groovestew

I haven't been riding to work much recently - once in January, once in February, and then today. There are two bikes in the rack where I park my bike, that have not moved in between the times that I've been there (almost 4 months now, possibly longer), as evidenced by the ever thickening layer of dust settling on them.

Now, I'm not looking to score another bike - they're both pretty low-end bikes and I wouldn't want either one (one isn't even locked up - not even bike thieves want it!). My concern is that they're taking up space in racks that will start to get crowded in the coming months. At what point would you talk to the owners of the bike racks to see about cutting the locks and removing them?

Nomad_

I would think between the layer of dust and the coming warm months, time now imho. Work isnt the place for long term storage of anything private.

tjspiel

Not sure where you work but if it's at a place like a college where a bike rack is likely to serve as long term winter storage then I think you need to give it a bit more time.

It's been very un-spring like here and only a few fair weather bike commuters have started riding again. The bike share system just got their bikes out last week and had to put a bunch of them away again because of the latest snow storm.

Things might be a lot different in Edmonton though.

ronocnikral

I had a couple of bikes at a former place of employment that were clearly abandoned (flat tires, dust etc). One was a pretty decent novara bike that I contemplated taking over the course of 2.5 yrs. Especially once I realized they had used a cable lock and just ran it between the forks (meaning, you could slip the wheel off and the cable would fall right off). In fact, I did this to move the bike at one point since the nice spring weather was around and the rack was very crowded.

gyozadude

The bike probably could be considered abandoned a long time ago. But I have a hard time just taking a bike, especially knowing it doesn't belong to me. Abandoned or not. I'd contact facilities and notify them to get the clock ticking before they tag it and haul it, but I'd then put a claim as the "finder" so if no one claims it in 6months or a year, I'd get first dibs on it.

neil

It's up to the building owner/person responsible for the rack. The usual rule is to put a sign on the bike - usually taped to the saddle - indicating that you'll be removing the bike if it's not removed by the owner within 7 days.

Some people do leave them all winter, though, and collect bikes in the spring, so I wouldn't take action for a few weeks yet. If the building owner is okay with it, consider donating said bikes to EBC once you've gone through the motions of attempting to notify the owners. We'll either find a new owner or recycle/reuse the bits and pieces, depending on the bike's condition.

groovestew

The idea that the bikes were left for winter storage had occurred to me, and Edmonton is apparently not much different than Minneapolis this year for late spring. I'm not in a rush to get them removed, but once the weather improves and the racks start to fill up, I'll be more anxious, and then I'll contact the parkade owners.

Donating them to EBC if the owners don't claim them is a great idea.

modernjess

Usually I consider them abandoned when they have been there for several months, the wheels are gone or if left are severely taco'd by drunken late night passers by, the seat is missing and rust has settled into it's gas pipe frame. It usually is a bike that isn't worth much even in perfect condition. But no matter it always bums me out to see them.

I think the winter storage theory is a plausible one in your case. Otherwise report it come summer.

Sixty Fiver

This is a good possibility, that they have just been left for the winter and with a late thaw / spring they just have not been re-claimed.

I know how limited your rack space is there and can understand the problem.

Other than that... I am looking forward to riding season whenever that happens here.

Rhodabike

There was an older Trek 800 in my office rack for 14 months. I contacted the maintenance supervisor for the complex back in January and a week later there was a notice in the office complex newsletter about bikes being removed from various racks around the place. He emailed me personally to tell me he'd give the owner 2 weeks to claim it and after that I could take it home if I wanted it.
Three weeks later, I picked it up. By a remarkable coincidence, there was an old blue Sekine 10-speed next to it, also unclaimed. It was identical in every respect to one I owned back in the late 70s! Wasn't tempted take that as well - it was a miserable bike - but it was quite a surprise to see it.
My hubby is fixing up the Trek (about early 90s vintage, not bad quality) and will decide soon whether to keep it for a beater or give it away.