Currently got 11 bikes in half a garage, measuring about 2.5m X 2.5m. The kids aren't able to get their bikes out due to the sheer amount of clutter.
I'm thinking of making/fitting a rack that'll hold the bikes by their back wheels so they'll be accessible. What that seems to mean is they'll have to be stored at an angle to the wall, front wheels jutting out, so they can be yanked out for a ride.
I can't store vertically or on the roof for :reasons: plus the kids would struggle I think (youngest is 8).
Has anyone stored bikes like this before? What sort of angle are they at? What impact does the angle have on the storage capacity?
I'm wondering whether to mount simple U shaped blocks on the wall (tyre goes into the U - got loads of chunky wood spare) and trim the bottom of the U for the desired angle.
Or, something like this. Floor mounted but obviously the cross pieces set at the appropriate angle of dangle.
The bikes are 24/26/27.5 so I can mix up bar heights.
Just wondering if anyone has insights on spacing and angles, or other solutions, before I have a go?
I'm aware some of the fleet may need to be shed!
TIA.
Ignoring no vertical for a minute. 4 vertical and four as you propose keeps the foot print quite small.
I do something similar but just have these chocks mounted on wooden wedges to the wall, maybe around 30 degrees. It’s really convenient, just roll the bike backwards in, but because I lock them using chains/ground anchors at the back I do need a decent gap between them to get in to lock/unlock. Maybe a 2’ gap.
Make central slots (bolt width) in the main horizontal lengths so you can slide the chocks sideways before clamping them with the pivot bolt and the whole thing is fully adjustable for angle and spacing.
I have what looks like that wooden rack there just vertical.
You just push the bike wheel in.
Bikes go alternate directions, so handlebars are not so much of a clash.
I like the look of that wooden one actually.
I’d make it so the chocks could pivot to adjust the angles, a small bridge of wood at each end of the chocks between them and the main horizontal braces mounted with a single bolt through.
The way I build things means there'll be enough slack to wobble the entire bloody thing by 60 degrees anyway 😁
I like the idea of the racks against the wall though.
Hmmm. Thanks for the replies. I will go knock something up having trial fitted it.
I tried a floor mounted rack like the pics above but the bikes wobbled/leaned and seemed to put a lot of stress on the wheels, the derailleurs may foul (especially 1x on a 26er).
I built a wheel support rack against the wall from pallet wood, you can change the spacing to suit different tyres (and change the gap between each bike) to your heart's content with just a screwdriver/drill driver, make them slightly wider to allow diagonal storage. The only thing it doesn't like is bikes with full mudguards so they have to go in front wheel first.
Space the slats off the wall (I think mine are just the depth of the brick piers). I put a humoungous 10*4 shelf above the bikes to pile all the crap out of the way and an extra light under the shelf so you can admire all the mud that falls off!
Pallets would be easier! I'll go see what I can find at the local building sites.
I've built various racks for the different houses over the years. They've been similar layout to the OP photo but with an upright element at the back for additional support. I did built an angled one for a narrow garage, it was a bit of a pain but achievable. I think i just set the jigsaw at 45deg for the cuts to make my life easier. It was functional rather than the works of a master carpenter
A variation on Spooky's pallet rack for adapting to bigger bikes as your children grow is to use 2" pipe for the verticals. By the way - putting the rack vertically definitely works better, and if you need to empty out the space for something else temporarily, it takes up a lot less space.
I had a load of old 2" plastic pipe kicking around when we moved into our house, and ended up cutting it into 18" or 2 ft lengths (can't remember which) with a diagonal at each end using a saw box. I then drilled a hole in each end and screwed them to two horizontal 2x4s with enough space for the back tyre of the bikes to fit in. You can loosen the screws a little to make it easier to pull the bike out, or reposition the pipes as the bikes change - one thing I planned for was the boys' bikes to get bigger tyres as they grew and rode more stuff. I hung my bikes from the ceiling and the rest of the bikes fitted underneath and could be removed and stored easily without too much hassle.
I seem to remember I built the horizontals into a freestanding rack, but equally you could just screw two 2x4s to the wall. If you need to angle them, a single length of Arris rail could be cut down to give one pipe the standoff.
11 bikes in a garage that size must be a squeeze! I have 5 in a garage/workshop a similar size but also have a load of storage/worktop space. Essentially 2 sides are storage and 2 sides are bikes (up against one wall but they obviously stick out a fair bit along the wall at 90 degrees to it!).
Built a simple wooden rack similar to the pics above to hold 3 bikes upright on the floor and then 2 wall hung racks for the less well used bikes with the back wheels hanging down between the 3 on the floor. Works ok. Would take pics but its full floor to ceiling at the minute with stuff due to building work. I've played with a load of variations and I think this is the best setup.
I experimented with two 5 bike racks(with stepped heights) I got off srsebook for £25 the pair, and little u clamps on wall , where the floor stand had high enough sides to hold the bike upright via the wheel (they were a good 10” high and “gripped” my + mrs 3 old school bikes 2” tyres ) and combined one rack with small wall u clamps ( eBay) , so bikes up at an angle , it worked ok ish (take care loading and unloading, esp front wheel up wall, bikes not that far off vertical) ) but I felt it would be better with other rack on the wall(for better front wheel support) , but that was impacted by the bikes being different sizes etc, so I gave up and ended going back to leaning them against each other without the racks (most space efficient)
I think without the floor rack wheel supports holding the bike dead upright you’d need the ones on the wall to do so, (as they try to fall over and lean in the rack esp when loading unloading and getting knocked and the push in u clamps don’t provide enough sideways support. (*well mine didnt - eBay cheap))
I did wonder if with a really good exact size wheel rack on the wall in the right place for each bike (that held a raised front wheel dead straight (or fork clamp - anything to hold the front wheel dead straight) you could get away with just a small plank to put the back wheel against to stop to bike rolling backwards out of the front wheel holder)
FYI -
these come up every so often, ditto gumtree
