How good is your workplace for bikes?
Comments
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2,500 staff on site in three buildings. 100 sheffield stands in a bike room accessed by swipe card. Male and female shower on each floor. Sounds good but not enough sheffield stands, 1 male and 1 female shower on each floor of around 80 people isn't enough, and the bike room is five mins walk away at the back of the estate - one guy got chased for his bike by a gang of Salford scallies. Hooks in air conditioned shower rooms rooms mean that your stuff just doesn't dry and you have to dry it out under the (cold) hand dryer.
All courtesy of your licence fee....Commute: Chadderton - Sportcity0 -
Completely non-existent facilities. Occupy 2nd floor of city centre building. No bike storage facilities. There are a couple of council bike-posts on the public pavement outside (no security of any kind), or a lamp post. No showers in the entire building, no personal storage or locker space, no drying facilities. Consequently, no one cycles in
Planet-X SL Pro Carbon.
Tifosi CK3 Winter Bike
Planet X London Road Disc
Planet X RT80 Elite0 -
Big firm. 7k staff split across two main offices here. Gated entrance into the underground section of the Wharf with security guards then big full-height cage security gates to get into the firm's underground carpark, access with a security id card. Roughly 200 wheelbender racks for this office (about 3k staff).
On-site gym with showers (10 or so), products, towels - free for cyclists. On-site dry cleaners/shirt service (couple of quid for a shirt) so I tend to leave my shirts/trousers/shoes at work. No lockers available to cyclists unfortunately, so I have to traipse up to my desk on a high floor to collect my work clothes before returning to the ground-floor gym to shower, then my cycling kit gets scattered around below my desk to air (not great on wet days). There was talk about cyclists' lockers/drying rack but unfortunately nothing came of it. Occasional visits from a cycle mechanic, probably every 3-6 months, who'll do basic stuff for free."Mummy Mummy, when will I grow up?"
"Don't be silly son, you're a bloke, you'll never grow up"0 -
One shower (20 office suites) but I am the only regular cyclist. As for parking I have the only key to a 15 x 5 foot indoor, carpeted, lit storage room. Sorted!FCN 5 belt driven fixie for city bits
CAADX 105 beastie for bumpy bits
Litespeed L3 for Strava bits
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.0 -
Mixed.
Shared city centre building, with a pro-cycling employer downstairs. I suspect that most of the good stuff comes from pressure from them rather than my own employer.
6 bike cages in the building which were all allocated in the dim and distant past before I started cycling to work and which I don’t have access to. They do all get used though so I can’t complain too much.
Another 8 or so wheelbender stands in the secure-ish underground carpark. I’ve never arrived too late to get one, but that’s because I get in relatively early, and they do seem to fill up relatively quickly. One of them is cunningly positioned between two pillars so requires the bike to be at a strange angle. Access to the carpark from the road is controlled by reception and to get in/out from the lobby you need your pass to have been activated.
Once these started filling up they built an outside bikeshed with some more wheelbender stands. I’m not sure how secure these are tbh, there is a security office fairly close to them but not with a direct sightline and there’s no CCTV. If there’s no space inside I’d rather pay a quid and leave it at cyclepoint for the day (although it’s never happened yet).
There are showers and lockers (although there aren’t many lockers - 3 for ladies, not sure how many for men - and I missed the boat on those too) downstairs although my gym is next door so I usually use the showers there to avoid having to bring a towel/hairdryer etc.
Employer doesn’t do cycle to work, and after I got knocked off my bike by a car on the way to work last month my boss suggested in all seriousness that I shouldn’t be allowed to cycle on roads any more. To which I responded that (a) he should see the injuries I’ve done to myself on a mountain bike and (b) I’ll stop cycling when he stops skiing.0 -
Underground parking with double-deck racks; basement is warm and dry, and wet kit left draped over bike will dry out during the day. Access by security card and some CCTV coverage (not sure exactly how much). Sufficiently secure that most people don't bother to lock their bikes. Lockers available for around £6 per month.
Onsite gym with changing rooms, showers, shower gel, towels, etc. Reduced rate membership if you just use the changing facilities and not the gym itself.
