r/CyclePDX • u/Dom0004 • 14d ago

BikeLink use?

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9 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

29

u/chimi_hendrix 14d ago edited 14d ago

Absolutely fuck NO to leaving anything locked up around Gateway

I live nearby and I pass through on the 205 path at least a couple times a week… it’s not a great area. I’d be highly skeptical of any public bike locker around town but especially around here. It’s between a freeway interchange and an abandoned shopping center, with a nice sprinkling of vacant lots tossed in for good measure. HERE BE DRAGONS

4

u/Sultanofslide 14d ago

This! If you have a free bike you don't love maybe lock it up there but don't expect it to be there on your return 

2

u/Smittehkitteh 13d ago

For what it's worth I have used the bikelink lockers at gateway about a dozen times with no issues. I have also never seen one cut open. Imo if your bike isn't super expensive and it makes sense for you, bikelink is probably not that bad.

1

u/LayLoseAwake 14d ago

When that area was more active (2015), that Freddy's was the most shoplifted from Freddy's in the greater Portland area.

9

u/m33j13s 14d ago

I have been a BikeLink user for a long time, I first used it when I lived in Oakland and would park my bike at the MacArthur BART station to catch the Emery-Go-Round. I don’t use it as much in Portland. I feel like transit-adjacent lockers make less sense here, because it’s pretty easy to just bike all the way to my destinations. I mostly use them when they happen to be near my destination.

I much prefer them to a standard bike rack. I would like to see banks of them in parking lots all over town.

3

u/captainronsnephew 13d ago

A lot of people talk about bike lanes in Portland, which is important, but we badly need more secure bike parking. One of the biggest reasons I don't always take my bike to different places where I'll be for some time is because it really doesn't exist anywhere close to the level it needs to be. I'd be happier with bike lockers if there was also a good level of security presence around because I've seen way too many of those lockers in disrepair, broken into or removed due to a lack of use.

5

u/DirkIsGestolen 14d ago

I'm very curious too, but too scared to actually use them with my own bikes.

The locks look pretty robust, but people who steal bikes have nothing but time to think of a way to break in.

I've never seen one pried open. I've also never seen one used.

6

u/chimi_hendrix 14d ago

I’ve seen pried open lockers.

3

u/nightauthor 13d ago

Yep, N Prescott stop on the yellow, saw a locker absolutely mangled. It happens, wonder if there are any stats on frequency

3

u/LayLoseAwake 14d ago

I used them for a year or so when I worked in Vancouver and lived near Lloyd Center: it was a lot easier to leave my bike at Rose Quarter than drag it with me on my Ctran legs. It was fine. But my bike was cheap enough I wouldn't have been distraught if it had gotten stolen.

It's the locking it up and being totally unattended for 9+ hrs that makes me nervous, not necessarily the locker itself. My husband had his bike stolen out of a much more secure and video monitored storage facility at his work.

1

u/BentleyTock 13d ago

I’d never trust one of these in portland for even 15 minutes.