Hanging Bikes

lost_in_thought

No, no, no, not the bad kind of hanging. Even the rubbish roadie doesn't deserve that - it's not its fault I'm too small for it.

I am seemingly increasing my number of bikes by the day, and storage in my one room in Ealing is becoming a minor issue. I've seen a few options now...

There's this method (a), the more traditional one:



Or method (b), slightly impractical



Or method (c)



Note: If anyone knows how to set the size of a posted image let me know!


Now, as the house has nice high ceilings and a very tolerant/absent landlady, I'm most keen on method (c).

Would this damage the bike? Would it damage the wheels? What would you do?

don_don

I'm wildly guessing no. 3 involves hanging the bike upside down by the wheels from a couple of hooks?? If so, there should be no problem, I do it with one of my road bikes.

No.1 looks like a clever idea until you realise that most bikes have at least one gear or brake cable along the top-tube, so surely it would scratch the paintwork?

greg66_tri_v2.0

I have a wall bracket (can't find a pic at the mo, and can't remember the name of the maker) which holds the bike under the top tube at two points. I've wondered sometimes about snapping off the cable guides on the underside of the top tube, but OK so far.

Wall brackets always seem to stick out further from the wall than you'd expect.

alfablue

I bought one of these from eBay for £30

(I have very very high ceilings and a non-tolerant landlord). It works well and takes minimal floor space.

There are similar ones that take up to 4 bikes (Minoura make one I think).

For ceiling mounting, a pulley system is cheap, like this

about £6 on eBay. A neat solution, but you need to fix them on the ceiling joists.

lost_in_thought

Hmmmm, the pulley system is clever.

My brother made one for some of his bikes that lifts them up and rotates them 90 degrees so they're lying flat against the ceiling, so to speak.

However, the amount of swearing and carnage that this creation caused is not something I'd want repeated.

To hang bikes by the wheels I'd have to put the hooks into the ceiling joist anyway, I reckon... I'm liking the pulleys.

greg66_tri_v2.0

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmm, the pulley system is clever.

My brother made one for some of his bikes that lifts them up and rotates them 90 degrees so they're lying flat against the ceiling, so to speak.

However, the amount of swearing and carnage that this creation caused is not something I'd want repeated.

To hang bikes by the wheels I'd have to put the hooks into the ceiling joist anyway, I reckon... I'm liking the pulleys.

Just be aware that in the future you might invite a BF back when the bikes are not there. He may, just may, be slightly freaked out at the sight of ropes and pulleys hanging from the ceiling. :shock:

Just saying...

alfablue

For price and functionality I would go for pulleys, and if the ceilings are high it will be safer for getting the bikes up and down. You could stagger them so that the bars don't coincide then the bikes will take up minimal space, and all those ropes to play with, it'll be like sailing a yacht!

skye3737

It's got to be your lucky week as the pulely system is in the Lidl offers.

http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pages ... _Hoist.ar6

woodyonthebeach

alfablue wrote:

For price and functionality I would go for pulleys, and if the ceilings are high it will be safer for getting the bikes up and down. You could stagger them so that the bars don't coincide then the bikes will take up minimal space, and all those ropes to play with, it'll be like sailing a yacht!

or certain basement clubs in london

Christophe3967

Can't see C if you see what I mean. The hooks shown in B do work and the space they save is considerable. These look the same as the ones I've got which I believe came from Wiggle and are about £10 each. One problem with them is lifting the bikes up to get them on the hooks, and then ensuring that the spokes aren't taking any weight on the hooks. I'm the only one in our family able to manage this task. Another issue is that the weight they'll be taking is such that they do need to be very securely attached to the wall. Ours have been up for a year and are beginning to loosen so will need to be looked at at some stage. Overall, they're good though and cheap enough to bin if you don't get on with them.

always_tyred

I know you have money to burn and all that..... but I just spent a grand total of about £6 to hang 3 bikes up in the garage. Plastic coated hooks, wheels. Simple. You could also get a couple of strips of webbing to hang them the other way up for maintenance.

Alternatively, I could have bought 3 £30 pulley systems that work just as well, and done myself out of the cost of a decent leather mask.

alfablue

Note: If anyone knows how to set the size of a posted image let me know!

You need image / photo editing software and hen resize the image - like Photoshop, Paintshop Pro etc - or one of the many freeware packages. Usually you can resize the image by a certain % keeping the aspect ratio, then save.

alfablue

Lidl have the pulleys for £4.88, on sale on Thursday with their bike stuff.

lost_in_thought

Hmmmmm, I can see C. It's bikes hanging upside down from hooks in the ceiling, with the hooks through the wheels.

The ones in B are a bit impractical for me, due to layout they'd actually have the bikes taking up more space than they currently do. My only concern is that I'll somehow pull the ceiling down with C or the pulleys.

