Bicycle Storage Solutions–Get Your Space Back!

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You are here because your current bicycle situation is not working for you and you are looking for better bicycle storage solutions. Perhaps you fall into one of these categories:

1. I’m tired of having to move my bike with no place to store it.
2. My current bicycle storage system is a pain in the ass…my arms…and my back to get the bicycle out.
3. Okay maybe I don’t ride my bicycle, but someday I might. In the meantime, it needs a semi-permanent home.

No, we are not going to judge you on how often you ride. Some years are better than others. In any case, we all need a place to store our bicycles and the easier it is to get them out, the more likely we are to use them.

Let’s say you are like me and the thought of pulling on your running shoes makes you pull the covers back over your head. Scratch that. You’d rather burn them than run in them. Instead a scenic ride with a brisk wind in your face on an easily accessible bicycle is more your style–even if it is to the donut shop! If it isn’t easy to get your bicycle out or put it back, pulling the covers over your head may be too appealing to resist.

This list on different kinds of bicycle storage solutions goes from the simplest idea to most complex. This also happens to coincide with cheapest to most expensive as well as hardest to easiest to use on an everyday basis.

Bicycle Hooks

Heh. This is the third time I’ve used this picture on this blog.

Definitely the cheapest and simplest, you can always rig up a couple hooks on the trusses on your ceiling in your garage. Pull out your stud finder, measure the center of the tires and put hooks in the ceiling that match those measurements. You can easily put one hook in a ceiling joist, but the second one might not be on a stud. Instead you can pre-install the hooks at the right place on a 2″ x 4″ and then attach the 2″ x 4″ straddling two ceiling joists.

The worst part about bicycle hooks is it is difficult to get a bicycle out. Even if you have a super light bike it takes some effort. If you have a tall ceiling or if you are short it will involve a ladder. That is a scary thought.

If the bicycle is regularly used, this is probably not the best solution. It is a good solution for a bicycle during longer periods when you have a very good reason to stop riding and expect to pick it back up at a later time (otherwise consider “storing” it on Craigslist).

At a later time, if you upgrade your bike storage to something different or sell the bike, you can use the hooks for any other hang-able items.

If you have a heavy bike the thought of hanging the full weight on one part of the bicycle rim seems like it could cause a wheel to pull out of being true. It might be OK and that’s the design of a wheel, but that’s a thought I’ve always imagined with only one point of pressure on the outside of a circle.

This observation also highlights the hook rubs on a rim. This is not a storage system for anyone with a super fancy wheelset or a time trial back disc wheel.

Pros:

• Cheap
• Easy to install
• Can easily store other items–not just bikes!

Cons:

• Very painful to remove the bicycle
• Not easily moved
• Single point pulling on a wheel

Check out a six pack of hooks here.

Bicycle Hoist

A bicycle lift is similar to the hooks, but involves a cable system allowing you to pull a bicycle up and down as needed. It still involves a dedicated place on the ceiling, but the biggest improvement over old school hooks is both cable attachments to the ceiling are easily placed on a ceiling joist–the cable allows enough play to move it.  Better yet, just use the same 2″ x 4″ approach mentioned in the previous suggestion to make setup easier on the ground rather than at the top of a ladder on the ceiling.

In this setup the hook rubs on the back seat and handlebar. This isn’t as big of a deal as handlebar tape is easily replaced. Quite honestly, I’ve only replaced my handlebar tape when I’ve unwillingly met the pavement and kept travelling for a few more feet. This kind of hook system is a lot easier than grinding handlebar tape over pavement when you fall.

Pros

• Cheap
• Fairly easy to install
• Stable lifting–the hooks on the handlebar keep it from twisting
• Pulling a cable instead of lifting a bicycle overhead

Cons:

• Not easily moved
• Pulling movement

You can look at a highly rated bicycle hoist here.

