I need to store the following bicycles off the floor in my small city condo with high ceilings: adult man's road bike, adult woman's road bike, young girl's hybrid bike, woman's folding bike, large Burley bike trailer. The girls/women's bikes all lack crossbars which is limiting storage options.
What do people recommend? Large hooks mounted to the wall? A pulley system like this: https://www.containerstore.com/s/gar...E&gclsrc=aw.ds ?
FYI: There is no garage, no tool shed, and I don't have access to a workshop to fabricate a rack.
Indoor Bike Storage
Re: Indoor Bike Storage
Well you have high ceilings so that’s a plus.
I did this in grad school with a low ceiling. I made a rail along the wall with uni strut (stolen from the physics lab stockroom). It had a little trolley on it with a pulley on some para cord that I could hoist the bike up as high as it would go against the wall. Which was pretty much dangling over my couch. Wish I had a picture. Visualize an elevator on the wall that could lift a bike up to the ceiling. I just screwed hooks to the little trolley that are available at the local hardware store.
With a high ceiling you can make a pulley system that hoists up the bikes. Best to hook the bike at two points so it doesn’t rotate around like a modern art mobile all day.
You can make something like this with minimal fabrication. All the pulleys and hooks can be gathered up at a hardware store. Use found objects to make the hooks. Things like old rebar, big nails, bed springs, etc..
This kind of hardware. No need to spend big money on a manufactured system. I think these are actually expensive systems but with some smarts and macramé you can rig your own.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Hardware-Ch ... ey%7D%3Aqu
ETA - I would be very tempted to try to make this without pulleys. You may be able to get pretty far with a bundle of para cord, some knots, loops and rings made from the necks of discarded drink PET bottles. Modern bikes are pretty light.
I did this in grad school with a low ceiling. I made a rail along the wall with uni strut (stolen from the physics lab stockroom). It had a little trolley on it with a pulley on some para cord that I could hoist the bike up as high as it would go against the wall. Which was pretty much dangling over my couch. Wish I had a picture. Visualize an elevator on the wall that could lift a bike up to the ceiling. I just screwed hooks to the little trolley that are available at the local hardware store.
With a high ceiling you can make a pulley system that hoists up the bikes. Best to hook the bike at two points so it doesn’t rotate around like a modern art mobile all day.
You can make something like this with minimal fabrication. All the pulleys and hooks can be gathered up at a hardware store. Use found objects to make the hooks. Things like old rebar, big nails, bed springs, etc..
This kind of hardware. No need to spend big money on a manufactured system. I think these are actually expensive systems but with some smarts and macramé you can rig your own.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Hardware-Ch ... ey%7D%3Aqu
ETA - I would be very tempted to try to make this without pulleys. You may be able to get pretty far with a bundle of para cord, some knots, loops and rings made from the necks of discarded drink PET bottles. Modern bikes are pretty light.
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Re: Indoor Bike Storage
Fwiw there is a product called a top tube adapter that allows you to add a temporary top tube to a bike frame that doesn't have one for the purpose of hanging a bike on a rack. It's another product to buy and you have to install / remove it whenever you want to store or ride the bike.
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Re: Indoor Bike Storage
Upside down hanging from the wheels (rims) on hooks in the joists.
Re: Indoor Bike Storage
I am partial to hanging vertically (front wheel up, back wheel down) from a hook on the wall (front wheel on the hook, bike perpendicular to the wall). If studs are not in convenient locations, I first mount a 2x4 on the wall parallel to the floor, then attach the hook to the 2x4. I clear enough floor space so that the rear wheel can be only an inch or two off the floor for ease of use.
Safety note: If you have hydraulic brakes, don't hang your bike upside down. Your brakes can go squishy and you may need to bleed them to restore good braking.
Safety note: If you have hydraulic brakes, don't hang your bike upside down. Your brakes can go squishy and you may need to bleed them to restore good braking.
Re: Indoor Bike Storage
I agree with shaz about hanging vertically. I have four bikes hung like that right now. The harder it is to get them up and down, the less likely I am to use them. I found a few of these velo hinges at the swap meet. https://www.rei.com/product/870951/feed ... orage-rack They allow me to swing the bikes flat against the wall or out into the room, depending on how I need the space.