Commuting - real life stories & pictures ~ kitchen bike storage?

so I'm in a studio apt with a small kitchen area separated from the "living" area by a decorative counter. right now the bike just sits in the corner next to the fire escape door (which is how I get the bike in and out from the 2nd floor every time I use it) (should be interesting come winter!) I have a small multilevel wire rack for my bare bones bike stuff w/ a bit more bare bones bike stuff in the small kitchen closet.

anyone else living like this? would hanging the bike really help? I mean I can just see it dripping on the wall and making a mess, etc.

I know what you mean I have three bikes and live in an efficiency apartment. Basically turn to the left you are in the living room turn to right you are in the bedroom turn again you are in the kitchen, you get the idea. I would love to hear some solutions. My problem with wall mount is I have art on just about all walls.

Why would your bike drip? If you mean, after a rain, then dry it off first, but there's no reason a bike should be dripping anything. (edit: if it hasn't been raining)

I live in a small one bedroom apt. I stand my bikes vertically in my living room. You'll need something to keep them from rolling. I just use an old pump for now..

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4716332458_f3bb711d60.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhop73/4716332458/)
How to park multiple bikes in a small apartment. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhop73/4716332458/) by bhop (http://www.flickr.com/people/bhop73/), on Flickr

Why would your bike drip? If you mean, after a rain, then dry it off first, but there's no reason a bike should be dripping anything.



Any thoughts on the best way to dry a bike? :)

Any thoughts on the best way to dry a bike? :)

Ok, I guess you can't get everything, but I did mis-type a little. I meant to say, if it's after a rain, dripping is understandable, but there's no reason a bike should drip anything if it's dry.

The one time I did ride in the rain, I managed to get it mostly dry with a towel. There was a little water in the chainrings, but that's about it. It didn't drip much after that and dried fast.

Fine for a place like Los Angeles but riding a bike in the winter (in a cold weather place) means a big mess if you're going to keep it inside. My bike can drip for quite awhile after it thaws out. If you hang it, dripping stuff is going to splatter. Ice, snow, slush, plain old water, etc. If it were just water, it wouldn't be so bad but along with it you've got salt, sand, rust, and any lubricant that falls off along with the water.

In my office I kept it in on the floor in the winter parked over a heavy mat. Hanging it wet also means more water getting into places on your bike you don't want it. Wait until it dries, then hang it or keep it on the balcony if you have one. There's less corrosion if the bike stays cold.

We live in a very tiny house with four bikes. One has to live in the front lounge. We like bikes so we don't see a problem.

Fine for a place like Los Angeles but riding a bike in the winter (in a cold weather place) means a big mess if you're going to keep it inside. My bike can drip for quite awhile after it thaws out. If you hang it, dripping stuff is going to splatter. Ice, snow, slush, plain old water, etc. If it were just water, it wouldn't be so bad but along with it you've got salt, sand, rust, and any lubricant that falls off along with the water.

Yeah, I can see your point..

Yeah, ice, slush, snow (see my location) :( ... makes a huge, messy pool... a couple of layers of box cartons will soak it up and dry out (mostly) by the morning)...

If I had a bath tub I'd just stick my bike in it :/

bhop~ THANKS! I never saw that trick! Frankly I'm hoping that once I meet my downstairs neighbor I might lock it under my fire escape with a cover.

I don't live in a studio, but I do have limited storage space for my and my wife's bike. For a while we parked them in the living room by the kitchen counter, but that was an eye sore. After rearranging the furniture, we found space for them behind the couch; easy access, but out of the way. The only problem now is the white carpet. Who puts white carpet in an apartment anyway?

anyone else living like this? would hanging the bike really help? I mean I can just see it dripping on the wall and making a mess, etc.

Yes. Here's my storage:
http://www.brucew.com/images/kit/800/3-bikes-hangin-out-800.jpg

If you use a plain hook, dripping could be a problem. That's why I use the Saris Bike Trac (http://saris.com/bike-racks/parking-a-storage/wall-storage.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=75&category_id=43). (Actually, I use the locking version (http://saris.com/commercial-parking/commercial-storage.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images_commercial_norating.tpl&product_id=169&category_id=18).) The rail keeps the wet off the wall.

I put a boot tray under the bike to collect rain and snowmelt runoff. The boot tray is easy to dump, and easy to clean.

I also have the lowest rack mounted so that there's six inches of space between the bike and the floor. This makes it easier to sweep and mop.

On the left, the racks are staggered in height to conserve width. One bike's bars tuck in under the other's.

If I had a bath tub I'd just stick my bike in it :/

I do, and I do. But only to rinse the slush off. Then it hangs on its hook in the living room over a boot tray.

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikeforums/kit/hanging-in-bath-1.jpg

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikeforums/kit/hanging-in-bath-2.jpg

I did the same thing at the old place where all I had was a shower stall.

http://www.brucew.com/images/kit/800/3-bikes-hangin-out-800.jpg
I believe I've seen this pic before, tsl, and I know I've seen the one in the tub, but I never noticed the u-locks on your bikes until now. May I ask, are the locks for extra security should someone break in, or are they just an added measure to keep the bikes from falling off the rack?

That is the danger of hanging your bikes so close to a window. Too visible, kind of like leaving a Rolex inside your house, but visible to everyone passing by.

I believe I've seen this pic before, tsl, and I know I've seen the one in the tub, but I never noticed the u-locks on your bikes until now. May I ask, are the locks for extra security should someone break in, or are they just an added measure to keep the bikes from falling off the rack?

This is a new pic. Previous pics did not show the locks in place.


That is the danger of hanging your bikes so close to a window. Too visible, kind of like leaving a Rolex inside your house, but visible to everyone passing by.

I'm on the third floor so it's hardly likely anyone would scale the building to get in, even if they did see the bikes through the trees.

No, the only time I've had a bike stolen was at my old building where someone used a key to enter the locked building, then used a different key to enter the locked basement, then busted down the locked, solid wood door of my concrete block storage locker, to steal my unlocked bike.

Clearly it was an "inside job". But was it another tenant? A former tenant who kept a key? Another tenant's deadbeat boyfriend who kept a key when they broke up? One of the staff? One of the contractors? (The landlord thought it was the painters, I thought it was my neighbor.) Either way, I decided that would never happen to me again. Since then, no bike is ever left home, alone and unlocked.

you can hang a bike or 2 above your bed

Regarding drip:
I don't bother drying the bike when I come home, so it does indeed drip dry. However, daVinci hook and rear wheel tray keep it off the wall, and most drips fall from the lowest point of the rear tire, a few come straight off the cassette. I just put a cheap carpet mat under the bike, and it absorbs the water, dries, and keeps the permanent carpets clean. The bike actually doesn't bring all that much water in with it from the rain. I do, however, park my winter bike outside - both because it's easier on the parts (less strain from frequent expansion/contraction), and because you can bring a lot more slush into the house attached to a bike than water.

Hanging the bike vertically is much more space efficient than storing it on the floor. If you have multiple bikes, double high stands are probably about the same for space efficiency.