Bike Stand

An easier option is to stack your bikes on a bike stand. This doesn’t involve looking for studs or drilling into your wall. Just follow the instructions to set it up and this bike rack can move anytime you need the wall space. These kinds of bicycle storage solutions can store two to four bicycles on a single rack depending on which kind you get.

This is my Delta Cycle Michelangelo Two Bike Gravity Storage Rack setup in my first apartment.

If you go with a bike stand make sure each arm on a single bike is independent of the other. Meaning, one arm can be higher than the other which is great if you have frame like a ladies bicycle where the top tube is at a distinct angle.

The bad part is the arms rub on the frame.

The horrible part is what happens when you don’t consider what a undermount cable does to the bicycle BEFORE you use this bike rack daily.

I was so pissed. This was (and still is) my hotrod.

You may wonder how I did not notice this. Well, I don’t often look under my bicycle and, as you can see in the picture above, the wear point was on the backside–I always pointed it the same direction when I loaded it every day.

DO NOT BUY THIS KIND OF BICYCLE STORAGE SYSTEM IF YOU HAVE UNDERMOUNT CABLES.

Another word of warning: some bike stands are labelled “gravity” or “freestanding”. Even if it is in the name go to the website and read the manufacturer’s directions before purchasing. For instance, both the Delta Cycle and the badass looking Rancor bike stand have a massive amount of great reviews on Amazon and are very good contenders. However, both directions have a warning calling out the wall mounting hardware  as you can see here and here.

Let’s be real.

The vast majority of us don’t strap it to the wall. That’s especially true when you are minimizing your footprint in an apartment to make sure you get your deposit back. You know for safety reasons the manufacturers need to CYA. I get that, but at least you know now too before you buy it. As always, check the instructions first. *spoiler: this is why we upgraded to the next option when our firstborn started crawling.

Another con is what happens to the front wheel when you put it on the stand. Once airborne, the front immediately starts to turn! You could get all fancy and use a nice wheel strap like this…or a piece of rope…or a long twisty tie off produce. Whatever works. Just prepare for it and keep your walls clean.

Before you decide on this kind of bicycle stand please answer one last question: how good is the paint job on your walls? This is one last unexpected con discovered as a result of leaning this kind of rack against more than one wall. My first two apartments were just fine. No problems at all. However, when I moved to my house we went all out painting the walls: two coats of primer, and two coats of paint. The problem is, one of the coats beneath the primer was less than stellar. So every time I move the stand a little circle of paint comes off with it.

Sigh. I hate painting…

One solution is to put a non stick piece of tape or something to keep the rubberized tip against the wall from ripping paint off the wall and forcing you into a touch up paint job. Just know ahead of time this could happen to you too.

Pros

• Easily moved
• Holds up to four bicycles

Cons

• Rubs on frame
• Extra step of immobilizing the front wheel against the frame
• May need wall mounting/stabilizing hardware
• Can take paint off walls
• Again, DO NOT BUY THIS KIND OF BICYCLE STORAGE SYSTEM IF YOU HAVE UNDERMOUNT CABLES.

Delta Cycle Michaelangelo and the Rancor Gravity Bike Rack are both great options that come in two and four bicycle configurations.

A Foldable, Pivoting Wall Rack

Bicycles are quickly and easily stored on a Steadyrack Classic Bike Rack. This is a foldable, pivoting bike rack. Pivot any other bikes out of the way…

…do a wheelie on the back tire, roll the bicycle onto the rack, then pivot the bikes all back against the wall–no lifting needed!

I’m so glad I don’t have to lift this monstrosity of a bicycle after lugging a two year old around from daycare to work and back. Yes, the chain is an added bonus…of weight.

Even better, for those of you with super fancy rims and frames, there is no wear or scratching since the rack only touches the rubber of the tires. Unlike hooks, the wheelset does not come into contact with the rack and there is no single point where the rack puts the entire weight of the bike on one point of the circle, pulling it outward.

A view of the rear tire stop.

