Hot Garage, Cool Solution for Bike Storage
True statement – it’s hot in Austin this summer. How hot is it? Hot enough so that I can only do organizing work in a garage if it’s early, early morning. I always bring a portable fan with me for some sweet, sweet air movement. And I drink lots of cool, cool water, so that I don’t melt into a puddle on the garage floor.
I know what you’re thinking. Why am I doing organizing work in a garage in this brutally hot summer we’re having? Well, part of the reason is that I simply LOVE working on garages! They are one of my favorite parts of a house to organize, after kitchens of course, which will always take first place in my heart.
But also, after my client told me about their problem of having their bikes cluttering up their study, those bikes started cluttering up a corner of my brain. So, I had my own motives. I wanted to fix the problem for her, and for me, so that the bikes would get out of my head.
I love solving storage problems like this!
My clients had two bikes that they did not use very often, and they had no permanent place to store them. For want of a better place, the bikes had ended up in the study/office. They were leaning up against the bookshelves, and they were visible all the way down a hallway when approaching the room.
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You know how after awhile, when items haven’t been moved in a long time, that they kind of become part of the furniture? My clients were tired of having the bikes so visible and in the way, in a room where they did not belong. But they needed some help in figuring out where and how to store them.
What about the garage?
One logical storage place would be the garage. But, their garage was full, with both of their cars parked inside. Shelving and tools and all of that garage-type stuff took up most of the rest of the space. So, there wasn’t enough floor space to store the bikes in there.
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Location, location, location
Now, my experience has taught me that, even if the garage floor is full of stuff, there is often some wall space somewhere that can be utilized better.
See that wall on the right side of the car? That wall was nice and empty, with no shelving or any obstructions on it. A blank wall in a garage is always exciting for me, because that means I’ve got some prime real estate just waiting for a great storage solution.
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Logistics
So, I had my location. Then, I had to plan for some logistical requirements. There are lots of options and different configurations for storing bikes in a garage. In this case, the bikes had to be flat against the wall, because there was no extra walking space on the side of the car.
Since these bikes were not used very often and therefore did not need to be easily accessed, they could be stored up high on the wall. The bikes needed to be high enough so that
- the clients wouldn’t bump their heads on them
- the bikes wouldn’t ever come in contact with the cars, and
- the bikes wouldn’t interfere with the garage overhead door frames
Wall-Mount Bike Hooks – Good Design vs. (OMG It’s Gonna Fall!) Bad Design
This was my first time installing a wall-mounted bike hook, so I tried different things. At first, I tried a Racor bike rack. Racor makes some very good products, but this particular bike rack was too flimsy and poorly designed. The front of it is bent up a little bit to keep the bike from sliding off, but it’s not bent up enough to make the bike really secure, in my opinion.
Then, when I placed a bike on it, the whole rack started to bend down. I didn’t even take the time to take a picture of how precarious it looked with the bike up there on it. So, I decided against that bike rack and took it down, because of safety reasons. But also because there is no reason to settle for a badly designed product when there are other options available.
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Elfa to the rescue
I knew I would need something stronger that would support these bikes. These Elfa utility bike hooks are padded and strong, and made to hold a lot of weight. I really liked how the deep curved hooks on the front hold the bike securely, so that the bike can never slide off and fall, even if it is jostled. I also like how the two hooks are spread wide for balanced support. These bike hooks cost about $20 each. Good design is worth every penny, especially when safety is concerned.
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You can see things better in this picture. See the deep curved hooks, holding the bike in place? The people who designed this bike rack understand the stubborn and relentless power of gravity.
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Both bikes fit perfectly on the wall!
I had exactly enough space on that blank wall to hang up both bikes, side by side, with no overlapping. I’m always thrilled when I can visualize something in a specific spot, and be pretty sure that it will fit, and then, when I measure and do the actual installation, it does indeed fit perfectly!
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Boring But Important Details for Other Storage Geeks Like Me
I installed the bike hooks a little lower down than I could have, with a little clearance from the ceiling, instead of all the way up. When the bike needs to be taken down, you want to have enough extra space above it to be able to lift the bike up and out of those curved hooks.
The wall stud placement in any given wall doesn’t always cooperate with my careful plans. In this case, the studs were exactly where I needed them to be, which is always a celebration. So, I was able to install each bike rack into a wall stud, to make them very secure.
High Enough And Out Of The Way
I made sure that the bikes were high enough that they would never have any unfortunate encounters with the client’s car. And, there was enough space to not interfere with the garage overhead door mechanism.
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There are other terrific options for storing bikes up high in a garage, and accessing them easily, like lowering them down with a pulley system. Racor makes a good one. However, this particular solution was customized for these clients. The customization was based on the two things that are most important to me:
- their needs, because they did not need to access their bikes often, and
- the available space, which was tight
The bikes were flat against the wall, high enough to be out of the way, and most importantly, not in the study anymore.
Solved!
Now, the client’s study is bicycle free. They don’t have to see their sports equipment cluttering up a room where that equipment doesn’t belong. The bookshelves are all easily accessible, too. Their study is back to being a study, instead of a storage room!
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