Non-standard Bikes on Trains

[pjclinch]

...
All I want, is for some knowledgable person with recent experience to tell me what the stowage is like.
I cannot be the only "older person" who rides a bike who can't physically lift it high.

Has the discussion about operators and space gone as far as it can without knowing the date and time?

For the vertical compartments with hooks: have you already decided that you can't lift the Moulton up to the hook on your own? Or is that still an open question? That still leaves issues of which wheel to hook and wheel sizes on the hooks.

406 wheels are not an intrinsic problem on train hanging hooks I've used, I've had both the Streetmachine and the Moulton TSR on them. But they were, irrespective of wheel size, a PITA with the New! Improved! bike storage micro-compartments on the likes of newer LNER Inter City stock particularly generative of blue air. We hung my wife's 700c light(ish) Gazelle up at the same time, one was a pain and the other one was a pain too, it wasn't the weight so much as just the plain awkwardness in the available space.

Which wheel is best is an interesting question, though I don't have enough experience of them to answer it.

Pete.

[Jdsk]

...
All I want, is for some knowledgable person with recent experience to tell me what the stowage is like.
I cannot be the only "older person" who rides a bike who can't physically lift it high.

Has the discussion about operators and space gone as far as it can without knowing the date and time?

For the vertical compartments with hooks: have you already decided that you can't lift the Moulton up to the hook on your own? Or is that still an open question? That still leaves issues of which wheel to hook and wheel sizes on the hooks.

406 wheels are not an intrinsic problem on train hanging hooks I've used, I've had both the Streetmachine and the Moulton TSR on them. But they were, irrespective of wheel size, a PITA with the New! Improved! bike storage micro-compartments on the likes of newer LNER Inter City stock particularly generative of blue air. We hung my wife's 700c light(ish) Gazelle up at the same time, one was a pain and the other one was a pain too, it wasn't the weight so much as just the plain awkwardness in the available space.

Which wheel is best is an interesting question, though I don't have enough experience of them to answer it.

Yes. I can lift the tourers above my head when there are no obstacles in the way. But shuffling any bike into those tight hanging spaces on trains is different. As discussed and illustrated in the other threads on the subject.

I generally prefer to hang from the front wheel because angling onto the hook is easier.

Jonathan

[pjclinch]

I generally prefer to hang from the front wheel because angling onto the hook is easier.

All else being equal, yes, but IME a tighter space makes things unequal.
The JCC I coach at has a shipping container of MTBs and they're hung alternatively front/back/front/back to maximise space. And in the constrictions of a container with lots of hanging bikes sometimes it's being able to move the fork that helps things, and sometimes it's not having the fork forced aside by obstacles that helps.
It seems to be the usual case of whichever way one goes about it turns out to be worng...

Pete.

[simonhill]

I've only used the hooks twice on a train. It's not (just) the lifting, but getting the wheel on and off the hook. Getting it off I was worried about missing my stop.

If you think you will struggle to lift, think what lifting and juggling will involve. I think it is hazardous particularly if the train is moving (and rocking).

I seem to remember that a third hand would have made it much easier, but it was made clear to me that the train person could not help (Portugal).

[Mick F]

Good morning everybody. Sorry, but not been on the forum much recently.

Me and Mrs Mick F went on an "adventure" yesterday to Exeter. We walked the quarter mile to Wetherspoon's (The Imperial) for a lunch and a couple of drinks, then back to the station and headed home.

On the way in, we caught the Express train to Exeter, and the Local train to get back. No difference in the two GWR trains except the Local one was a few carriages shorter. The Express had two bike stowages, and the Local only had one. They all had only two cramped hook things for bikes and the stowages were camped. Zero bikes on both trains.

On the way to Exeter, I had a chat with the guard as he was standing near a stowage. He, like me, is a cyclist, and we had a good chin-wag about the stowages. He said that they aren't fit for purpose, and they should never have been signed off. He recommends that after I've tried it to send a letter of complaint. He suggested that all users should do likewise.