Aha! There is a Lidl near(ish) to me! How does this work then? Is it just a scrum on Thursday morning? When do Lidls open?

Also, Greg, shut it.

greg66_tri_v2.0

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmmm, I can see C. It's bikes hanging upside down from hooks in the ceiling, with the hooks through the wheels.

I had a blank. Hit quote, copied the URL into a new tab, and I could see it. Then came back to this thread and there it is where the blank had been. Odd.

[btw, it's not so exciting a picture as to be worth all that effort...]

lost_in_discipline wrote:

Also, Greg, shut it.

Yes Mistress!

alfablue

Most seem to open at 08.00 - it can be a scrum, not sure the pulleys would go so quick though, but get there on Thursday at some time...

lost_in_thought

Excellent! I shall be at Aldi at 8am on thurs. Work can wait - pulleys for my ceiling are clearly more important...

Always Tyred wrote:

Alternatively, I could have bought 3 £30 pulley systems that work just as well, and done myself out of the cost of a decent leather mask.

£90 for a leather mask? They really saw you coming...

And no, it's not an exciting picture. G66, either stop inferring or do something useful. Like cleaning my house.

Christophe3967

lost_in_thought wrote:

Excellent! I shall be at Aldi at 8am on thurs. Work can wait - pulleys for my ceiling are clearly more important...

Maybe Lidl would be a better bet for procurring Lidl pulleys... Or maybe you can report back on the Aldi versus Lidl experience as we'll all be shopping there soon. :?

lost_in_thought

Damn it! I get these budget blue coloured supermarkets confused... Lidl it is then.

jonginge

I, too, have a bike storage problem. Was thinking along the lines of:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Minou ... 360018237/

lost_in_thought

Hmmmm, because of the way the bikes aren't really flush with anything, I don't think this would work for me... it also seems rather pricey!

What about hanging bikes from just the front wheel with the tubes running parallel with the wall? Is that a bad idea?

dodgy

alfablue wrote:

I bought one of these from eBay for £30

I like that, couldn't find it on ebay, got a link alfab?

wgwarburton

Hi,
When I lived in a flat in Edinburgh we had a pulley in the hall for the third bike. Worked fine, still there now but used for the loft-ladder instead.

Good if you have the headroom- may as well use the high ceilings for something.. and it's a nice toasty warm environment fo the bike.

Watch out fro drips on wet days....

Cheers,
W.

jonginge

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmm, because of the way the bikes aren't really flush with anything, I don't think this would work for me... it also seems rather pricey!

What about hanging bikes from just the front wheel with the tubes running parallel with the wall? Is that a bad idea?

I know what you mean on all those points It was the first one I found when I did my five minutes of looking about sixth months (and 2 bikes) ago. Open to suggestions but don't want to drill into the flat roof above my head...

lost_in_thought

Hmmmmmmmm...

What if you were to put a hook into the wall? I don't know whether hanging bikes from just the front wheel is a good idea or not... seems not, but open to input!

If you turn the handlebars it might work with just a hook from B&Q or similar...

prawny

In my parents garage we had 3 big L shaped brackets with a lip on the end. The bikes hung from the front wheels side on to the wall. Used to keep all our bikes there, never damaged the front wheels didn't take up much space either.

FatLarry

I've got 5 bikes hanging in the garage, as per your picture in B. (Soon to be 6 )

Works perfectly for me - was a bit concerned about whether they'd work loose, especially with the mountain bike, which is quite heavy. But even with my shoddy standards of workmanship they've proven to be solid.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_525671_langId_-1_categoryId_165715

alfablue

dodgy wrote:

alfablue wrote:

I bought one of these from eBay for £30

I like that, couldn't find it on ebay, got a link alfab?

here, though not as cheap as I paid (still cheap though, compared to others that are upwards of £75).

dodgy

Cheers fella, looks pretty decent.

alfablue

It is steel and sturdy (more pricey ones are aluminium), the top leans on the wall (I put a foam pad behind it there), and I put strips of old inner tube over the hooks to protect the frames, but overall, its very effective - can also do some repairs with the bike on it instead of getting the workstand out.

don_don

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmmmmmm...

What if you were to put a hook into the wall? I don't know whether hanging bikes from just the front wheel is a good idea or not... seems not, but open to input!

If you turn the handlebars it might work with just a hook from B&Q or similar...

LiT - the wheels are perfectly strong enough to hang the whole bike from, one wheel or two, whatever suits. As long as the hook/mounting is strong enough of course! If you mount a hook 'sideways', as it were, you can hang the bike with the front wheel straight.

There are plenty of suitable PVC coated hooks in hardware stores, or you could buy something bike-oriented like this for £11