There comes a point in many
cyclists lives where even they realise that they are pushing it with the amount
of bikes they have in the house. A very tolerant wife had let my collection
grow but even I knew that things were getting cosy indoors. And a load of
redecorating prompted a search for somewhere outside to store some of them.
Living in London it was always going to be a balance of cost, size in the
already small back garden and security offered. As ever the internet gave
lots of options but Asgard seemed to offer the best balance between the three.
All that was left was to narrow it down to what model/ size. The 4 bike Access seemed the right one and was delivered.
In an ideal world I would have been able to wait until the warmer weather,
whenever that arrived, but it was too slow in coming so I commenced on a
freezing cold Sunday morning, brushing snow and ice off of the concrete base
and continuing the build in very light snow. My first recommendation is not to
attempt anything in weather like this. The concrete base had been poured as per
the instruction sheet and it was nice to know that the base would be the right
size and more importantly level.
Drilling the holes to attach the base is hard work. A good drill bit is vital,
as is some patience, all the hard work that you put in here is making it harder
to remove by anyone else. This is the start of the security. Warmed up from the
drilling it was time to begin the build.
The panels are well labelled and easy to navigate, via the instructions. Most
of the job can be done by one person, its only when the heavy door needs adding
that you need to enlist some assistance.
If you are used to certain Scandinavian flat pack builds the way things go
together here will be a very different experience. You know when things are
right, they tighten together nicely and there's a satisfaction in knowing that
the connections are tight.
Linked with this is the fact that the screws tap out the threads that they are
being screwed into. This gives a super-tight connection which is good to have,
but at some angles can make screwing in initially a bit tough. I found that
with some of the hard to reach screws is was easier to run a screw in, to open
up the thread a little, and then screw the two parts together. This meant
that it was a little easier in the end.
Apart from drilling through the concrete the hardest part is getting the hinges
on the roof lined up with the holes at the back of the shelter. The
instructions are a little vague but a bit of logic lets you see the correct
order before trying to line the holes up and push the bolts through. This is
the point at which any misalignment will be apparent. Even with a specifically
poured base we were out and it took some pushing, coercing and a little bit of
swearing to get the first hinge attached. As is often the case the first is the
most difficult and the subsequent hinges got a little easier, or we got better
at coercing.
With this out of the way it was a breeze to get the rest of the shelter built.
Possibly due to the base being level we didn't need to do any work to get the
locking hinges lined up at the end.
How long did it take? I wasn't really timing it as I wanted it to be correct
rather than quick, but suffice to say I've climbed and descended Mt Ventoux
quicker. My advice is not to rush it as something this sturdy should be in
place for a very very long time, so why rush getting it built?
Four bikes fit comfortably inside. If you have lots of very wide-barred
mountain bikes you may have trouble with the width but with a selection of drop
and flat barred bikes it was no problem. And there is room around the ends for
a track pump and bike stand. I'm now thinking that some of the optional extra
shelves might be useful for things like tools and oil.
With the shelter the main thing is security, I live in London after all. Having
built it, felt the weight/ rigidity and quality of materials I am very happy.
Short of using explosives I can't see anyway that someone is getting to my
bikes. Now all I need is my fingers to defrost enough to ride one of the bikes.
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