Between the two hangers, there is a silly black foldable and lowerable thingy so the two bikes don't bang together.
The hangers themselves are sort of designed for big-tyre bikes, though the entry/exit of the top hooks is too narrow to make it easy.
The hanger hooks are damaged and would scratch the shiny alu rims, especially narrow ones like mine.
The hangers and back-wheel supports are too wide and will not support a bike well at all, no matter how chunky the tyres are.
The guard said that most users just wheel their bikes in and lean them up .............. and he doesn't blame them and neither would I.

Basically, I'm rather unwilling to ride my precious Mercian to Exeter - though it is my preferred ride for a 50ish mile bike ride - but I am tempted to ride my Moulton as it'll be more stable on the train. Also shorter if I want to just wheel it in and lean it up. Mercian is too light and delicate. Either way, I'll be taking cloth protections for the hook and maybe nylon ty-wraps or bungey straps for stability.

Photos, by way of explanation.
The fold-down racks are there for extra suitcase storage if required (if no bikes!)
You can see of the hook the size by my hand.
The black thingy rotates so it's vertical, but it's not rigid in the slightest.
The hook is worn and rough and scratchy.

Terrible design and not recommended for any user.

[Mick F]

PS:
I'm thinking twice about the whole idea.

I have taken Mercian on a GWR train before when I came home from Taunton after riding with the Wimps.
The stowages were't that bad back then.

[Jdsk]

Thanks for adding the outcome and the details and the photos.

...
Photos on the linked threads DO NOT HELP with my question.
...

It's consistent with those previous reports and photos.

Jonathan

[Mick F]

Johnathan.
You must understand that I had a long conversation with the guard and I've only included the salient points.
I asked him about help with your bike .............. and there ain't any.
Non-standard bikes will not fit, and neither do standard ones properly either.

After my experience yesterday, I know everything I need to know. Reading about it isn't the same as being there.

The photos on the linked threads are NOT like the GWR trains now.

[Mick F]

Found this:

CUK slams awful cycle storage ..............

https://road.cc/content/news/267162-cyc ... eed-trains

[Mick F]

Try getting your bike to hang "properly" when a bike is already in there.
No wonder they are left "horizontal".

[rivers]

The storage cupboards on the IET GWR trains are useless. I normally take the train home from work, and sometimes I make the IET. If I have my 40mm gravel tyres on, I can't hang my bike. If I'm on my road bike or TT bikewith 45mm wheels (I use my commute in as training), I can't hang either. I rarely do anyway to be honest- it's pointless. I'm on the train for 9 minutes and one stop. It will be interesting on my way back from Exeter in May- I've booked a late train and a bike space, but I will have a loaded bike as will my two friends.

[thirdcrank]

Perhaps the biggy here is not to assume that combining cycling and rail travel in England is easy or encouraged.

I date from the days when most if not all trains had generous provision for carrying luggage, typically in what was known as the guard's van. The fare for a pedal cycle was roughly the same as the "half" charged for child passengers. That system ended with guards vans.

If we are looking back, I remember an evocative account in the CTC mag by CJ of an End-to-End ride with his family and even with advance booking, they had problems with the bikes because the railway personnel had already filled the bike spaces with shellfish intended for top London eateries.

[Ayseven]

Not very helpful, but at least you are allowed to take your bike on the trains, unlike in my country.

[Lazybird]

Had my bike on the Plymouth Exeter GWR train last week. Even if there hadn’t already been one bike in the compartment, I wouldn’t have been able to hang the bike because the bars are too wide. Consequently had to stand by the bike all the way. I have a photo but can’t work out how to add it.

[toontra]

It really beggars belief that they introduced these carriages which will be with us on many inter-city services for decades hence.

Useless for non-standard / wide-tired / wide handlebar and carbon-rim wheel bikes. If you're lucky enough to have a bike that actually fits over the hook you then have the physical task of getting it up there, which will also rule out many people.

Not to mention the distinct possibility of the locker being full of luggage or another bike already there that takes up too much space, or bikes without reservations taking in your slot.

Then the problem I often face of a bike being already on the "inner" space but no ticket showing where they're getting off. What do you do? Put yours on the outside and hope you get off before them or risk someone man-handling your bike so they can get theirs out?

One can only assume that the system was designed either to:

1) Take up the absolute minimum possible space for economic reasons

2) Positively deter people taking bikes on trains

Or most likely a combination of the two..