Dan Reain reports:
I haven't seen any messages on this subject yet, so I thought I would post my comments about my experience this morning using the new bike racks on Metro buses.
Photo taken by Mike Rewey in Portland, OR Prior to this morning I had never really checked out what the racks looked like so I was a little apprehensive about using them. How did they hold my bike? Would it get scratched? Was it held firmly enough?
When the bus came I asked the bus driver how to pull down the bike rack. There is a grip handle in the center of the rack- squeezing it pulls the release lever up and allows the rack to be folded down. Once the rack was down I saw instructions printed on the rack itself. They tell you which way to orient your bike. You then lift the bike up and place it into the wheel slots. Under the front wheel is a long metal arm with a hook on the end of it. You extend the arm outward and swing it up so that the hook goes over your front tire. This arm is spring loaded and applies a perfect amount of tension to keep your bike in place.
I kept an eye on the bike throughout my ride and found that it really didn't move or jostle around too much, even when going over potholes or railroad tracks. No part of the rack touches the bike frame so there is no scratching. When I was lifting my bike up onto the rack I realized that the elderly, the young, or anyone without the physical strength to lift a bike 2-3 feet off of the ground (and hold it out in front of them) would have a difficult time situating a bike on these racks. I didn't have time to inspect the rack a whole lot, but from what I did see it seemed that anything other than a standard adult size bike might not fit properly on the rack.
All in all I found the bike racks to be very convenient. I have almost a 10 mile ride into work from where I live, and some mornings I'm just not up to the task of riding in. The racks allow me to take my bike to work so that I can bike home, which is a great convenience for me.
Thanks, Dan.
