| A bike rack is a device to which you can securely | | | | and pretty soon, one was seeing the domino effect in |
| attach a bike to prevent it from getting stolen. The | | | | action. These types of racks were commonly called |
| securing part is normally done by means of a bike lock. | | | | "wheel benders." |
| The bike rack, in turn, is fastened to the ground or to a | | | | Bike racks have come a long way from those humble |
| solid, immovable structure like a wall. | | | | beginnings. A more modern version of these bike |
| Earlier bike rack models often allowed the user to | | | | racks was pioneered in Sheffield, England, and are |
| secure one wheel. This one wheel could be secured to | | | | hence called Sheffield racks. These devices consist of |
| any device, such as a grooved piece of concrete in | | | | a thick metal bar shaped somewhat like a square arch. |
| the ground or a piece of metal into which the wheel of | | | | The top part of this rack is on the same level as the |
| the bike is placed. | | | | top bar of the bike frame. This top part allows the |
| These early means, however, were not very | | | | frame to be secured by supporting the bike. |
| effective, since all a would-be thief needed to do was | | | | There is another type of bike rack that is popular with |
| to detach the wheel that was secured. He could then | | | | bikers. There is the kind that can be attached to any |
| free the rest of the bike and that was normally the last | | | | automobile, like a bus for example, to transport bikes. |
| that one saw of the "secured" bike. | | | | There are bike racks to suit virtually every need. Bike |
| A further disadvantage of these racks was that they | | | | racks are not only used in private homes but also at |
| did not offer the bike much support. All it took was for | | | | schools, universities, apartment buildings, retail stores, |
| one bumbling passerby to push one of the cycles over | | | | and government agencies. |