Cafe Derailleurs Bike Rail - Published March 12 2014

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We had a problem to solve!  Cafe Derailleur has been attracting cycles for over two and a half years with nowhere to safely store those expensive carbon fibre bikes our customers ride.
They wanted a rail.  Not one of those racks you see all over the state.  They scratch and damage the frames.  Added to this our nature strip has electricity wires, Telstra phone lines and water pipes running under it.  So we couldn't dig more than about 30 centimetres below the surface without major expense.
After giving this problem a lot of thought the solution came to me while walking through the DISC salvage yard in Wangaratta.  Two old Hills Hoists were lying on the ground next to a long piece of galvanised pipe.  Perfect!  At a cost of $25 they were brought home and a metal footing was welded on.  
I contacted a builder friend who confirmed the structure will be sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of nature strip life.  He also gave his time to help dig the trenches, lay the trench mesh and weld the footings in place.  Being a builder, he also made sure the rail was level... so level that it lines up with the brick work when you look at it from across the road.
The following week the bike rail was thoroughly tested.  On Friday morning we had 18 cycle tourist come for breakfast with fully laden bikes, and then Saturday, the usual twenty odd roadies arrived plus the usual town cyclists.  Sorry Glen and Jackie no room for your bikes, you'll have to get up earlier!

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