Store bike when space is tight
Living in a small apartment with limited storage or a house without a garage shouldn’t stop you from owning a bike. With a little creativity and the right products, you can make room for not only a bike or two, but your cycling gear as well.
If you can’t envision a space for your bike, look beyond the obvious spots. “A lot of times people will assume that they need to store the bike in the front area of their home, and depending on how your apartment is configured, you might not have open space to place it there,” says Michelle Hobgood, a professional home organizer and owner of the Tidy Trainer.
Hobgood suggests finding a corner of a room, which in her case, is her son’s bedroom. There, she has her bike and a rack to hold her cycling gear and some of his belongings. “It works perfectly fine with the aesthetics of my son’s room, even though he doesn’t ride the bike,” she says.
She points out this is also the “easiest and cheapest” way to store a bike because all you need to hold it up is a kickstand. But if you want a more secure hold and have some money to spend, cycling experts have lots of recommendations, from racks and mounts to hoists and locks.
No screws necessary
If you have a little spare floor space and can’t drill or screw anything into your wall, a bike stand may be the best solution for storing your bike. Kris Dunbar, co-owner of Aztec Cycles in Stone Mountain,
Ga. and AC Clutch Bicycle Shop in Atlanta, suggests Delta’s Adjustable Spring Floor Stand and Willworx’s Superstand Bike Stand. With each, you can easily roll the front or back wheel to secure your bike in place, he says.
Matthew Onojafe, who plans to open his shop, Jafe Cycling, in Bowie, Md. this spring, recommends CyclingDeal’s Upright Bike Stand, which lets you position a bike horizontally or vertically. “Typically, if you have it vertically, the front wheel will either tilt to the left or right. But this has an attachment that keeps it facing straight up,” he explains. The Bike Nook Bicycle Stand, suggested by Hobgood, offers this versatility as well.
For two bikes, Dunbar suggests Saris’s Bike Bunk, a free-standing option that sits against the wall and stores one bike on top of the other.
Some drilling required
If you lack floor space and a couple holes in the wall aren’t an issue, an indoor bike rack or mount might be your best bet.
Onojafe recommends the Borgen Bike Wall Mount, which angles your bikes so you can stack up to three “and maximize your wall space.” Because the brand specializes in electric bicycles, which are usually quite heavy, you can rest assured the mount will hold, he adds. He also likes Hornit’s Clug bike racks, a simple one-piece mount. “You’ll tilt your bike vertically and place the side of the tire into the U-shape. It’ll clamp down onto the tire and that’s it,” he says.
Dunbar recommends Delta’s two-bike and single-bike wall mount racks that come with shelves for your helmet. Installation is relatively simple, requiring just a few small screws drilled into a stud.
Steadyrack’s Classic Bike Rack is “perfect for small spaces,” says Hobgood. “The best part is there’s no lifting required. You basically hoist the bike up and it pivots 160 degrees. It works on road bikes, hybrid bikes, small MTB and BMXs.” She also recommends heavy-duty bike hooks that are popular: “You can even hang the bike upside down from the ceiling,” she says. The key — as with all of these options — is to make sure the hooks are securely and
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