Outdoor Bike Storage

[Big Rabbit]

Along with investigating road bikes, I've been looking into a secure outdoor storage unit for my bike. I came across the Bike Cave but we've been having some pretty high winds in the Washington, D.C., area for a couple of years. The winds got so high last year it blew over our outdoor unbrella bending the base sleeve. I also saw a Bikestor which is a metal "crate" but only the end opens not the side and top. Then there was the YardStash which is just a Bike Cave renamed. I did find a metal storage unit called a Trimetal Bike Shed. What do y'all use out there?

[ny biker]

I use this to store my mountain bike on my balcony:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rubbermaid-135-Gallon-Horizontal-Storage-Shed/8143892

I take the wheels off and store them in a closet, and put the bike in the shed upside down.

I don't know that it would meet your needs. I don't ride the mountain bike often, and I was primarily looking for something that would keep it from getting rusty while it's outside. I've been happy with it.

I keep it against the exterior wall of my condo -- I used to have it perpendicular to the building, but one night a huge gust of window moved it several feet. Since I moved it to be parallel with the wall, I have no problems with wind.

Rubbermaid makes other storage sheds, so you might want to look into them.

http://www.rubbermaid.com/category/pages/subcategorylanding.aspx?CatName=Outdoor&SubCatId=HorizontalSheds

[Big Rabbit]

I guess I'm going to have to do the same thing. What a pain tho to take off the wheel just to store the darn bike for a day or two. I have to admit that after my husband I'm the next laziest person.

Thanks for your info, NYBiker

[jessmarimba]

Sorry the rest of us couldn't contribute much. My bikes live in my dining room.

[ny biker]

I guess I'm going to have to do the same thing. What a pain tho to take off the wheel just to store the darn bike for a day or two.

I completely agree! For me, the bike is stored for months, too many really. It deserves more attention. But it makes removing the wheels less of a hassle.

If I rode it more often, I would have looked into getting a taller shed in the hopes of finding one that would let me keep the rear wheel on at least, if not both. I was content with taking both wheels off since I figured sitting constant exposure to extreme temps would not be the best thing for the tires. Also, since this goes on the balcony, I had to make sure to find something that would not be so big that the condo association would make me remove it.

[Cataboo]

The bikes tend to migrate into the house for some reason. But I have a wooden shed in the backyard that I have hooks on the back wall to hang the bikes.

[Espresso]

Sounds like this may not help you, but just in case...

I'm planning on storing my bike inside my apartment upright on this wall rack (http://www.rei.com/product/693427/leonardo-wall-mount-rack) in what would be my laundry room if we actually had a washer and dryer (as it is, it's just a random closet off our kitchen).

*Note: Reviews say this rack will not work for all mountain bikes.

[Blueberry]

Sorry the rest of us couldn't contribute much. My bikes live in my dining room.

And the living room (including 2 on trainers). And the extra bed room. Yeah - pretty much all over the house. We're thinking of remodeling our garage to accommodate them (concrete floor from dirt, extra security) - but I think I would have separation anxiety:(

[limewave]

Last year on Black Friday we picked up a Garage in a Box (http://www.shelterlogic.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=acfe42d9-0cc3-48b2-b685-9df80095b3e8&CategoryName=Garages) at Tractor Supply for $150.

We live near Lake MI on a hill and we can get very strong winds too. The "garage in a box" has shown to be quite sturdy. We store all of our bikes in there: 4 mountain bikes, 2 road bikes, 2 children's bikes, 1 bike trailer, and one tag-a-long bike. We also store a tractor and other miscellaneous stuff in it. It's quite large. We do have to lock the bikes to a secured bike rack in the shed.

[out_spokin']

When we bought our home (an older/smaller Victorian w/ very little storage space inside) we knew we had to have a shed for bikes & outdoor/lawn stuff. We went with a local shed/garage builder's version of a Tuff-shed and don't regret it one bit. It's wood framed, versatile, tough, easy to add locks inside and easy to keep locked outside. Plus it looks great -- painted to match the house. I'm considering adding hanging hooks to the roof line to fit more bikes in there, though, since now some have migrated inside and threaten to take over more than one room. :rolleyes:

I use a version of the BikeStor that I rent from our transit authority at the park -n-ride. It's really sturdy, the lock mechanism is excellent, and the height isn't a problem for quick in and out. Since it has no floor junk can blow in under the sides; if I lived in a wet area I'd think twice unless I could put down concrete or similar under it. If I were storing a lot of misc items it might be a pain to bend down a lot, but it's excellent for when I throw in my helmet, panniers, etc. Of course I only rent a 1/4 of it, and the divisions are clever - diagonal, leaving maximum # of bikes for the smallest footprint. Don't know how it'd go for a consumer purchase.