Cycling in Melbourne Australia
City Square Bike Pod
Any members have experience with the bike pod and bike parking at Melbourne City Square. I am planning to ride into Melbourne early next month and considering using the bike pod facilities.
At first I was concerned that it was for regular users only but MCC inform me that casual use is fine. So, the use of the pod is sorted but I forgot to ask about the parking.
It seems there are a lot of bikes parked there but I cannot find any info re cost etc (if any. I do know there is no cost for the bike pod but am not sure on the bike parking.) Maybe one of you can help.
I work out of a van every work day so riding to work is very rare, in the case of next month I am booked into an all day training session so I see it as a great chance to ride into town on a work day.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nick Biker on -
Hi Jack,
I've also considered this option in the past but was a bit concerned about queing up for the showers and parking my expensive custom built ebike in public. There is a superb facility close to Flinders street station. There a very good service available. Enough showers, 24x7 security for your bike. Here are some casual parking options available as well.
Contact James at bikepark. The website is www.bikepark.com.au. Let me know how how go.
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Permalink Reply by AlexZ on -
Hi Nick, are you a client of Bikeparks? Was just curious how this service is fairing in terms of custom/daily client numbers? Busy/moderate/quiet?
I am fortunate to be in a building with both showers and secure bike storage, so was curious how many without these provided are using Bikepark?
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Permalink Reply by Jack on -
Thanks Nick,
I had a look at James setup and it looks quite good. As I am not going to be a regular commuter I will probably give the city square setup a go. From memory the bike pods and bike storage are next to the cashier office that is manned most of the time.
I will let you know how I go. Also in my job I see a lot of bike storage areas in many of the city buildings. I could be cheeky and use one of them do the day.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Harris on -
I'm interested to hear how you go Jack.
When I worked in the city I changed in the toilet and had a shower in a can.. OD on deodorant.
I put my bike in the office which upset a few people... Didn't worry me though :)
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Permalink Reply by Nick Biker on
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No worries Jack, I'm glad you've got this sorted. Let me know how you go.
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Permalink Reply by Jack on
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Ok yesterday was the day.
Before I go on I must say the bike pod experience was an absolute pleasure.
I had an 08:15 appointment in the city and not being a great rider figured I needed to allow 90 minutes for the cycling bit. I left Vermont at 06:00 and it was not long before the rain started Looking at my Weather Station 21mm of rain fell for most of the trip in. This did not concern me a lot as I had a spare change of clothes. Over the past couple of weeks I have been getting punctures in my back wheel and just as I turned into Barkers road out of Hawthorn. Bang! down goes the rear Tyre. Again I inspected the inside of the Tyre very carefully and could not find the cause. As I was in a reasonable hurry I fitted the spare tube but did not wait around to repair the puncture.
I arrived at City Square around 07:30 riding up to the bike pod it was very quiet. About half of the parking spots were taken and it seemed I was the only one there. The actual pod itself was very clean with plenty of room inside (actually a lot of room inside)
My conference went on all day and it was not until 17:40 when I left the building heading for City Square. Upon arrival I noticed my rear Tyre was flat yet again. I got changed and repaired the tube from the morning and while it was setting I pulled off the rear wheel and once getting the tube out I again went right around the inside of the Tyre looking for the culprit. But alas I could not find it.
I also must say it was again quiet at the bike pod. In the time I sorted out the rear wheel only one cyclist came in. After the days use of the pod it was still very clean and I am wondering if anyone actually uses them. (there are 2 pods)
My replacement tube lasted all the way home and no more rain fell. It was a pretty bad experience having all of the punctures and the rain but I have no regrets about riding in. I suppose the thing I will remember most was that after I got home, changed and started to get some food ready my phone went off. I then found myself in the car heading to East Melbourne for a job. By the time I returned from East Melbourne it was time for bed.
Now I am planning a set of Tyres for the bike for I suspect I will never locate the cause of the punctures on the rear wheel.
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Permalink Reply by Jack on
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Thanks Cory but each of the punctures has been on the outside edge close to dead centre. I did check the rim tape before and it looked ok.
Replaced both of the tyres today as they had done over 3000km. Front one looked pretty good with a lot of wear left but the rear one was a lot more down but still looked reasonable.
I will give the new tyres a blast tomorrow they are Michelin Pilot City Bicycle Bike cycle Tyre 700X35C and it looks like they put the price up after I purchased them for my purchase price was $25ea down from $50ea.
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Permalink Reply by Cory on -
I always put the front on the rear, and the new one on the front - esp if there's still wear left in it ;)
(Sheldon taught me)
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Permalink Reply by Jack on
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Now that is good advice Cory, thanks for that. (or should I thank Sheldon!)
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Permalink Reply by Chris Harris on
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Good effort Jack. Bugga about the flats. Obviously something stuck in the trye. They can be had to find. I take careful note of where the tube is in the tyre so when I find the hole I can have a good look at a few inches of trye rather than the whole thing. I've found small thorns and shards of glass.
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