Bike storage indoors

[Tim Hall]

I have a now empty cupboard that used to house a coldwater tank, since removed, and a bit of shelving. The remnants of the water tank stillage are still there. The sides of the cupboard are that double skin plasterboard with egg box between the skins that was all the rage when the flat was built in 1970.  These have vertical timbers onto which the plasterboard is slid. 

The plan is to use the cupboard to house the Pretty Bike and it's just about big enough to do that.  Initially I was going to put a pair of horizontal timbers in to pick up on the (hidden) vertival timbers that support the plasterboard and then fix one of those wall mounted bike hooks. However a trial fit before I add the timbers suggests that will take up too much space, so the bike won't fit in the width of the cupboard.

Plan B is to put a hook in the ceiling and hoik the bike up on to it. I'll need to get into the loft and put a timber between a pair of joists to take the load from the hook.  The bike, while stunningly Pretty, is 12.2kg, which is a bit to heave up that high. It's do-able but not ideal.

Any other smart ideas? Pulleys? Electric winch? There's a 13A socket in the cupboard. As you can see from the photo, I could just wedge it in there, but that doesn't strike me as ideal.

[Kim]

Looks like all it needs is a bag of coffee-leaking rubbish and a copy of that CrossCountry Trains poster saying that they have two reservable bike spaces and unreserved bikes are accepted on a first-come-first-served basis.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Not sure, but I think if I had a bike as pretty as that and I wanted to keep it pretty, I would try not to use vertical storage as a long-term solution.

[robgul]

Could you put one of the pressed-steel type hangers in the corner of the cupboard and hang the bike diagonally (or at an angle) ? - that would probably give you clearance from what I can see in the pic.

Or having some experience of the egg-box system - if you fixed a sheet of 3 or 4mm plywood about 100  x 50cm to the wall with say, 12 cavity wallplugs that would give you enough strength, spreading the load, to fit one of the pressed steel hangers in the middle of the board.  Space taken up would be minimal.

We had a similar issue with storing a road bike in my daughters flat - her bike hangs at an angle in the (very small) hall way - with room for her Brompton tucked underneath it.

[phantasmagoriana]

This is what I do, in the space behind the door in the box room:

[Tim Hall]

Useful replies everyone, thanks.

Kim, it's next to the loo, so if I wanted to I could go for that sub-standard train travel experience in the comfort of my own home.

Cudzo, I'm not sure how hanging it upright will detract from the prettiness. It currently lives in the hall, so gets in the way a bit. Rumours that it shares a bed with me are completely unfounded.

Robgul, good shout about putting it in diagonally. However a quick trial shows the handlebars protrude if I go right into the corner. Putting a hook in the corner and slightly angled by mounting it on a suitable fillet of wood might work. However, that's really useful to hear about spreading the load with cavity fixings and a piece of ply.   There's another cupboard the other side of one of the eggbox pieces, so I could put a load spreading plate in thart cupboard too, and bolt/screw all the way through. That may be the way forward.

phantasmagoriana, which hooks are those?

[Lightning Phil]

This is what I do, in the space behind the door in the box room:

Did you design bike storage on long distance trains?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Cudzo, I'm not sure how hanging it upright will detract from the prettiness. It currently lives in the hall, so gets in the way a bit. Rumours that it shares a bed with me are completely unfounded.

Just thinking that putting it in and out of that tight space might lead to scratches and chips.

[Brucey]

strikes me that lifting a bike onto a hook is fairly easy if the bike is in line with you, much less easy if it is cross-wise. I'm assuming that the cupboard isn't deep enough for the bike to be in another orientation.

Also it seems to me that a timber spreader (screwed into the joists in the attic) for a hook mounting may as well be under the ceiling (and therefore can be wider, angled etc) as in the attic itself; there is plenty of timber inside the cupboard anyway.  If it is done right could you use a couple of pulleys and have a simple hoist for the bike, with the cord tethered (perhaps via a vertical bracing strut?)  onto one of the side frames?.  This would more or less avoid the need to do battle with the egg boxes?

