hanging bikes on the wall

[Minh]

hi all, hope everyone is adjusting to winter, at least for us in the northeast! 

as its getting colder, i'm dealing with some bike maint. and one of them is solving the bike storage for my lone QB.  i've settled on hanging on the wall, but next challenge, how do people lift the bike up high enough?  currently i can only get it up to about chest high, any tricks to get higher?  step ladder? 

this is inside our apt, so i can't ropes over the rafters.   

would appreciate any other ideas people have, only constraint is that i'd like to get it off the floor, and it needs to hang parallel to the wall--so no hanging by front wheel.  thanks for any ideas!

[Erik Wright]

Hey Minh,

The first two things that jumped to mind are a pulley system like this (looks a little too storage-y for indoor hanging imo) or a product like Da Hanger. The latter is my preferred indoor storage method- it has a tidy look, and pulling the wheels to the wall keeps the bike from protruding out too far.

Erik, Philly

[Bill Lindsay]

All photos of people holding their bike OVER their head have the bike upside down.  The rider is holding the bars near or at the stem, and at the saddle.  If the bike is light enough for that to be practical, then hanging it upside down by both wheels could be the best way to get it really high

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Patrick Moore]

I don't know what your bike storage area looks like, but I hang mine from hooks attached to a plank itself bolted to the studs of my garage wall. I positioned the hooks so that they hold my longest bike so that the front tire is about 1 foot from the ground. This means that even I, at 66 (and 3/4!! as small children like to say) and without more than average old man upper body strength, can with relative ease hang a ~31 lb bike by its rear wheel even while having to cantilever the upside down bike while standing back from the wall to avoid tangling the bar with those of adjacent bikes. (I find it much easier to hang by rear wheels, and spaced the hooks to accommodate bars side by side.)

Again, I don't know your storage area, but perhaps if you position hooks sufficiently low you can lift the bike to the hook?

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Patrick Moore]

Just saw that you need to hang it parallel to the wall. But I should think that this would be even easier. I have a folding metal 2-prong hook that bolts to a stud and folds down to hold the top tube at 2 places. I've used it and it works well.

Lifting a bike by seat tube and bar or head tube to a height of 4 or 5 feet is even easier than hanging a bike upside down by rear wheel from a hook about 6' off the ground.

I have no room for this fold-down holder, and if you want it, you are welcome to it in exchange for postage and patience.

[Patrick Moore]

And: If Dan doesn't want it, and someone else does, he, she, er it is welcome to it with the same conditions. Only requirement is that the taker use it or pass it on to someone who will. It has been taking up space under my workbench for a decade and a half.

[Coal Bee Rye Anne]

I use one of these: https://designbydelta.com/collections/bike-racks/products/two-bike-wall-mount-rack-with-shelf 

...in a small condo and mine is high and above my desk now that I'm full time work from home.  Rack height was set as a compromise with just enough wiggle room between saddle/bars and ceiling and least amount of tire overlap from my monitor (since the moniter is set back and my tire droops in the corner slightly.  I'm also 6'5" and not so much of a challenge to lift it over the desk but one trick I've learned from using roof top fork mounted racks that helps get the bike up is squatting and grabbing from middle of the fork blade and seatstay or seattube to get the top tube up and over.  Additional support comes from a velcro strap I use to first secure the front wheel in place to the downtube so I'm not simultaneously trying to stabilize the fork during the lift.  My spouse is much shorter than I and cannot reach the high rack, but I usually keep her spare bike on the rear part of this 2 bike rack with my lightest grab and go bike on the outermost mount.

Also some similar options listed here and other/similar articles elsewhere on the web:

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/best-bike-rack-257678

There were also, at some point in time when I last explored this exact subject some years ago, small batch made to order mahogany (and/or other hardwoods) floating shelves at a premium cost but appeared to be of solid build/quality design and construction but I cannot recall the website and current search turns up no hits... although I found some NYMag article that links to a mix of 'cyclist approved racks' and a similarly inspired CB2 version wood shelf that now appears to also be non-existant and doesn't appear nearly as sturdy as the other bespoke one I've seen anyway.  I always figured I'd eventually make my own bike specific version but the Delta version has otherwise served me well with our current arrangement.

Ah, found it (the costly wood one... thought it had 'knife' in there somewhere, then thought Knife & File... must have confused that with Torch & File https://www.torchandfile.com/ from prior internet rabbit holes!)

https://www.theknifeandsaw.com/KSItemDetail.php?PC=2&II=2

Best,

Brian Cole

Central NJ

On Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 4:38:37 PM UTC-5 Minh wrote:

[Roberta]

Hi, Minh.

I have two racks.  One is in my living room (see pic, a Craigslist purchase), the other in my Breezeway.  The rack in the breezeway is a Delta "lean on the wall" model.  Not as secure, but also the feet don't stick out as much, so less tripping hazard as I walk (slink) by.  Also, I keep the bottom bike on the floor for both racks.

For living room rack, notice how top bike goes in opposite direction of lower bike and the arm for the seat-end is higher than the arm of the handlebar end?  That is so I don't have to lift it as high to get the top tire to clear the bottom handlebar. 

Also, it's a big help to keep the front tire from moving.  I use a John's Irish strap to lash it to the down tube.  When lifting , I go as low as I can on the down tube and seat tube.  I lift it in a different part of the living room, usually just back a few feet (where I have more room to wobble it around) and then walk it up and to the rack.

In the breezeway, a step-stool helps because I don't have as much working-room.  I also use a step stool in the LR when I'm feeling especially tired.

To make lifting easier, I also remove the bags and water bottles, which saves a few pounds.   Who needs a gym? 

Roberta

On Thursday, December 9, 2021 at 4:38:37 PM UTC-5 Minh wrote:

[Minh]

wow roberta, how high is the top tube on the hilsen(?), still that seems like a strong squat to lift that bike up.   

thanks to all the suggestions, those are all the options i've investigated, but its the lifting part that worries me.  i'll have to test lift to see how well i can handle it.