If you have one of those big tire bikes there is still a Steadyrack for you. They offer a fat tire option for tires up to 5″ wide. The Steadyrack Classic handles tires up to 2.4″ wide.

This is not to be confused with mountain bikes. When we ordered our Steadyracks we ordered the Fat Tire version for our mountain bikes. We quickly realized the bike got lost in the big rack and fit just fine–and even better, more securely–in the classic size rack. Perhaps if you have extra knobby and aggressive tires you may need the larger size. The photos below show our mountain bikes, both running on puncture defying Specialized Armadillo Fast Track 26″ x 2.0″ tires.

You can see the metal attachment angling from the top of the rack to the horizontal piece is the limiting factor as to how wide your tire can be.

Another view of how well the mountain bike tire fits in the Steadyrack.

We chose to mount our racks on a piece of lumber we stained for a couple reasons. First, it looks sharp. Metal and wood are a nice combo to wake up to in the morning. As you can tell from the carpet in some of these photos the bicycles are definitely not in a garage. Instead, we used the entire wall of free space in the master bedroom to house our assortment of regularly used bicycles. The downside is everything had to line up against the lowest hanging bike: the mountain bike with the child seat. Every bike needs a little muscle rather than just a little push over the lift.

You could also measure out each bicycle and leave only an inch or so, adjusting the height of each rack. Alternately, if some bicycles are used less than others the ones in regular use could go closer to the ground and the seldom used bikes could hang higher. This way the handlebars, which are the limiting factor in how far the bikes can fold, do not hit against each other and the Steadyrack can be mounted closer to each other (remember you still want it on a stud so you are limited to either studs or mounting to 2 x 4’s across studs).

Safety was a concern when my husband and I graduated from a bicycle stand to the Steadyrack as our marriage doubled the population of bicycles in the house. Second, my tendency of parking my daily driver in the hallway was not suitable with a toddler on the loose. It is much more difficult (I’d like to say impossible but I wouldn’t put it past a tenacious kiddo) to pull a bicycle off a Steadyrack than topple a top heavy stackable bicycle stand.

As the girls get older we can store their bicycles on a Steadyrack too.

This is a 16″ tire. The tiny fork is in contact with one side of the rack, but seriously, this steel frame bike is ridiculously heavy and tough. Both girls will outgrow it before any paint gets scratched.

The only problem is the training wheels stick out too close to the wall–unfortunately you can’t pivot it very far.

When the bicycles are in use you could fold the rack up against the wall. Really though, I’m going to put the bicycle back as soon as I get home so it’s not too much of a selling feature at this point. If I market the house as a bicycle chateau vacation rental, surrounded by mountain bike parks and a massive amount of bike lanes for road biking, it would absolutely be a selling feature.

Obviously, we’ve fallen in love with our Steadyrack solution. You could almost call this a Steadyrack review article… The first few options are more prevalent in the real world and don’t really require much of the imagination. Since Steadyrack is “newer” item on the market and less common I included several extra photos so you can learn about the product–or similar type products.

Pros

• Easiest to use
• No lifting
• Safely

Cons

• Not easily moved
• Expensive

Check out our beloved Steadyrack Classic, Steadyrack Fat Tire, or Steadyrack Fender bike racks.

There are obviously several reasons to choose one type over another. If you don’t use your bike often, hooks are a quick win. If you move often, a wall-leaning gravity rack is noncommittal as your location. A pivoting roll up rack is the way to go with a high end bicycle, heavy bike, or daily driver. Keep in mind, the most used bike is an easily accessible one.

From an economical standpoint if you compare the price to a few doctor’s visits you just might end out ahead with one of the fancier storage options. First, an easily accessible bicycle gives you one less excuse to go on a low impact cardio workout and/or bike to work. Second, you aren’t going to the chiropractor with a back you got out of whack from taking a bicycle down.

Which bicycle storage solution works best for you?