Bike Shifting in Laggere

Many Laggere houses have grown upwards, with floors added over the years and an external staircase to reach them. More floors means more tenants, and more tenants means more bikes, all squeezed into whatever ground floor space the house has. Often it is a narrow strip beside the stairs or under the first floor, with bikes parked nose to tail and handlebar to handlebar.

The tenant who comes home first parks at the back, and the one who comes home last parks at the front. On an ordinary morning, people shuffle bikes around to get out, and it works because everyone is there. On moving day, it is different. Your bike needs to come out at a fixed time, the truck is waiting on a narrow lane, and the neighbour whose bike is blocking yours left for work at seven with the key in their pocket.

The crew can't move a locked bike that isn't yours, and they shouldn't try. Lifting a locked bike by its frame to clear a path is how mirrors snap and side stands bend, and then you have an unhappy neighbour as well as a delay.

So arrange it the evening before. Talk to the neighbours whose bikes are in front of yours. Ask them to park somewhere else that night, or to leave yours at the front. If that isn't possible, ask what time they leave in the morning and whether they can move their bike out before the truck arrives. Most people are happy to help when asked in advance.

Better still, bring your own bike out the night before and park it at the front, or just outside on the lane if that is safe and allowed. Lock it with a disc lock or a chain, and keep the key with you. In the morning, it is the first bike out, and the crew can load it in a few minutes.

Tell the house owner too. They know the parking and the tenants, and they can sometimes arrange things a tenant can't, such as a word with someone who doesn't respond, or permission to use a corner of their own space.

Watch the external staircase when moving the bike. The steel stairs usually come down into the same narrow parking, and the crew carrying furniture down will need that space clear. Ask us to load the bike first or last, depending on which keeps the stair foot clear. Usually the bike goes out first, so the stair landing is free for the household goods.

Take care with the bikes that stay behind. When the crew wheel yours out through a narrow gap, a handlebar or a footrest can brush a neighbour's mirror or panel. Ask the crew to go slowly, fold in the mirrors on bikes alongside if they fold, and check together afterwards that nothing was knocked. A thirty second look saves an argument with a neighbour you still have to say goodbye to.

At the new house, ask the same question before you arrive. Which spot is yours, who parks around it, and will it be clear when the bike is delivered?

Our Laggere packers page covers carrying furniture up and down the external staircases. This page is about getting the bike out from behind the others.

Electric scooters in shared parking often charge from a single socket by the stairs, with a cable running between the bikes. Unplug and coil the charger the night before, so nobody trips on it while bikes are being shuffled. When booking, tell us its company name and whether the battery can come out.