The City of Denver’s regulations specify that “The Inverted U type bike rack is the required bicycle parking rack”, although other racks may be proposed provided that they meet certain performance requirements. Every other current publication on bicycle parking follows pretty much the same approach: racks should

• support the frame of the bicycle and not just one wheel
• allow the frame and one wheel to be locked to the rack when both wheels are left on the bike
• allow the frame and both wheels to be locked to the rack if the front wheel is removed
• allow the use of either a cable or U-shaped lock
• be securely anchored
• be usable by bikes with no kickstand
• be usable by bikes with water bottle cages
• be usable by a wide variety of sizes and types of bicycle

The City of Madison, Wis. bicycle coordinator, Arthur Ross, has developed a six-page guide to rack selection that describes accepable and unacceptable racks based on the kind of criteria listed above. The guide also details how racks that are supposed to park two bicycles (one on each side) should be chosen and installed.