Onsite canteen which serves porridge (breakfast of champions).
In the event of major technical issues, spare bikes available outside the office (courtesy of Boris and Barclays)Pannier, 120rpm.0 -
Currently not bad - underground secure car park with access by card. Racks are the wheel bendy type but OK. There are almost enough during summer and plenty over winter! Most people don't even bother to lock their bikes to them though I do.
A couple of showers in the building - can be annoying in Summer as one is on the ground floor and one on the second - and I'm on the third floor. I have a radiator by my desk which I can dry stuff on as long as nobody notices the chinese laundry smell after a while
But, we are moving to a new sh1tty office soon. I've been told there are racks in the basement car park but this one doesn't have gates - just a lift barrier. And it is theoretically accessible. But I've been told it's safe as there has only been one theft in the last 7 years. That's one too many as if any bike is likely to be targetted, one of mine is the likely one.
So, I suspect I'll be pissing the area manager off and bobbing my bike into a bag and parking it by my desk. That'll go down well. Or I'll be charging a subscription to the cycle point to my company card and wasting 45 minutes of work time a day walking from there to the office and back.........Faster than a tent.......0 -
private business complex, one other cyclist and they lock in theirs in a separate swipe pass entrance area and i keep mine behind me on the config desk upon some thick card for those soggy days. There are some railings outside my window i suppose i could use but no actual secure cycle bays.
No showers which i can handle if there is no SCR on the way into work, disabled toilets & sponge is best i've got - then i've to time it before another office that play racquet sports religiously use it too
Lots of strong filter coffee & a microwave for porridge in the kitchen, but plenty of bacon & pie action from the lil food vans the odd ice-cream van when its hot 0 -
A retail outlet selling outdoor goods. It's a large shop but we only have 7 staff, some full time, some part time, and one student who only works during university holidays. All of us cycle to some extent although a couple don't ever cycle to work. We have a large basement which is used as a stockroom, office, staff room and cycle storage facility - lots of space for bikes. There are usually 3 or 4 bikes there (and another in long term storage in the attic). There are a variety of tools lying around for fettling bikes.
The shop is very cycle friendly and we are happy for customers to bring their bikes inside, I often see people propping their bike up outside the door and go over and invite them to bring them inside instead.0 -
Office of about 100 in an older business park - but office has space for 200 so lots of empty space, including the unoccupied 1st floor open plan area where the 3-5 cyclists keep their bikes Access guarded by a moderately fierce receptionist and 2 sets of keycard doors. One bike has never moved from there to my knowledge. I expect a few more once the Monsoon season's over.
One shower that I know of, approx 20m walk from my desk.
No enough drying space though, so I purloined an unused coat stand and have that in the corner behind my desk, displaying a variety of sweaty synthetic fibres to all.Misguided Idealist0 -
Good grief, some seriously good facilities listed here! Mine is a drain pipe in the underground car park, and trusting both it and my Kryptonite NY Mini are up to the job.
Someone else in our building leaves his unlocked in the car park though!0 -
Same company for 7y but we've moved offices twice (we grew from 35 to 170 people) so 3 different locations. We're a 'green' company and have about 10-15% of the workforce cycle, although not all every day (only some of us are mad enough)
We've always had secure bike parking in underground locked storage & showers. This new place has key-fob controlled gates on the access underground. In the last place and in this we had/have lockers. This place we had a say in how it was fitted out (helped by fact two of our board members cycle to work
) so we have male and female showers on both floors and lots of lockers (decent sized 'suit' ones - not that we wear suits ).
The only gripe I have ... its 3 flights of stairs walk to/from the underground storage and the lifts don't go down below ground...
All in all, pretty good...
[edit]I should add we have a 'club cupboard' although no official club which has the usual spares, tubes, patches, a small toolkit and a track pump and an ever growing collection of wornout/broken parts including a bottom bracket, one egg beater pedal, a broken crank arm, various slighly contorted spokes and a collection of (possibly working?) chargers for long forgotten lights... hmmm must think about tidying it out...Invacare Spectra Plus electric wheelchair, max speed 4mph
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Good.
