BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Seriously. Wow. Even in your own apartment? There is always a monthly bike share membership.

That's very odd. Most landlords prohibit locking bikes on the stairway handrails outside of their buildings due to their obstruction of emergency exits, but I've never met a landlord stopping me from bringing my bike into my apartment, unless you meant storing bikes in shared spaces like the lobby. If that's the case, it might be difficult to persuade your landlord to look the other way.

Yeah. I thought it was strange. People were keeping them lined up in the lobby but now he says there's too many (apparently 4 is too many). So he added bikes to the "no animals or musical instruments on the premises" clause. When my roommate signed her short term lease it wasn't there before. We're on the 3rd floor, but if keeping it up there is the only option, I guess that's what I'll have to do.

Foldable bike ?

That's an interesting idea. Currently, I have a Schwinn. It doesn't fold lol.

Seems like a reasonable conversation could be had here. There are lots of ways to store bikes where they won't be a problem, though it might take some creativity to come to a workable solution. (Hooks? Vertical mounts? Repurpose a closet?) I'm a landlord myself, so can appreciate some concern over potentially blocking egress points. But I've been around bike people long enough to know this should not usually be that big a deal.

Maybe try talking to him/her about a limit on the number of bikes that can be locked there? Longest residing tenants get dibs on the right to lock there? is there a laundry room or basement you can store them in that he/she can give you access too? *shrug* At least you'll be getting a nice upper body workout lugging it up 3 flights...

The safest place for your bike is in your apartment. I can understand your landlord not wanting bikes cluttering up the hallways etc but it seems to me that you might be able to persuade them to help you out.

Thanks for you're suggestions! I'll talk to my roommate and maybe the other tenants and see if we can all brainstorm solutions with the landlord. It's such a bike-able area, it would've a shame not to take advantage of it :)

Another motivation for landlords to forbid bikes is the damage they do to the property. Walls get marred with tire marks and drywall or woodwork dinged. Also, wet and muddy tires can trash hallways and stairwells, and that's before they sit there dripping slop on the floor of the apartment. Not trying to take either side here, just providing insight into what landlords worry about.

...all of which can be mitigated if they work together to come up with a mutually beneficial solution.

As much as we might want to think allowing bikes would benefit the landlord, it might not. If they can already fill their units at full price, there's no reason to risk damages. It wouldn't be surprising if this landlord had a hardwood floor ruined by a previous bike owning tenant parking a wet bike on it. Or perhaps a door now has unsightly gashes from a careless biker who frequently scraped it when entering and exiting. Etc... Admittedly, I was once a renter who did damage with my bike. In hindsight, I feel bad for the cost and hassle it imposed on the landlord when I moved out. They had to paint to remove tire marks on the wall, repair plaster where the handlebar leaned and maybe touch up a few small dings in the original wood front door. With that said, hopefully something can be worked out. In my mind, this is kind of like a no pets policy. Some landlords don't want the hassle. Negotiation is not out of line but it is also reasonable for the landlord to have the policy.

BTW, don't "compromise" and park your bike on your porch. Many many bikes get stolen every year from porches. Find a place indoors to store your bike, and, if it isn't in your apartment, lock your bike to something solid, like a pipe. Don't assume your bike is safe if it's stored indoors in a public place without being locked to something.

"In hindsight, I feel bad for the cost and hassle it imposed on the landlord when I moved out. They had to paint to remove tire marks on the wall, repair plaster where the handlebar leaned and maybe touch up a few small dings in the original wood front door." All of that is exactly what security deposits are for. A can of paint, some plaster, and even hiring a super to take care of the labor should cost FAR LESS than any security deposit a tenant would pay. In most cases, the landlord should retouch the paint between tenants anyway. I think the best solution here (from the landlord's side) would be increase the security deposit for anyone that brings a bike into the building. That way, the tenant gets to park their bike inside and the landlord can cover the cost of minor building repairs later. They could even add a clause to allow further charges in cases of "extraordinary damage" to a unit (e.g. putting a hole in a wall, breaking plumbing, water damaging a floor, etc...). When I moved into my last apartment, the landlord did not bother to change the carpet, despite several stains. I felt not one ounce of responsibility for later storing my bike in the apartment and occasionally dripping grime onto the dirty carpet. Protip: always assume that you'll never see your security deposit again. It'll take a lot of hassle out of apartment life.

As I mentioned above, I too am a landlord. If I myself had to live on the premises, hauling a bike in and out every day, I would be aware of the most common places for dings and slop and what-have-you, and would be perfectly fine with nailing up a protective bit of paneling on a wall and/or a plastic floor covering, in the spots most likely to be damaged. This doesn't have to be a war. It would really help if more landlords and property managers used bikes themselves. It would help everyone if, during the look-over by a potential tenant, a bike be taken in and out, or at least the topic discussed, so that the suggestions above can be put to best application. Can bikes be restricted to using a side entrance? Is there a secure locking facility in the garage? Can we at least agree on where the first two bikes are going to be parked? Can we discuss the occasional function where 10 bikes might show up? People do have social lives. If same set of 10 friends showed up in 10 cars, they'd have to deal with that possibility, too.

In regard to security deposit and having to do maintenance after every tenant, I agree that is a feasible way to operate and it is great for us bikers when landlords do operate that way. However it shouldn't be expected that every landlord wants to deal with increased damage and repairs. This is especially true when dealing with historic buildings. Even if the security deposit was enough to replace a hardwood floor, it wouldn't be the original floor. The same is true for original doors, wainscoting and tiling. Covering up beautiful woodwork is not something i'd do as a landlord. Again, I think a good analogy is that of allowing pets. It's perfectly reasonable to not want to deal the hassle. Remember, people can be careless jerks. While we might be responsible enough to not do damage with our bikes, many people are not. They'll roll home drunk, in the rain and park their muddy bike on the hardwood. But yeah, I wouldn't rent a place that didn't allow bikes.

Thanks to all for your thoughts. I agree that the security deposit should hopefully be enough to cover repairs if everyone is mindful of potential damages caused by owning bikes. Though I do understand the desire to avoid this all together by banning them. I'm wondering, how difficult would it be to install bike racks outdoors? I know there's a small U rack across the street in front of other businesses and I wouldn't want to leave mine there. But could this be another option to look into?

You can request the city to install one for free! More info here: http://pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/bicycleparking However, if locking up outside, expect the bike to be stolen eventually. If you're ok with riding a super-cheap bike, perhaps just for commuting, this might be an ok option. I wouldn't leave anything outside night after night if it was worth more than $200. For some people I'd expect that number to be much lower.

> If same set of 10 friends showed up in 10 cars, they’d have to deal with that possibility, too. maybe for a stand-alone house in the suburbs. in the city, you'd assume they'd all just park on the street. you probably wouldn't be wrong.