Portland to debut newly designed thief-proof bike racks
Portland, Oregon is home to most bike parking spaces on city streets in North America, which means that bike thieves have plenty of opportunities.
Bike burglars recently attacked not the bike’s lock, but the rack to which it is connected, according to Inhabitat. The Portland Bureau of Transportation decided to adopt a new design to thwart thieves.
From the outside, the new racks don’t seem too special. But inside them, there is a “free-floating, steel wire cable routed through the hollow steel piping of the rack,” according to PBOT communications specialist Hannah Schafer. “This makes it difficult to cut through, because the wire moves when the blade attempts to get purchase.”
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A bar spanning the bottom of the rack for extra security can be found 10 inches above the ground. Its aim is to prevent a thief from unscrewing bolts to slip a U-lock around the bottom of the rack, according to Schaffer. “In addition, if a potential thief were to cut through the bike rack and wire rope, the bar makes it difficult to pry the rack apart and slip a U-lock off,” she told CityLab.
Radius Pipe Bending is the manufacturer of the new bike racks for the city. Right now, all 7,000 racks currently available in the city can’t be replaced with the new design, which cost $5 more than the old ones. However, the new robber repellent design will feature new installations and maintenance.
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