100+ people on site in Global MegaCorp.
M & F showers on three floors.
Covered sheffield stands, but not enclosed. If folks want to park their carbon bling or Brompton in the office, no-one bats an eyelid.
Used to have wheelbenders, but the site management started asking why some folks preferred to lock their bikes to lampposts in the car park.
Downstairs kitchen has track pump, spare tubes & basic tools.
If you turned up to an internal meeting in lycra, you might be asked - in a concerned way - if you had a mechanical.
Ocasionally roadies try running in the office in road clogs. I should talk to site management about the health & safety issues.0 -
I'm in a new-build office of approx 500 people. We have bike storage in a secure basement car park, bike washing station, workstand, tools, changing rooms, drying facilities and gym.
The company sponsors Øster Hus Ridley pro team (a project director's son rides for them) so cycling gets a high focus. If you pledge to cycle 1000km in a year, you get a set of Santini cycling kit in company colours. Each month, whoever logs most km and most commuting days gets a prize. Subsidised entry to bike races, training rides with the team, spinning classes, shop discount.
Not too bad.0 -
Pretty much none.
I use a desk fan to dry out my gear and my bike shares a small office at the back with the bosses wife Go-Cycle that hasn't left the building since September :rolleyes:I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.0 -
About 70 people at work. 6 sheffield stands under a bike shelter I managed to get with a bit of funding from TfL. There is a shower, but it's so bad I wash and change at the sink in the disabled loo. I managed to get the company signed up to Cyclescheme, which I handle, about a dozen people have got bikes (including 2 at other branches). We have a track pump in the sales office where I work and there is a reasonably well equipped one car workshop at the back of the warehouse in case of major mechanicals.
I don't think it's too bad for a small company.
Oh, and there is a screw in the wall behind my desk I hang my stuff on to dry. Might get an actual hook soon.0 -
Pretty good, local factory for a multinational food company.
We have racks front and back of the building for about 16 bikes behind the security fence. Showers in the new gym, locker if you want, steam lines everywhere for drying and a stores dept with lubricants. we have a lbs a couple of minutes away.FCN 120 -
Our workplace sponsors a pro team so not only do we have 24hr secure parking and a shower block, we have free servicing and labour. It's pretty sweet.0
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bails87 wrote:
There's no reason why the NHS can't do a cycle to work scheme, either one of the generic outside-administered ones, or I'm sure there's a specific NHS cycle to work provider.marchant wrote:In a word, rubbish. Uncovered parking for about 20 bikes, of the "wedge a wheel in here" type, which you need a daisy chain of locks to achieve anything approaching security, a changing room for cyclists which we apparently have to pay £25 for the key (I would hope thats refundable), and because it's NHS no Cycle to Work.
http://www.networks.nhs.uk/nhs-networks ... /266060866 <-might help.
I work for an NHS body and we have a thriving CTW scheme. It's really down to the managers and finding a department gullible enough to take on the administration. In our case Finance. Though the Trust Health and Wellbeing department/policy does a lot to keep the momentum up. Luckily most of the cyclists aren't based at my office.
I thought we had pretty decent cycle facilities but reading most of the comments, some companies really seem to put the effort in.
Covered cycle racks outside for a dozen bikes, which is not really enough in the summer months when there is somethimes 20+ squeezed in.
One shower for each gender, a lot of shift work though so it is rarely queued.
Drying space equates to a small radiator between lockers (though not in the summer when the heating is off) which has the only hanging hooks in the locker room. So it's a constant game to remove all the dry clothes left there in order to hang wet stuff when it rains.0 -
Office of 200 people - half a dozen spaces in a rusty rack that isnt attached to the floor anymore - undercover in a bus shelter thing, but shared with the smokers.
1 shower which has been out of order for 2 weeks or so - luckily coinciding with the monsoon...0 -
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There is "secure" card-entry bike storage about 500m from my building, with space for a couple of hundred bikes. I don't use it as I just fold the Brompton and take it inside with me. There are also open Sheffield-style stands outside. While open, they offer a degree of security as the site has some security staff (complete with the odd Segway or two).
