Thames locals would have seen a new locally-built bike rack installed outside the Embassy Theatre on Main Street this week.

But the challenge it seems, says the Thames Coromandel District Council, is getting people to figure out how it works.

The new bike rack installed outside of the Embassy Theatre on Thames' Main Street. Photo: Supplied

Manufactured by Watson Engineering, Thames Community Board member Craig Cassidy worked with the Grahamstown Business Association to select a design and colour for the bike rack.

It is designed with the Saturday market stalls in mind and is able to fit six bikes, with their wheels poking out onto a yellow no-parking area marked on the road.

The concept of the metal tubing designed to hold the front wheel seems to have escaped most recent users, with many just tying the whole bike to the back of the rack.

One bemused local business owner says she has tried to explain the concept of a bike rack numerous times.

This includes one instance when she discovered four cyclists attempting to tie their bikes to the back of the frame at the same time.

None of the four cyclists understood that the rack been designed in the traditional manner for holding the front wheel.

HOW TO USE THE NEW BIKE RACK:

Cyclists place the front wheel into the small frames, with the rear of the bike in the no-parking area marked by bright yellow lines painted on the road.

The bike is then secured by the front wheel or frame to the rack using a bike lock or chain.