goatalope

I have a steel 2001 Lemond road bike with a combo of Red/Force/Ultegra parts on it and a 2011 Stumpjumper FSR. I just moved to a new house. I have 2 socially/wife accepted options for storing the bikes: 1) a waterproof but uninsulated shed that will get cold 2) A basement thats damp (no standing water or anything, but 60-80% humidity - or perhaps a little lower in the winter).

Is one better than the other? I live in central PA, so it'll get to low 20s or teens in the winter - would these freezing temps affect the bikes/components/shocks?

RaleighSport

as long as your not gonna be dragging them from the shed to inside constantly there should be no issue.. just be sure not to freeze and dethaw over and over..

Bianchigirll 

get a divorce and keep it in the livingroom where bikes belong!

Chombi

The garage isn't that bad if you have one. even if unheated, as the temperature in such spaces tend to stay very stable with no quick heating or cooling cycles that causes condensation to form on things. Just make sure you do NOT cover the bike with something "impermeable" like plastic sheeting, as these tend to catch/retain moisture that sometimes naturally seep through the concrete garage floors, specially in older garages that might not have moisture barriers built into their slabs. If you can get the bike inside the conditioned spaces in your house, that will even be better, just keep it away from any big electric motors that can expel Ozone ga when they runs andt can quickly rot out all the rubber parts on your bike like hard to find brake hoods, expensive tires...etc....
Find a nice casual corner in the house like in the family room or den and buy one of those bike lifts (around 40 bucks) to get it off the ground to be hanging "mechanical art"!

Chombi

FastJake

+1

Just two bikes? You could keep those in your bedroom! I see bikes all the time that are irreversibly blemished from being stored in someone's nasty basement/garage/attic/shed/etc. Don't let this happen to you. If it's not good enough for me to live in it's not good enough for my bikes!

ultraman6970

Add the fact that the bikes wont make u watch girly movies non ask for the remote control neither ask for money for going to get a hair do

Looigi

How about getting a dehumidifier for the basement?

Ira B

Shed.

BCRider

Get one of the hygrometer/barometer guage sets that are often sold quite cheap and check the winter time humidity of the basement. If it's that high even with the central heating running then you likely have mildew and mold issues in the basement and that's not good. If it turns out that it drys up in the winter then great.

Otherwise a cold but dry shed would be better.

But all in all and given the amount of money invested in these bikes I'd be putting my foot down for a better solution. That solution MAY mean fixing the basement up to figure out where the humidity is coming from and seal it out and then do some renos to give yourself a useable rec room and man cave.

In either case inspect often and at the first signs of corrosion to alloy or steel put your foot down and get it in where it's dry and warm.

Closed Office

I like the shed option too. It's just normal for a bike. I ride mine the whole winter and keep it outside, at much colder temperatures. Personally I don't like bikes in the house.

I grew up on a farm. We slept in the house and the animals slept in the barn, but city folk get it all mixed up.

neurocop

Shed. Keep it high (off the floor) and dry. Cold, per Se, won't hurt it, but moisture will. Shed doesn't leak when rained or snowed on, or does it? Before storing for the winter clean, dry, and tube it, including inside the tubes. REI sells a nice 4-bike stand that keeps 'em off the ground; small footprint but you need some headspace in the shed. Damp East Coast basements are bad for storing bikes. If you search E-bay for PX-10, you should find one that a guy in NY has been listing for about two months now...looks like it's been stored in a damp basement. A real mess.

haaseg

I would keep it in the basement in the winter and in the shed in the summer. Your basement may have 60-80% humidity in the summer, but when it's cold outside, the air is usually considerably drier throughout - thus things like chapped lips and chapped hands. Go to a local cigar store and get a hygrometer if you don't have one. I bet your basement air is a lot drier in the winter than you think.

phillybill

the basement is where my bikes spend the winter.... do not have a garage any more and the pool shed gets damp sometimes

wrk101

Damp basement? You need to deal with that now regardless of where you store the bikes. Damp basement creates all kinds of problems for the house and occupants, starting with mold.