There's a shower and changing room on each floor. This can cause a queue in the mornings, so isn't ideal, but it's possible to use a shower on a different floor.
There's no workshop facility that I'm aware of. If I have a puncture, I fix it in the kitchen or "soft seating" area. If I used the large storage room, I guess I'd fix it in there. Either way, there's somewhere out of the rain to fettle in.
There's no drying room or any drying facilities really, other than coat hangers. That sucks when everything is soaked from a wet ride in, and still wet in the evening (especially shoes).
So not excellent, but a lot better than many have to contend with.0 -
Got everything here I need. Swipe access / guarded underground carpark with over 100 racks, 28 fully provided showers for general use (same again in our gym), dry cleaning facs available onsite, chalet style drying room, basic tools and track pump, 500+ lockers (more daily use ones in the gym), cafe for second breakfast, and a partridge in a pear tree (OK maybe not the last one).
There is "some" benefits for working with a bunch of lawyers...0 -
2800 people on site
Everything behind a high fence with security guards, so safe
5 covered wheel bender stands around the site, each taking 20 or so bikes
Other options include railings/multi story car park to chain up the bike
Racks completely full in summer, 2/3rds full otherwise
1x shower on each floor but rarely the need to queue
1x drying cupboard with extractor fan on each floor - always enough space to dry out kit
Lockers provided on each floor. Plenty of space
I cant really complain.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:turnstyle wrote:Our workplace sponsors a pro team so not only do we have 24hr secure parking and a shower block, we have free servicing and labour. It's pretty sweet.
IG Markets?
Close, Sky.
Some things around here are a bit rubbish though. The sheds get filled up quickly in summer with people riding to work once then leaving it there for 6 months, Cav and Wiggo only get chauffeured in and there's no valet service
The social cycling club here is great too. Had Dario Cioni ride with us last weekend.0 -
I'd want it to be luxury if I was made to work in that area!Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com0
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Not bad, to be honest. Office of about 500.
Bike parking : In a suburban business park, the garage (with bike parking) has a swipe card access to raise the barrier but anyone can just walk under it. So it's sort of secure. Plenty of space.
Showers : Large changing room with 8 showers for women (I assume similar for the blokes).
Lockers : Approx 20 available but you have to ask security for a key every day and give the key back every day (or get your stuff given to charity) so no-one uses them.
I tend to leave my stuff to dry festooned across my chair / stuff under my desk which doesn't work very well. If you leave it in the changing rooms it disappears.
The main downside is the complex layout of the building. Between getting into the garage and getting a shower and getting into my desk I have to swipe my security card 8 times and open about 14 sets of doors which is annoying when carrying lots of stuff to my desk.
Still, I count myself lucky to have plentiful showers and a gym and secureish parking. I used to work in Oxford Street and we had one shower for 300 of us and a tiny basement with space for about 5 bikes so you had to get in early or risk leaving it in the street.0 -
turnstyle wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:turnstyle wrote:Our workplace sponsors a pro team so not only do we have 24hr secure parking and a shower block, we have free servicing and labour. It's pretty sweet.
IG Markets?
Close, Sky.
Some things around here are a bit rubbish though. The sheds get filled up quickly in summer with people riding to work once then leaving it there for 6 months, Cav and Wiggo only get chauffeured in and there's no valet service
The social cycling club here is great too. Had Dario Cioni ride with us last weekend.
Does sound very nice.0 -
Lucky sods.
Never had great facilities other than my first job, where you could get changed and showered in the sports facilities.
Current job, if I'm in my 'base office' then it's carry bike up back stairs into my office (just me in it) and get changed there. Hang kit on radiator/hangers in corner. On other sites it's lock up outside, get changed in a loo, wet kit in panniers, get changed back into wet kit end of day.
Most other jobs I've had it's find a reasonable sized loo to get changed in, or a disabled loo. Drying kit has usually been hanging it under the desk, and if lucky, a fan to dry it.0
