Bike Storage Solutions for small condos/apartments?

[emily_in_nc]

Looking for some words of experience here...how are the floor to ceiling bike storage towers? Which ones work best? Any to avoid? Looking to store four bikes in a small space and still leave room for us to live and get around.

Thanks!

[pumpkinpony]

I was in a condo that had no storage. It did have a walk-in size utility room, so I had the bikes hanging above the washer/dryer. It did make it difficult to get stuff into the washer, constantly bumping into the back tire of one bike but it worked. the only place I had a wall big enough for bikes to fit on a rack like you are talking about would have been behind the couch or behind a bed, neither of which looked real appealing.

[ultraviolet]

I have a Delta Michelangelo Gravity Storage rack that I picked up from REI. (Here's a link: http://www.rei.com/product/751324) I keep my steel commuter/tourer on it as well as my racy road bike. It was easy to assemble and I've had no issues with it at all.

[shootingstar]

We don't have floor to ceiling bike storage towers.

There are caged bike storage lockers for locked, communal shared space. Plus we have storage lockers outside of our condo unit but within the building where we store more bikes. I put 3 of my bikes there locked up. I have to keep my folding bike, folded because personal storage space locker is tight. He has managed to cram all 3 .his bikes in 1 storage locker space, with his folding bike folded. Plus he has a bike trailer-- ah yes, more dumping space for more stuff. He is very neat and organized about this storage space, so that he has enough rm. to maneouvre the bikes in and out.

[Sylvia]

This is not exactly what you are asking about, but I use this Saris bike rack on my car. It also has it's own stand and can be used to store your bikes indoors as well. The larger size will take up to 3 bikes (30 lbs per bike). If you happen to also be in the market for a rack, this might work for you. I love mine because it is so light compared to other hitch mount racks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EG0WeNbOgk

[redrhodie]

I thought about the same thing when I moved from my house into an apartment. I considered hanging the bikes from pulleys from the ceiling. Then, we just put the bikes where they'd fit, 2 in the hall, 1 in the living room, 1 in the bedroom, while we figured it out, and that's where they still are, 3 years later. Now I just think of them as pieces of art. :D After all, they are the most beautiful things we own.

[Blueberry]

For the Fridays, there is a rack that holds bikes vertically by the front wheel. I can't find it in a quick google search, but I know the local shop can order it. We have this (http://www.performancebike.com/bikes//Product_10052_10551_1023853_-1___) for the other bikes, and it works really well - very stable. The top tube creators for the Fridays are a pain to use, though - so we've been planning to order the other rack for them.

ETA: I think this (http://www.minourausa.com/english/storage-e/p600-e.html) was the one I was thinking of for the Fridays...

[Triskeliongirl]

My kids live in a small aparment in Cambridge. It does have a back hall where they found room to install two hooks that hang from the ceiling just inside the door that they can hang their bikes on, and still have room to climb the stairs up to their apartment.

I think it really depends on the layout of your space. In our house, we keep our bikes in the utility room inside the back door opposite the washer drayer. I have thought that if we really needed the floor space for something else, we could hang some hooks on the wall in that area, to get the bikes off the ground.

[gnat23]

+1 to the Michelangelo Gravity rack. No holes in the walls or ceiling, no damage to the apartment at all!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/2328001050_5609932f07.jpg

-- gnat!

[redrhodie]

+1 to the Michelangelo Gravity rack. No holes in the walls or ceiling, no damage to the apartment at all!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/2328001050_5609932f07.jpg

-- gnat!

And the bikes still look like art!

[sgtiger]

We have the Bikes Aloft (Supergo branded: Performance bought them out) storage rack that we purchased when we still lived in an apartment, and still use for our garage now. Each long arm can support up to two bikes with the purchase of extra cradles. Also a 5th bike can be stored on the back with a pair of short arms. FYI the extra arms and cradles are sold individually and not in pairs.

[pll]

I used to have a Topeak (see here (http://www.amazon.com/Topeak-Dual-Touch-Storage-Stand/dp/B000FIE4WC/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=cycling&qid=1279480991&sr=1-14)) until I moved to a place with a covered garage. Now my lone road bike sleeps in the garage (and the mountain bike was sold -- no dirty and rocks for me). That rack worked very well in my small kitchen, now some friends are using it.

