The cycling world was in awe when Japan’s amazing underground bike storage systems came to our attention and now a UK company are promising us a similar service. 

‘Eco Cycle’ create bike storage solutions which can cater for hundreds of bikes, keeping them safely enclosed and only accessible via a swipe card that identifies the owner.

As well as giving the finger to rust, this could greatly reduce the threat of bike theft, as well as eliminating the frustrating sport of saddle and wheel stealing.

The elaborate bike racks can store up to 204 bikes, though there is a ‘mini’ version which takes 58, and they can be integrated into new buildings (above or below ground) and monitored 24 hours a day.

When it comes to collection, a rider simply needs to swipe their ID card, which relates to a tag attached to the bike forks, and their steed will be returned to them.

Obviously it’s the kind of thing that building planners will need to buy into before these start appearing in our cities – and though we can’t find any prices they’re not likely to be cheap. However, we hope that there will soon be some successful pilots and one day these will become common place.

In the mean time – check out this video to see how the unit works – and read more about Eco Cycles here.