How Do You Store Bikes?
 

It looks like we’ll be moving to a smaller house one day. The plan would be to sell our two story house and move into a one story house to help us as we get less mobile. In the process we’ll greatly reduce the size of our house. However we will have a generously spaced two car garage in the new house.

I might be able to keep one bike on the garage floor, but ideally the others would be stored off the ground. Those would either be on the walls or hung from the ceiling. What have you found that works well for you?

Currently for me, it's a wife that is tolerant enough to allow me to keep a couple bikes in the formal dining room which isn't used much as a dining room. <grin>

Right now the bikes in the house are in those little individual stands that many bike shops use to hold a bike upright on the floor by the rear wheel. The other are in the extremely overcrowded garage. Two hung on the walls and held by the top tube with a home made hangars and the other is disassembled and on the shelf.

Been thinking of adding on to the house which will include a bike room just off the back door of the house. I'm really leaning toward those brackets that hold a bike vertically on the wall by either the rear or front wheel.

I've seen some that are hinged to allow you to turn the bike to an angle, presumably to take up less of the room interior. But I'm not so sure how well that will work out if the bikes are spaced as close as I'd have to have them in the size room I'm planning.

I just use wall hooks. Simple, inexpensive, effective.

Mine are all rafter hooks in the garage or sitting in the family room to be admired.

At some point, I'll be in the same boat, so I'm interested in the answers too. :thumb:

Wheels hanging on 3" hooks on basement wood ceiling beams. I've had multiple bikes hanging vertical this way for 20 years, no issues.

Rafter hooks for the ones that don't get ridden much. Bad news it, I don't end up saving a lot of floor space, as I have to leave room to get them down.

Hook from the ceiling.

https://i.imgur.com/7Bfz9gY.jpg

Mine are all hung upside down from hooks on the ceiling above the hood of my wife's car. That way they aren't in the way when walking around in the garage. I don't store my mountain bike that way because I've been told that it is bad for the suspension fork (don't know if this is an old cyclists wife's tale though).

I have a special bike room where special bikes stay. The MTB’s are very nice but stay in my bike shop year round.

Rafter hooks for the bikes that aren't ridden much. Fat bike has a PVC stand that I made from many plans found on the Internet. Regular 3-season ride leans against the garage wall.

If my wife woke up in the middle of the night because she heard a noise, and found a bike riding the treadmill...

Well, it would be an interesting experience! :D

I have a very small garage so I hang mine by the wheels from hooks near the side wall. We have four of them.

I bolted a 2X6 to the frame of my metal shop. At first I just had hooks coming straight out from the 2X6, but the bikes took up too much room sticking straight out. So, after seeing a swiveling bike rack advertised on social media, I looked them up. They were $100 each, so I passed. After thinking about t for a while, I bought 4 regular door hinges and attached them to 5" pieces of 2X4 then attached them to the 2X6. That worked OK, but I had troubles putting the bikes in the hooks because they kept turning on me. I went back to Home Depot and bought 4 screen door hasps with a hook and eyelet that I can hook and unhook to keep the hooks from moving. I like it. We'll see how long the 2X4's last, but they've been good for a few months. Total cost - $20.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8e86cfc88b.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1a94df1a05.jpg

Saris makes the Cycle Glide ceiling rack system that hangs the bikes inverted, and has adjustable spacing. The previous owner of my home conveyed these with the sale, along with another floor-to-ceiling two-position bicycle stand that I use in my shop area. So, my home came with six built-in storage positions. Nice.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7a698a7b0f.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...157aad0a87.jpg

I also put up pulleys for the mountain bikes. This way, my wife can get hers down without my help. Plus, they're unwieldy to lift overhead.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1f024d4a5d.jpg

Terrific! You’ve already figured out what I was hoping to see someone do. I like what you’ve done as it takes up minimal space along the wall plus you can access the bikes from the ground. Do you mind taking a close up picture of the hook holding the wheel and the 2x4? I’m having trouble figuring out how the wheel is held up. I really like the idea of them folding against each other.

I currently have bikes on ceiling hooks and standing on the floor of the garage leaning against walls. . I’ll be losing a room I built on the back of the garage which currently holds all my tools and lawnmower so a lot of that will need to go into the garage at the new house.. I also have 5-6 sets of golf clubs hanging on the walls and another 5-6 lying on shelving in the front of the garage. I’ll need to get rid of all but a couple sets of golf clubs. Plus I have enough bike clothing to occupy a whole closet. This is going to be a real challenge .........

I'm at work, but the hooks I got at Home Depot for $2 each. They're basically screwed into the center of 5" of 2X4. The hinges are screwed into the 2X6 and the 2X4 on the left side of the 2X4 so they swing to the left. I can take a closer picture this weekend and post on Monday. I stay off the computer and phone on the weekends for my own mental health.

Here's a link to the hook at HD:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...1221/202305458

Link to the hasp:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...5342/202033980

Perfect, I see exactly what you've done--no need for more pictures. I already have some of those hooks just waiting to be used!

I like it!
 

Nice solution! I'm gonna be needing a new storage solution as well when the Wife and I move South for Retirement in a couple years. BUT - we just bought a lot on a 'hill' that will require a 900-foot elevation gain in only 1-1/2 miles. My life's previous experience of living in the glacially-scoured lower Great Lakes has spoiled me...I'm gonna need 'hill-climbers' instead of 'flat-landers' Or take the "cheaters' way out" and drive to the bottom of the mountain to ride...

My son's garage.
https://i.imgur.com/1N3I0d8.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e697801384.jpg
Simple bike hooks, about $1 or $2 a piece on ebay. 2x4 from Lowes. That was the only thing that I had to leave the house for, Covid and all.

My bikes are always inside, in the basement. The only exceptions are my tandem (too darn big and heavy) and my single speed which I use to run local errands.

Depending on how old your wife is, she might have the info. Ask her.