering why a hybrid bicycle owner wouldn’t instead choose to insure it against theft and then lock it to railings close to work? Cheaper, I would think. £70/year for a £1k bike, £130 for a £2k.
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st3v3
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PostPosted: 22:45 - 13 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

They might and that's fine.

The idea is aimed at people buying bikes that are difficult to park normally and people who want to recharge while they park.
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Ste
Not Work Safe



Joined: 01 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: 19:43 - 14 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kawasaki Jimbo wrote:
Just wondering why a hybrid bicycle owner wouldn’t instead choose to insure it against theft and then lock it to railings close to work?

Because they don't want there to be any chance of their bike being stolen during the day.
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st3v3
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PostPosted: 14:35 - 30 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/20029400.newport-community-bike-hub-moves-step-closer/

This is another subsidised version, which is great for pushing the idea forwards but I don't think is sustainable in itself.

It will be interesting to see how the place performs.
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Irezumi
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PostPosted: 09:18 - 12 Jul 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote

Would there be facilities for charging?

Will there be spaces for trikes/larger cargo bikes?

In Holland they have massive bike parks where you cycle in/out as per car parks, normally attached to train stations. Plenty of video's online of them. They do also however have the highest rate of bike theft in the world as well I think!

Good luck with the venture, think it's definitely an area of growth in the near future.
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