[emily_in_nc]

Lots of good suggestions here, thanks! For the moment, we have plenty of room for our four bikes in our rather large 2BR apartment, but since we may downsize further eventually (to a 1BR condo), I was getting ideas for the future. Didn't think about the Bike Fridays requiring a different type of mount, but that's a good point - no top tube. We had a couple of hooks to mount them vertically in the garage of the house we just sold and moved from, but they do stick out a lot farther from the wall that way, which may not work in a small space. Will all depend on the particular layout we end up with.

Hanging them from the ceiling (which are typically quite high in the type of condos we're interest in) with pulley systems normally used in garages might be a kind of interesting solution and save wall and floor space. We'd have a lot of patching to do when we wanted to sell the place, tho!

Thanks all! :)

[loopybunny]

Thanks for starting a helpful thread.

I live in a small 2 bdrm apartment and have 3 bikes. I have very little space with all of my other junk.

I can't really mount anything to the walls and I've been looking at those upright racks. My only concern is the stability.

How will it work on carpet?
Does the heavier bike have to go onto the bottom?
Will it stay upright in an earthquake?

[tzvia]

Thanks for starting a helpful thread.

I live in a small 2 bdrm apartment and have 3 bikes. I have very little space with all of my other junk.

I can't really mount anything to the walls and I've been looking at those upright racks. My only concern is the stability.

How will it work on carpet?
Does the heavier bike have to go onto the bottom?
Will it stay upright in an earthquake?

My brother has on of those "Bikes Aloft' free-standing racks and puts his heavier MTB on top, no problem, and it's fine on carpet. I use a simple hook on the ceiling to get two bikes up, then put the third below them leaning on the storage rack where the cycling tools/stuff are stored. I worry about earthquakes because I live in So.Cal, so also bungie the two hanging bikes to the metal 6ft metal shelving rack that they are hanging in front of. It keeps them from swinging (and I hope, falling) if jarred. If the quake is big enough (been through 2 good sized ones) I'm going to be thinking of myself and my loved ones, and be ready to move (did that one once already- my house's foundation failed in the last one.) At some point, the stuff means nothing, only batteries and water mater. Just remember to keep the rack away from beds (you don't want them falling on you in the dark during a quake), and away from doorways and escape windows.

[Kiwi Stoker]

We are using the Minoura telescopic double bike stand. I like that the ends are pushing against the floor and the ceiling to hold the pole up. Very easy to move around and doesn't mark anything. Would work on carpet (maybe put a hard tile down underneath it).

We had an earthquake recently which I felt (bed shook but nothing fell down) and it worked fine. In fact we had the tandem hanging vertically on a wall hook and along with the bed moving, the swaying tandem was what clued me in that we were having an earthquake. However the epi centre was quite a few 100s km away. A direct hit- I think hanging bikes might be the least of your worries!

[Catrin]

We are using the Minoura telescopic double bike stand. I like that the ends are pushing against the floor and the ceiling to hold the pole up. Very easy to move around and doesn't mark anything. Would work on carpet (maybe put a hard tile down underneath it).....

So no marks on the ceiling at all? I live in an apartment and can't mount anything to the wall.

Gnat, I really like your stand as well. It looks perfect for two bikes. How far off the ground would you say the second bike is? I am short and have no one around to do the high lifting.

[arielmoon]

I have two of these (http://www.nashbar.com/bikes//Product_10053_10052_174842_-1___) one for mtn bikes and the other for road bikes. One is in the living room and it looks pretty nice!

[Catrin]

My brother has on of those "Bikes Aloft' free-standing racks and puts his heavier MTB on top, no problem, and it's fine on carpet. ...

I like the looks of this and the price. Price is good - and the photos are quite clear about how the bikes fit on the stand. Thanks!

[WindingRoad]

I bought my rack from Nashbar and its really quite nice, it has independent adjustment arms and it very sturdy. I even do maintenance on it like cleaning chains etc and it never offers to tip. I actually had 2 at one time but sold one as I sold 1 of my bikes and didn't need it any longer.

[gnat23]

Gnat, I really like your stand as well. It looks perfect for two bikes. How far off the ground would you say the second bike is? I am short and have no one around to do the high lifting.

I'm short(ish) and had to hold the bike by the downtube and seattube to huff it up there, but it wasn't too terribly bad. Keep in mind those arms are adjustable, so you can put it as low as wheels-hitting-the-other-handlebars if you want. I'd definitely put the lighter bike up top tho!

-- gnat!