matimeo

So I recently completely gutted my garage and undertook to repair all of the drywall, paint it and get rid of the clutter (not to mention the 4 million nails the previous owners pounded into every square inch of the garage). With the previous chaos, bikes were just stacked wherever there was room. My wife parks the minivan in the garage, so there isn't a ton of space left over. I'm trying to determine the most compact and user-friendly storage option for 4-5 bikes. After hours of research (read: obsessing), I have come up with the following options:

1. Build my own version of the Velo-grip system (saw this on an archived bikeforums post)



2. Hang them from the ceiling (ceilings are only 8-9 feet, so this option may not save much space and would probably collide with my head, but its an option)

3. Hand them on the wall with the wheels facing the wall, using hooks



4. Hang parallel to the wall, two deep like this:



5. Build a shed outside that is just for bikes

Which have you or would you do?

Andy_K 

I use a variation of option number 3:



I'm using the Rubbermaid Fast Track system with vertical bike hooks, which is very slick. The wire basket you can see sitting on a table between my two Jakes used to hang from one of these rails too before I acquired so many bikes that I couldn't easily get to it.

I'd never considering hanging bikes at two levels to avoid the handlebar overlap problem. I think I need some more hardware and a few more bikes now.

cvskates

I currently hang my bikes parallel to the wall. It doesn't take running through the N+1 formula too many times before you're out of wall space.

If I was going to start from scratch, I would do what Andy has done above (or a variation of it). No lifiting (for my wife), no hitting my head, and we'd get about 12 linear feet of wall space back, would be good for some more shelving and general storage.

dynaryder

If you alternated front wheel up/rear wheel up,you could prolly get them closer together and make more fit.

Andy_K 

I have done that. It's a bit of a hassle to hang one upside down, but I guess it works.

CACycling

I use mostly # 2. I've got 7 bikes hanging over the spot where my wife's car parks. They are out of the way and, using an air compressor, it is easy to top off all the tires without ever bending over. My commuter sits in a stand on the ground in front of my van. Younger son's vintage road bike is in the office waiting to head down to school on Friday. Wife has 2 of her bikes (grocery getter and commuter) in her mom's garage (she is primary caregiver for her mom and really needs to get out and pedal occasionally).

genec

I don't understand the "advantage" of velo grip... is it just that the bikes can be made "flatter" by angling them?

I like the idea of alternate high and low... put the less frequently used bikes on the high hooks. That makes sense.

Love to do what Andy does... And turn the rest of the garage into a decent bike shop.

But I have a small garage, and it shares space with storage and laundry and sewing.

TomCat_Ford

I prefer option four. I tried hanging my bikes with the tires on the wall first, but I didn't care for how far they stuck out from the wall.

briank

I have three pulley systems mounted in my garage on the rafters. I can walk completely under them without bumping my head. I keep one bike down always.

SpookyReverb

I use a combo of bicycle wall-hangers (vertical) and jumbo ceiling hooks. This way I can alternate the height and really jam them in there. It works really well for what I need.

matimeo

Yes, I believe the advantage of the velo grip design is being able to angle them against the wall. This appeals to me because my garage is narrow enough that I don't want things sticking out very far.

Thanks for the great ideas. Whatever I do, I'm really just trying to have some space leftover for a work area once the bikes are in the garage. Spooky's post has me thinking about hanging the bikes from the ceiling, then having room beneath for a PVC rack that I can put all of the kid's bikes on... At least that way, all of the bikes are in one area.