Should be running a dehumidifier in that basement. In the winter, humidity in the basement should be quite low.

So I would address the humidity problem and then store them there.

+1 To below, also depends on basement access. You could get a lot of scrapes and knicks hauling it up and down a set of stairs.

We lived in NE PA for several years. The first year, I was not savvy about needing to run a dehumidifier in the basement. All of a sudden, everything down there was growing moss, mold or whatever. I ended up tossing everything, and running a dehumidifier. Here in the mountains of NC, I run a dehumidifier in both the basement AND the living space. As you can see by my avatar, we have a river rock house, and the walls are VERY porous. Humidity hits us fast.

blamp28

I have stored a dozen or more, at times, mid to high end bikes in a locked and uninsulated shed for decades in cold Michigan winters with absolutely no ill effects. They hang from hooks in the rafters where they are stored year-round. These are Aluminum, Steel and Carbon Fiber in frame material. I wouldn't put them in a basement for two reasons. #1. pain to take up and down the stairs. #2. dampness would be far more risk to steel than cold temps.

well biked

Not a good comparison. Bikes are like children, helpless and vulnerable to the elements. We must protect them.

To the OP: I've been married to a wonderful woman for twenty-eight years. My bikes are important to me. She doesn't ride much, but respects how important my bikes are to me. I store my bikes wherever I want. Because I respect her, I wouldn't put them in a place that would inconvenience her, but keep in mind, bikes don't take up a lot of room. Think about it.

stonefree

Or at least hang it on the wall of your mancave room like it was a work of art.

Looigi

Yep. The humidity in my basement will get up over 60% in the summer and keeps two humidifiers busy. Without them, cardboard boxes get limp, tools rust... In the winter it's usually less than 30%.

JimEx

Wow, interesting idea

dwellman

And kitchen and spare bedroom. But yeah.

fietsbob

this is a real issue.. Black Mold gets walls torn out to combat, around here..
I have friends , here, with small fridge sized De Humidifiers,
that pull gallons of water out of the air in the basement.

I was in an apartment , I could not have any furniture close to the northern walls,
because the lack of air circulation allowed the mold to take root on the wall

2 hooks in the ceiling , per bike is how I dealt with the bike storage,
on the cheap, inside.
there are nice looking racks for storage without making holes too.

Booger1

If your not going to be riding these,I'll take door #3....house attic.
If you are going to be riding these,doesn't matter,take the one that's easiest.If I have to pick between the two,shed.

In exchange,what favorite thing does your wife HAVE to keep out of the house....Her mother?

catmandew52

If you are not going to ride it all winter, paste wax and buff off everyting metal, get a HUGE storage bag and a box of damp-rid(silica gel). Seal the bag with the bike and silica gel inside and store it anywhere.
I used to store my 71 Triumph that way.
You can make your own bag with a cheap plastic drop cloth(8x12) and a large tube of silicon caulk by running a bead of caulk around two edges, fold in half, insert bike and dessicant, seal remaining edge.
If you have a vacuum, you may even be able to vacuum bag it if you seal the drop cloth tight enough.
DON'T GET ANY CAULK ON THE BIKE.

found these bags on Amazon. My local hdw store carries these in various sizes.
https://www.amazon.com/Warp-Brothers-.../dp/B000HMA3QC

RaleighSport

>.> wow... the level of extremes you guys are willing to go to avoid some cold temps on your bikes... it's impressive even if in an albeit frightening manner. Total basement conversions to not rust bikes is also impressive in the same way... and no I'm not trying to mock my front "office" has something like 6 bikes hanging on the walls right this second, but that's the front room of my house

MNBikeCommuter

Given your two options, I'd go for the shed. The cold won't hurt them. I ride mine down to -10F, so sitting in a dry, warmer-than-that shed is a good life for them.