Bike rack manufacturer admits design fault following thefts

A bike rack manufacturer has admitted there was a fault with the design of one of its products after the theft of commuter bicycles at Reading and Waltham Forest.

Falco, a major supplier of cycle parking products, say they have made a bespoke security fitting after thieves were able to take bikes from cycle hubs in Reading Station and Waltham Forest, in North London.

A Falco spokesperson told road.cc the Waltham Forest racks have already been retrofitted with additional security fittings following a break in at the cycle hub, and Reading Station racks, which are open to the public, will be retrofitted next week. However, he warned cycle parking hubs also need CCTV and secured access to prevent thefts.

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Nick Ralph raised concerns about the racks’ design after his brand new bike was stolen from Reading Station in October. Mr Ralph, 57, told Get Reading: "My bike was secured to the rack by a decent Kryptonite D-lock but when I returned to collect the bike in the evening it was missing.

"All the thieves had needed to do was remove four small bolts and carry the bike away, still locked to part of the cycle rack.”

Bryan Duggan, Sales Office Manager at Falco, told road.cc the racks at Reading will be repaired next week and assured cycle commuters elsewhere, who might be worried, that the problem had since been rectified in other products.

He said: “Once the situation was identified to Falco we acted immediately and manufactured bespoke security fittings that will be fitted Monday or Tuesday next week.”

“There was a bike stolen at Waltham Forest cycle hub and we changed the fitting there, too.”

He added other Falco racks do not have the same problem, adding the Reading racks were an older model ordered a year before they were delivered. However, he said bike parking providers should provide additional security measures such as cameras to protect users’ bikes, or the “ingredients are there” for further thefts.  

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“What didn’t help with Reading Station was there was no CCTV,” he said.

“A lot of cycle hubs tend to have security access to get in there; it’s supposed to be short term bike parking but it does need to have some policing, some CCTV. Without that the ingredients are there for thieves to come in and take a bike.”

He said at Waltham Forest’s cycle hub, despite the presence of CCTV and access control, somebody smashed the glass panel and took a bike.

“We pride ourselves with providing secure products," he said. "Even someone like Rolls Royce every now and again have a problem with their cars, it’s how you deal with it.

“There won’t be any further security issues,” he said.