 If the bike is not used often would it make sense to turn the handlebars 90 degrees when it is stored? Might this make better use of the space, perhaps allowing a second bike to fit in there too?

FWIW you can buy hoist parts without too much difficulty.  If you want to buy a kit of parts (which would normally work out an expensive way of doing it BTW), such things are made for storing detachable hardtops for convertible cars; these kits comprise an assortment of pulleys, cord, hooks etc. The idea is that the hardtop is hoisted up under the ceiling in a garage and stored on the hooks.  The kits are certainly worth looking at; IIRC I bought one (for peanuts) from Halfords bargain bucket years ago  and it contained almost everything I needed for several bike hoists.

 cheers

[cygnet]

If handlebar width is an issue on the diagonal, could you remove the front wheel, insert a spare skewer/axle and hang it from that?
Would bring the bars towards the centre of the cupboard (and alleviate any potential damage due to hanging the nice bike by its nice rim)

[Brucey]

clothes airers use pulleys which ought to be good for bikes too.  They exist in posh and cheap forms, single and double pulley types. These are posh ones;



and these are cheap ones



With a little cunning and a single pulley on the hook, and another on the ceiling,  you can make a 2:1 hoist.

A double pulley on the ceiling and a single on the hook is enough to make a 3:1 hoist.

With even more cunning and a pair of double pulleys (one on the hook and another on the ceiling) you can make a 4:1 hoist

cheers

[drossall]

Could you put one of the pressed-steel type hangers in the corner of the cupboard and hang the bike diagonally (or at an angle) ? - that would probably give you clearance from what I can see in the pic.

I wondered about that. But I did a quick Google for cycle storage vertical and came across this Topeak one, which pivots. Would that help, including with manoeuvering the bike into place each time?

[robgul]

Could you put one of the pressed-steel type hangers in the corner of the cupboard and hang the bike diagonally (or at an angle) ? - that would probably give you clearance from what I can see in the pic.

I wondered about that. But I did a quick Google for cycle storage vertical and came across this Topeak one, which pivots. Would that help, including with manoeuvering the bike into place each time?

Not see that before - very nifty .... but the protrusion it has from the wall may impact on the width of the available space?  BUT at £45!!

FWIW - I think the pulley and rope idea is a complicated solution looking for a problem with signifciant potential for damage to the bike's paintwork (I've tried the idea with poor results)

[PhilO]

Could you put one of the pressed-steel type hangers in the corner of the cupboard and hang the bike diagonally (or at an angle) ? - that would probably give you clearance from what I can see in the pic.

I wondered about that. But I did a quick Google for cycle storage vertical and came across this Topeak one, which pivots. Would that help, including with manoeuvering the bike into place each time?

Not see that before - very nifty .... but the protrusion it has from the wall may impact on the width of the available space?  BUT at £45!!

FWIW - I think the pulley and rope idea is a complicated solution looking for a problem with signifciant potential for damage to the bike's paintwork (I've tried the idea with poor results)

£45 for the Topeak item makes the Steadyrack look an almost OK price:  https://www.steadyrack.com/product/fender-rack/?gclid=CjwKCAiA_9r_BRBZEiwAHZ_v1zjkUGuu587WmdCxiWLXVw3D936TNoznCSv4x4K9SuB_pfQA6vAjlxoCb8UQAvD_BwE

This one is similar to the Topeak, but cheaper and slimmer: https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/delta-dali-wall-mount-bike-hook?gclid=CjwKCAiA_9r_BRBZEiwAHZ_v16HL69lH6hvYPnCc2gGuuol5VasyKGwR0u14WpzMCvRiapmcjDfZCBoCeMsQAvD_BwE

I also thought about a floor-mounted stand: https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/353133598086?rt=nc&_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D172d766ed8704c6d9e05f6eedab23a3f%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D7%26rkt%3D30%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D224000206530%26itm%3D353133598086%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2386202%26algv%3DDefaultOrganic%26brand%3DHomcom  Putting it on a wheeled base would allow you to wheel the bike in backwards then turn it sideways in the space.  But I doubt your rear mudguard would survive... 

