Bikes storage in a small studio
 

Hi guys,

Soon i will be moving to a rather small apartment, and I would like to keep there at least two bikes. Do you have any ideas how to store them in a sensible way? I was thinking about wall hanger, but are there hangers for two bikes? Or are there any other options worth considering?

Cheers,

I think there's ready-made hangers that mount on the wall, and you store one bike above the other. It's probably not that hard to make one, too, and it'd be a lot cheaper. Two 2x4's and a few feet of 1" wooden dowels, screwed onto the wall studs.

The previous owner of our house left one of these behind:

Bike storage racks, bike lifts, family bicycle racks, canoe & kayak hoists, golf bag storage, and more sports storage solutions! - MyGearUp.com - 20095 - Oak FTC

It works surprisingly well. PG

Thanks guys, actually, come to think of it there really are a lot of options, i think this is personally my favorite The IKEA VALJE wall mounted bike rack is in town - IKEA Hackers - IKEA Hackers

I live in a 1-bedroom. Well, they call it a 2-bedroom, but the 2nd bedroom is about the size of a large closet. Maybe it'd be OK for a toddler! Anyway, I use one of these in that 2nd "bedroom." It's adjustable for the ceiling height and you can change the angle of the holders if you have a bike with a sloping top tube. You can actually add up to 2 more holders on the other side if you have the space, holding a total of 4 bikes.

I moved from a 3,000 sq. ft. 2 family house, to a 750 sq. ft. 1 bedroom to our current 400 sq. ft. NYC studio.

Our bldg. charges for US$25 per month/per bike to use the bike room in the basement. But instead I keep my
roadbike at my work locker room. And my 2 folding bikes in the apartment; they don't take up too much room
on the floor. I can also keep one or both of my folders by my office desk if I wanted to.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7181/...1c4f31fd64.jpgNYC office parking by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

Depending on the layout of your apartment and the ceiling height, the bikes can be hung vertically or horizontally (in either the upright or lay-down position).

All of those positionings lend themselves to hanging from the ceiling, so I can see no advantage to using a wall-hanger instead of simple ceiling hooks. In either case though, the attachment needs to find a joist or stud.

Hung from the front wheel, the bike can be almost flat against a wall, or two or more bikes laid against the wall like overlapping shingles.

I got 22 bikes along a 17-foot wall, still easy to remove and replace one. Note that this room had only a 6-1/2 foot ceiling height, but still has some room underneath the bikes for bagged stacks of tires and "under-bed" storage Tupperwares.

If I may make one suggestion, it is that this is what your apartment should look like after N+1 has had a good run:

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5466/1...84231e60_c.jpg

Easiest is to screw a 2x4 to the ceiling joists, then screw a hook into that 2x4, hang bike by either wheel from that hook. If they're happens to be a ceiling joist exactly where you want to hang the bike, then skip the 2x4. The hooks are rubber-coated and sold at any hardware store.

I'm using a Delta Michelangelo and very happy with it.

The Delta rack does display the bikes in an aesthetic way. But it looks like the upper end might need to be secured to the wall to prevent tipping over if anything were to snag on the bike's pedal for instance.

My office / man room in my house is about 12' X 12'. I have up to 8 bikes in there at a time. 2 bikes are up right in the corner behind the door. I got those rubber coated screw in hooks and screwed them into the wall stud. Front wheel is supported by the hook, back wheel on the floor up against the wall. Please note the pic is sideways, brown part is the wall.

I bought 4 closet rod hangers. They are triangular braces with a curved end to hold a closet rod. That curved end is perfect for a top tube of a bicycle to rest in and the flat part of the top of the brace is a great place to put a shelf to hold your bicycling accessories. i put up 2 strips of wood 1" by 2" and mounted 2 of the braces to each strip. i drilled a 3/16" hole in the top of each wood strip and in the ceiling. i then screwed in a cut off bolt into the top ends of the wood strips. That bolt protruded an inch or two and fitted into the hole in the ceiling. This allowed the strips to be supported without having to drill holes into the wall. I hung two bicycles on that setup. Here's what one of the bicycles looked like on the upper pair of braces.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2905/...4cf6aba4_o.jpg#1 1980's MIELE = Columbus SL Frame as I got it by Miele Man, on Flickr

You could use a router to chamfer the edges of those strips of wood and stain or paint them to make them look better.

Cheers

Home Depot has these labeled as 'Everbilt Filp-up tool hangers' for $6/ea and they'll hold two bikes dropped inverse so the bars touch the seats.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DH4NM/

I guess you could buy on Amazon, but it's cheaper at Home Depot and that one uses a more textured, dull rubber I prefer over the shiny crap.
[MENTION=185430]dddd[/MENTION] that is seriously awesome. Are you using a double-hook, or does each bike have its own?

Years ago I lived in a studio apartment in San Francisco (back when one could afford to do so). The bedroom was the living room was the dining room, small kitchenette off to the side. I did have a "walk in closet" which was used to store 4 bikes in the manner of [MENTION=185430]dddd[/MENTION] (above). One of the was a Bike Friday, which stayed in the suitcase most of the time, another was a Fisher tandem, also a mountain bike and a road bike. I remember measuring it, and the four bikes took up 4 linear feet of the closet. I had to turn sideways to get around them to get to everything else, but hey, one has to have priorities, right? Bikes gotta be near the front door, ready to go.

FTW... Darn, I have a way to go... :)

I designed the hooks to be able to slide each bike independently. It was a bit of extra work mocking up and then making the tool for bending the hooks, but I was then able to buy the one-foot, 3/16" diameter steel rods pre-cut for 67 cents each in quantity and come up with the best dimensions for the job.
Hard to see, but there is a concave roller on the tool's moving driver peg. The anchor peg (socket-head cap screw) and mandrel (stack of fender washers) are stationary. I tested it bending up to 3/8" rod, but 3/16" rod proved more than strong enough for a 40-Lb Schwinn Varsity.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7148/6...39c746a0_z.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7026/6...1e106462_z.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7167/6...f02f33db_z.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7168/6...645dfc58_z.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7036/6...c2b2d726_c.jpg

Cool homemade bender.

I like your approach! You can buy plasticoat in a 1/2 quart can an dunk the hooks you made to protect the rims. Or, you could use the smallest inner tubes and electrical tape one end. Heat shrink might work too.

I have two of the same Topeak adjustable racks that [MENTION=190364]lostarchitect[/MENTION] mentioned. I bought them off CL inexpensively from a guy who was moving. They work really well as as he stated can adjust to hold up to 8 bikes.

"Small studio" is redundant. If you can't do any material wall anchoring, this is your best bet.

Amazon.com : Delta Cycle Michelangelo Two-Bike Gravity Stand Storage Rack : Bike Rack Lean : Sports & Outdoors

I use a similar rack in the studio dungeon I occupy during the work week. There are presently five bikes in the studio- two bikes on the rack, one on the work stand, two others leaning against whatever (one in the bath). And there is one adult size tricycle in front of the fridge. No way I could take a picture that would show all of that mess.

There is a small strap at the top that can be attached to the wall. IME it's not needed, I can tug on a bike pretty hard and while it pulls the rack away from the wall a bit it comes nowhere close to tipping over.