Handlebar Avalanche!
 

Went to grab a set of bars from my handlebar storage rack on the shop wall and triggered an avalanche of handlebars. This is not the first time but it needs to be the last.

Some of you have posted photos of your brilliantly organized shops. Who has a good way of storing 20+ handlebars of various types in a small space? Here is my current and very avalanche prone setup.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a14b202d0a.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8b8959bb7d.jpg

you might need to cull the herd!

I'm interested to see what turns up here, because bars seem like the hardest thing to store. I just try to nest them echelon style on a deepish shelf. But whenever I want to look through them, it's difficult to avoid bar-valanche. Or falling off the stool.

Handlebar Storage
 

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...00a062a48c.jpg

I have a slew of 38cm-41cm bars with 25mm, 25.4mm, 26mm and 26.4mm centers that I'm going to be listing in C&V Sales. Cinelli, 3TTT, Philippe, SR and so on.

verktyg :50:

...most of the ones I've built over the years use a couple of PVC pipe lengths, spaced out so the bars rest on them evenly.
I built one for the co-op here that had multiple tiers, and was bolted to one of the storage cabinet tops, at about eye level.

Here's the one I use currently. If you want to store a lot of steel handlebars, this is not a good system, because the weight quickly overwhelms the PVC.https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...81fcd45303.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...061ce237f5.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...dfee06ca3d.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...66e2937970.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...002d383175.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...39f785c71e.jpg

Showing pics of your space to my "better 3/4" so she can see how "thin" I am!

Also keeping an eye on this thread. I posted one a while back (here) and it didn't help me achieve any goals, although I got some cool ideas.

How many bars is not enough???
 

Some people who don't understand say negative things about my cherished collection of bikes and things , but... I have to ask, how did "we" end up with so many bars???

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2d0ab640b3.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4618d559be.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...873cf64c23.jpg

verktyg :50:

fantasy solution: mount a bunch of open faced stems on the wall, and just bolt and unbolt the ones you want.

more realistic elegant solution: set a pairs of large-diameter pegs in pairs vertically on two 2x4s that can support a dozen handlebars each pair. go from 2' off the ground to the ceiling, with a pair of pegs spaced to be able to easily reach a pair from the back without knocking off handlebars from the row above it.

hard reality: stop hoarding handlebars that are identical if you are not actively using them. keep one extra at most. if you haven't already, become the "bicycle fairy" to people in need. the only thing you win when you have the most toys is a low-grade organizational nightmare.

I mount my handlebars on bikes. They don't fall all over the floor that way.

Horseshoe is wrong way.....needs to be with the open end up so the luck does not fall out :)

It's just like grabbing a hanger from a bunch..... They will always hook on to another one, 100% Guaranteed!!:twitchy:

I like the PVC in the rafters rack, thanks for all the great photos. Thinking he solution will include a few different types of racks for each bar style.

There's a horseshoe in those pics?

(Don't we usually ask "There's a bike in that picture?"?)

...if you decide to go that route, make sure you design it in such a way that the PVC supports are spaced far enough away from the ceiling or roof decking to allow you to easily slide the bars in and out. I had to respace mine with wider blocks after the initial try because some of the ones with deeper drops would not fit.

Sorry for the bad picture, but it does show how I store handlebars. I must have fifteen to twenty sets stored and plenty of room for more. All it takes is some piano wire, a couple of sturdy lag screws and a small turnbuckle. The wire and bars have been there for years...
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0402b4e87d.jpg

70 bars on this rack. Unfortunately, I have about 120 bars right now. I've culled them once, I need to do it again: sell the best 10%, donate the bottom 50%, keep the rest.

Rack needs a couple of diagonal braces to keep it from falling sideways. Thats on the "to get to it later" list.


One challenge with donor bikes and part outs are the left overs: handlebars, stems, wheels, etc. Lots of left overs.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/859/4...89163177_k.jpg
Handlebar Rack by wrk101, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/859/4...89163177_k.jpg
Handlebar Rack by wrk101, on Flickr[/QUOTE]

...yes, that's the same design I made for the bike co-op here, but out of the thick walled PVC stuff.
I had some floor flanges I attached to the top of a vertical file cabinet to anchor the bottom.

If you use PVC, you need to be careful not to make the span too long, and like I said, it's not real good if you keep a lot of steel bars.
If I had had a spot for it, that's what I would've done at home, too.

Also keeping an eye on this thread. I posted one a while back (here) and it didn't help me achieve any goals, although I got some cool ideas.[/QUOTE]

Found some good Ideas on your previous thread but more helpful were all the comments defining the problem. It's not that you can't arrange many bars in a small place, its that you need so much space around them to get the one you want free.
Once I realized that was the problem the solution for me came pretty quick. I already had two sets of sturdy 15" posts in the wall so I turned those into the dock for a removable storage rack that I can pull down easily and have all my bars accessible on my workbench.
I picked up a discarded trade show exhibit frame a few months back that had all the tubing and T clamps I needed for the project. It was one of those times when everything just comes together.

Here is what it looks like now. At first glance it's the same just organized.https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4f0b63b2cf.jpg

But each rack slides off and then sits on a piece of tubing clamped in my vise.https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d2cab707cc.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fdd0d81b17.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ac3e629c97.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4c39f2b878.jpg

The horseshoe is on the horse just by the water trough - Duh.

That's really clever how you wrapped the inner tubes to use the valve as a stopper on the end of the rack. :thumb:

Glad to see he's not OCD enough to need PV caps on both those valves.

No he certainly isn't OCD.

The horse shoe came from my grandfathers shop and where it was hung in the same way. I have a small collection of Burro shoes that I have on several bikes as a reminder to take the longer safer route and not to make stupid decisions, they are all oriented up/forward. I found the first one minutes after a close call on a hike in the Andes that would have been the end of me. Burros may not be glamorous but they will get from point A to B without relying on luck. The seven hundred and seventy seven pennies I carry in my saddle bar are there for good luck.

Yeah I have to clean out my collection, too. I did a bunch of drop bar to flat bar conversions for people, so I have extra drop bars.