Interesting piece of hyperlocal history, very nice.
What I don't understand though is why they never moved from the U-shape to... I don't know the English term, in Germany the most widely used ones are called "Leipziger" or "Kreuzberger" rack.
They are the most ubiquitous rack by far here.
I like them since they stop bikes from falling over and allow for a variety of locking options. For example I usually just lock my bike on the top bar when I just want to drop into the supermarket or something.
The issue with them is only that bike thieves found out that it's far easier to cut through the rack instead of the locks, so they started doing this... 😅
hAvE yOu TrIeD bReAkInG iT dOwN iNtO mAnAgEaBlE pIeCeS aNd SoMe DiScIpLiNe
Yes. Yes I did. I took both pills, ground them up to very manageable pieces, took a straw and just very disciplined snorted everything up.
And then I asked for more pills.