Whilst this one has been around the Northern Quarter for some time, but I hadn't got round to posting it.
In Keswick this rather more aged bike points the way to the cheese shop.
And this fine example sits by the side door of the rather wonderful Lakeland Pedlar cafe and bike shop.
Unfortunately their sister shop, Keswick Bikes advertises their presence by blocking the pavement with a car.
I dislike them when they permanently take up a scarce public resources like Sheffield stands, such as in your first example, or get in the way of pedestrians by being chained to a lamppost or sign pole (though I'm sure this would never be quite to the same extent as the Keswick Bikes car).
ReplyDeleteCompared to all the motorbikes that clutter the cycle stands in central Manchester they are not a problem. There are ten times as many motorbikes taking up cycle racks as there are advertising bikes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Marchie (and Freewheeler: http://crapwalthamforest.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/organic-bike-stand-obstruction.html ). Free advertising is not a legitimate use of a sheffield stand. Also, I don't really want every inch of every street covered in adverts, whether they are legal or flyposting, and much as I like bikes, putting your advert on a bike doesn't mean you can leave it wherever you like for as long as you like.
ReplyDeleteWhere does this stop? Would you still like advertising bikes if you were walking past a row of McDonalds or Coca Cola bikes which had been left indefinitely down some railings, or taking up all the sheffield stands?
I agree about motorbikes, but I don't know what it's like trying to park a motorbike in town, so I'm not about to judge too harshly.
On a related (bikes+advertising) note, I often use the Edinburgh Bike Shop as it's quite near me, but they have a bad habit of sometimes putting large, and occasionally obstructive, signs in areas which clearly don't belong to the shop (such as the other side of the road).
There is plenty of underused designated motorbike parking in the centre of Manchester http://manchestersadvanceddrivers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/occupy-bicycle-parking.html
ReplyDeleteWhy not do something useful with the bikes instead of parking them. Copenhagen has funded the maintenance of their city bikes fleet for 17 years through selling blocks of branded bikes (a more flexible and potentially ethically managed means to pay for a city bike scheme)
ReplyDeleteAlternatively follow the example of Barrhead Travel in Glasgow and sponsor a pedicab & rider to carry older or walk-weary shoppers around the vast pedestrianised zones, whilst being ready on hand to hand out leaflets and carry shoppers to the sponsoring store. Far better that the really obstructive use of Cyclus Maximus trikes with 6-sheet posters on the back locked up and blocking the street.
It is rather odd that Glasgow and other cities have squads out ripping posters down from railings and lamp posts, and even fining people for flyposting, but do nothing about the bikes.....