Woodworking project

[Daddles]

I hope I'm allowed to talk woodworking here :cool:

My bikes live in the dining room (the joys of being a single bloke :D). Two of them are about to retire to the shed, returning to said dining room during periods of regular use. My main two steeds will continue to live in the dining room.

So, I've decided to build a stand so two bikes take up the space of only one bike - note, this is in fact, a woodies exercise, I'm not interested in non-wood alternatives :D

The bottom bike can rest on her wheels and lean against the stand, the second bike will be suspended above it - parallel to the wall, supported by the top tube.

Although I'm open to alternatives, I envision a base, a supporting post and some form of rest for the bike's top tube to sit in - that rest will be about 6 or 7 feet off the ground so I need to get the base and the post right. To be practical as a space saver, the post will have to sit very close to the wall and seeing I'm in a rental, will have to be free standing.

Any suggestions?
Post size dimensions?
Base dimensions and type?
Material and finish (there's already dark wood in the room but a light finish might work too)?

Richard

[silentC]

I had to store two bikes in a small space once but I went at it in a slightly different way. I set up a rack so that each bike sat on it's hind wheel with the front wheel held up in the air on the rack. Most of the weight of the bike was resting on the floor, not the rack, which was really just to hold them vertical. Easy to put in, you just wheel her in, pull back on the handle bars to flip her nose up, then roll in on the hind wheel and hook the front wheel over the rack,which was a pair or oversized hooks fixed to a batten screwed to the wall. Didn't require you to lift the bike up off the ground at any point.

You could do it toe to toe like, with a pair of middle posts and nice wide legs with braces running up. Sort of like a foreshortened version of those cheap clothes racks. Could even have wheels on it.

[NCArcher]

Richard,
Are we talking some ultra light road bikes or a couple of beefed up dually, downhill death machines?

I saw some really clever multi level bike storage solutions in Japan recently.

Tony

[Daddles]

I had to store two bikes in a small space once but I went at it in a slightly different way. I set up a rack so that each bike sat on it's hind wheel with the front wheel held up in the air on the rack. Most of the weight of the bike was resting on the floor, not the rack, which was really just to hold them vertical. Easy to put in, you just wheel her in, pull back on the handle bars to flip her nose up, then roll in on the hind wheel and hook the front wheel over the rack,which was a pair or oversized hooks fixed to a batten screwed to the wall. Didn't require you to lift the bike up off the ground at any point.

You could do it toe to toe like, with a pair of middle posts and nice wide legs with braces running up. Sort of like a foreshortened version of those cheap clothes racks. Could even have wheels on it.

As I understand this, they'd be sticking out from the wall by the 'height' of the bike - I need the bikes parallel to the wall unfortunately and don't have two corners with enough space to do it in a corner - the doorway is too close to the door (could do it with one, but not another as well dammit).

Richard

Richard

[Daddles]

Richard,
Are we talking some ultra light road bikes or a couple of beefed up dually, downhill death machines?

I saw some really clever multi level bike storage solutions in Japan recently.

Tony

These are the beasts

My Europa

http://woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=48085

and the Black Beast

http://woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/attachment.php?attachmentid=47463

Neither are lightweights but they aren't heavy weights either. Don't know what they weigh.

Richard

[silentC]

No, they're flat against the wall (although with my rack they weren't because that's the way it had to be). Imagine two inverted 'T' shapes about 6' tall with a 3' bar between. The whole thing is then about 3' wide, that's how far it sticks out into the room. The bikes hang from either side of it, with the bike frames parallel to the wall.

Anyway, it's just an idea. I found it an easy way of storing them without having to bust a gut get them in or out. I'll try and sketch it.

[Daddles]

I've got you now. Yeah, I'd like to see a sketch if you can. My biggest problem will be that I have to come at the patch of wall from straight on - I wouldn't be able to stand behind the bikes as they go on and off the rack, but that may not necessarily be an issue (it's not like I'm humping wheat bags).

Richard

[silentC]

This is the sort of thing I'm talking about. Like I said, not the same as what I did because I used the wall. Same principle though. When hanging from the front wheel like this, the bike's centre of gravity holds the rear wheel tight against the bar at the bottom (or the wall in my case). You could incorporate shelving or cupboards in the middle of the rack to hold helmet, shoes etc...

But yeah, you really need to be able to walk the bike in from the side for this idea to work, so may not be suitable for you.

[Daddles]

And the hook for the front wheels is just a simple L shape with a side entry ie, you push the wheel in front the side and it stops the bike falling backwards? Or would a small lip on the opening be a good idea, let the bike fall backwards slightly and thus fall into a hook so it can't slide sideways.

Richard

[silentC]

The hooks I used were these jumbo hanger things that I got from Bunnings. They were like a big cup hook, except square, sort of like a square question mark if you can imagine that. So there was about a 25mm lip on the open side. They were plastic coated so no damage to the wheels.

You could fashion something similar from hardwood. I think a lip would be a good idea, just in case someone walks into it and knocks one of the bikes off it's hook.

The beauty of this setup is that the hook itself doesn't carry a lot of weight. You can see this for yourself if you stand your bike up against a wall and then use your thumb like a hook to hold the top wheel to the wall. The hook needs to be higher than the axle, or the wheel will tend to want to turn to one side or the other. Otherwise, it's all held in place by gravity.

[Daddles]

And with a bit of fancy carving on the uprights ... :D

Richard

[s_m]

We have cycling friends who aren't lucky enough to have a garage so they have four bikes in the family room - hers on one rack with mtb below and roadie at the top, and his likewise on the other.

I would investigate whether you can get a post to sit under a ceiling joist so that you can fit it between floor and ceiling and hang two bikes off it - or even just hang the top one with something to hold the top tube of the bottom (heavier) bike to stop it falling over.

You'd just need a workstand type thing say 3" shorter than the top tube with some cupped hooks sticking forwards. Mount the main upright far enough out from the wall so that the bike handlebars/brake hoods aren't going to ding it.

Steph

[Daddles]

Please remember that I'm in a rental property - there are limits to things I can do beyond breathing :oo:

Richard

yes, I flamin' hate it - my home was one of the things I lost in the divorce, and I owned before we even met :(