On the subject of plywood spreader, I'd just glue one in place with 'No Nails' or similar rather than use cavity fixings.  (Or combine both).

[Brucey]

FWIW - I think the pulley and rope idea is a complicated solution looking for a problem with signifciant potential for damage to the bike's paintwork (I've tried the idea with poor results)

I'm curious to know how a hook on the front wheel damages the paintwork...?

cheers

[robgul]

FWIW - I think the pulley and rope idea is a complicated solution looking for a problem with signifciant potential for damage to the bike's paintwork (I've tried the idea with poor results)

I'm curious to know how a hook on the front wheel damages the paintwork...?

cheers

... it's the way the bike is hauled up and can swing around and bash against the wall.

My own bikes hang up by the front wheel on a stufwork frame in my garage, top to tail to be closer together and save space - and I have lengths of pipe lagging I pop onto the top, down and seat tubes for protection.

[Paul H]

I know someone storing a bike in a similar space, they have an overhead rail with the hook on it, the bike hooks on outside the door and then slides in.  It was made from parts intended to move meat carcasses around so probably heavier duty than needed, though the hook is extended beyond the rail so maybe not.  It is really neat.

I've always needed to store my bikes in the smallest space possible and usually freestanding, it's surprising how small that can be, though the issue is always access rather than footprint.  I currently have three bikes (One an unfolded folder with the bars turned) occupying 110 x 95cm floorspace, though they need a fair bit of room around them to manoeuvre.

storage by Paul, on Flickr

[drossall]

I agree that the Topeak item is expensive for what it is. I chose that one to link to because it's a known brand. As others have shown, there are similar alternatives in that Google search, and the linked pages. On the other hand, if you see it as an alternative to a more complex solution, it may be that the Topeak one becomes economic.

[Brucey]

... it's the way the bike is hauled up and can swing around and bash against the wall.

I see.  It looks to me there is presently a shortage of things that the bike can knock against in the OP's cupboard?   I'd imagine that provided the hoist is one-handed (hence mentioning possible hoist ratios) that would leave the other hand free to steady the bike?

If (say) a 12kg bike is to be raised ~6", this would require an 18" long, ~4kg pull using a 3:1 hoist, which should be easy to manage one-handed. A longer raise than this can be accomplished in two pulls with an intermediate tether point, so the cord can be regripped  using the same hand.  A loop of elastic attached at a strategic point (near the end you pull) can make it possible to pull the hook downwards from its rest position under the front wheel rim, without there being slack in the system. Once the bike is raised, the pulling end is secured with the elastic loop unloaded, so the bike is properly supported.

cheers

[rogerzilla]

I've hoisted bikes up by their front wheels for years.

Screw-in pulleys aren't totally trustworthy (the act of screwing them in puts huge strain on the weld, at least for the Eliza Tinsley ones) so I loop some chain over a beam and attach a pulley to that.  Attachment to the bike is low-tech: a half blood knot around the front rim.  Then hoist it up and wrap the other end of the rope around a cleat hook.

[Frank9755]

Steadyrack is great.  I've got 8 of them in my garage.  Really pleasant to use and being able to swing them round very easily makes good use of the space.  Beautifully designed and well worth paying a premium for vs the fixed hook thingys.

I also have a pulley / hook combo that I used to use for keeping a tandem hanging from the garage ceiling and was always happy with it.  Cost a few £ on eBay. 

[morbihan]

What Frank says. Steady rack are costly but really well thought out. The fact they can be swivelled makes them particularly useful. No problems storing wheels of all shapes and sizes, with and without mudguards.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIJPTYSlTQf/
The Sp rolls in the foreground are fooking heavy with fat tyres but fit fine on the steady racks (with plugs in the old stone wall)