Best Ways to Store Bikes in a Garage
Imagine the wind whipping through your hair and your legs pumping in a mad dash to beat the setting sun. You’re racing across your neighborhood and back to your home from a nice ride. As you make your way into the garage you come to the stark realization, as you do every time you need to put up your bike, that you don’t have a good spot to put it.
While many people opt to put the kickstand down or just merely drop them on the ground, this is far from an efficient way to store your bike, especially if you’re someone who likes to keep everything neat and tidy. In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the best ways to store bikes in your garage.
What to Consider for Garage Bike Storage
Before you can invest in bike storage you need to understand how much space you have to work with. The purpose of efficient storage is to organize your goods in a way that takes up the smallest amount of space, like a bike. Since it’s often used many times a week it needs to be positioned so that it’s easy to get to when needed.
You also need to pinpoint the areas that will work best for you. While hanging your bike from the ceiling is an intelligent way to put it up, it might not be viable if you lack the upper body strength to do it effectively.
You should keep in mind your particular bike when picking storage for it. A heavier bike on a weak wall is a recipe for disaster, causing plaster and insulation to burst into your garage when the bike inevitably falls down.
Wheel size is also an issue as racks can’t always accommodate what you need if you have an extra-large wheel size. Other basic factors to consider are things like protection for the floors and walls. This is especially pertinent if you use your garage for more than just storage such as a recreation room.
Methods for Garage Bike Storage
There are many ways to store your bike. Many of these recommendations are tried and true methods have been around just about as long as bikes have been. Others are specific products designed in recent years to effectively and easily keep your bike stored away.
Heavy-Duty Hooks
One of the simplest and cheapest ways to store a bike is a hook located in a truss in the ceiling. These products are composed of a tough metal wrapped in a rubberized gripping material with a screw on one end. Merely drill the appropriate size hole and push the hook up into the rafter.
To store the bike merely lift it up and place one of the wheels through the hook, allowing it to hang from the metal interior of the wheel. This storage type is one of the most straightforward but may not be great for those that lack the strength to hang it up.
Action Hook
An upgrade of the aforementioned one, this product uses a spring-loaded mechanism to grip onto your bike’s wheel from both sides. Installed similar to that of a normal hook, this action hook merely screws into your garage ceiling with the use of a drill bit and some sort of heavy-duty screw.
The default mode of this device is opened, with either rubberized hook positioned on either side. When the button in the center is pressed, the hook comes down and grabs the bike’s tire from both sides.
Pulley System
Hang up your bike from the ceiling without having to fight gravity! The principle of this storage type relies on a pulley, which increases pulling force based on the number of times the rope has to go through the ‘wheels’ of the mechanism.
This storage type requires a pair of hooks and pulleys hung from the ceiling and a rope tied off to the side on the wall. When you need to store your bike merely untie the rope to bring down the hooks.
Then, attach them to the handlebars and seat, and pull back up, retying the rope when it’s at a sufficient length. This kind of storage is great for those who want to avoid the strain of hanging up a bike by lifting it.
Oneup Garage Bike Storage Holder
This specific product attaches to the wall and requires either a stud or an anchor to keep in place. The formation of this item is straightforward enough with a hook that sticks out on one side to hold the bike wheel, along with a protective pad for both the front and rear wheel to stop any unwanted tire marks on the wall.
The left side of the product contains a couple of metal hooks allowing for things like helmets and other accessories to be in close proximity.
Freestanding Stand
A freestanding stand is exactly what it says in its name. It’s a bike stand that isn’t attached to anything but rather kept in place with gravity. There are a few formations of this type of bike stand, but all of them have the advantage of easily being moved as needed. This makes it perfect for those that don’t want to commit to a certain spot or are renting their space.
Bike Butler
The Bike Butler was specifically made for those that bike frequently. With just a pair of screws in the wall, this unobtrusive storage type juts out less than a foot from the wall. The metal itself is aluminum with the end of it being a plastic hand that firmly grips onto the metal bar underneath the bike seat.
Activated or detached with just a little bit of pressure, this storage type allows you to take your bike to and fro with ease.
Floor to Ceiling Bar
Similar in principle to the freestanding stand, this item is a vertical tension rod that’s kept in place from the floor to ceiling. Akin to a shower tension bar turned at a 90-degree angle, this storage type is one of the easiest to install, as it only needs a solid ceiling and good grounding. Many of these bars have a pair of hooks, allowing for two sets of bikes to be hung up at the same time.
Pick Your Favorite Garage Bike Storage
Most of the items recommended in this list aren’t complicated to use or install. Unless you’re particularly pressed for space or have a bike of unique construction and prodigious weight, picking the right one for you is often just a matter of preference.
Many out there involve some sort of anchor, stud, or truss to attach, while a couple others just need the space to be set up. Having the right storage for your bike will not only keep it out of the way but also keep the rest of your garage well organized and clean.
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