How to Store a Bike in an Apartment
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Biking is a great way to stay healthy, active, environmentally conscious, and financially responsible, all the while having fun – but we’ve known that for decades. The question isn’t over what makes riding a bike preferable to other transportation modes; it’s how to store a bike in an apartment. More importantly how to store it in one with limited space.
Storage spaces in smaller apartments are generally close to being non-existent. And whatever little there is, is usually occupied. Most cyclists thus incorporate their bikes into their living spaces.
Storing or incorporating your bike in your apartment is actually more viable than parking it out of sight where there’s a risk of it being stolen or damaged.
How to Store a Bike in an Apartment with Limited Space
If you have a bike, you’ll inevitably need to make room to store it. We’ve gone over why parking your bike in a lot with a padlock or cable lock is probably not the best idea.
With no garage and no outdoor parking space, your best bet would be to store it within your apartment without it taking up too much space.
Storing bikes in small apartments isn’t as hard as it’s made out to be. Sure, your storage space might be limited, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative with a solution for it. Plus, you’ll need to vary by not having your bike stick out like a sore thumb.
Here’s how:
1. Assess Your Space
Before you have a long look at your apartment, you’ll need to consider the dimensions of your bike and the number of bikes you’re looking to store. As an added tip, make sure you add about a foot in your dimensions on each end to make room for doors, handlebars, etc.
A storage closet big enough to store your bike would have been perfect. However, if storing bikes in a small apartment is an issue, you could just as easily store your bicycle in the living room. Limited space in a smaller apartment doesn’t mean your bike can’t be stored. It just means that you need to get creative.
Ideally, the bike should be stored nearer to the exit to keep your living space clean. The bike should be stored with enough leeway for taking it out and then putting it back. Lastly, the bike should be placed in an accessible location.
Start off with assessing any free space in your apartment – every room. Why? Because ideally your bike should be stored closest to the door, you might have to move some furniture around to accommodate it there. We’ll show you how to hang a bike in an apartment too.
Determine whether you want the bike to be mounted or parked and placed horizontally and vertically. Measure the bike’s surface in that regard and add about a foot at each end for free space.
2. Make Considerations for Your Bike and Your Space
When you search up, ‘how to store a bike in an apartment,’ you’ll come across numerous ads for mounts, racks, and docks for the bike. However, the equipment comes secondary to considerations for the bike and the living space.
For example, tenants might need permission from their landlords before they can install a wall mount. Some people live in wet areas and wouldn’t want their tires to mess with their walls if they hung their bikes.
Lastly, aesthetics. Would the bike look out of place? These are considerations you need to make beforehand.
For reference, ask and answer for yourself the following questions:
- How much space do I have?
- Do I have permission to install a fixture?
- How much does my bike weigh?
- Will the weather be generally pleasant or rainy in my area?
- Where can I make my bike fit in?
3. Hang Up Your Bike Using a Wall Mount
The simplest way to store your bike keeping it out of reach when not needed and minimizing space taken up by the bike would be by hanging it up onto a mount. To take it up a notch in terms of free space, you could hang the bike up vertically instead of horizontally and in a corner.
Make sure you have your landlord’s permission before adding any fixtures such as wall mounts or hooks. Wall mounts and hooks can be used alternatively. However, wall mounts are usually built to be sturdier.
Hanging a bike from a hook might not seem like the most ‘artsy’ way to store a bike. However, several manufacturers have come out with designs that make hoisting your bike in your living room seem natural.
There are zero-gravity designs, creative colors, and many different styles, including single hooks, multiple ones, or mounts—everything on how to store a bicycle in an apartment made easier and aesthetic!
4. Buy a Bike Rack
When the questions on how to store a bike in a small apartment, most tenants aren’t looking to add onto the burden of hanging their (probably heavy) bikes on racks and making it a statement piece after a long day.
You can’t go wrong with a simple bike rack. It’s built well enough to store one or two bikes and is the most conventional piece of storage equipment for your bike.
Coming up with ways to store a bicycle in an apartment doesn’t need to be a hassle. You could just as quickly come home and place it on the rack and go on with unwinding.
Yes, it might stick out, but there are ways to overcome this, mainly if the rack is manufactured creatively.
5. Other Options: Pulleys and Docks
A bike pulley is ideal if you have more vertical space, and a dock is ideal if you’re concerned about making your bike seem natural with the interior. Both of these options come at a price – literally.
When thinking of how to store a bike in an apartment, you could dock it on a wall and have enough space to hang up another bike with it. Then some pulleys pull your bike up and lock them into place.
Conclusion
Taking your bike to and from work and using it as your primary mode of transportation is excellent in more ways than some – arguably in more ways than any other mode of transportation.
However, the real question is on storage, such as storing a bike in an apartment, mainly if you have limited storage space.
Several storage solutions make storing a bike in a limited living space easy, efficient, and creative, from mounts to racks and docks to pulleys.
James Mattis
James is a passionate bicyclist who has done about every kind of biking there is. He loves the wind in his hair, the sun over his shoulder and maybe even the bugs in his teeth. No, just kidding about that last item. He isn’t crazy about road burns, either, but acknowledges that to have the good there is the occasional tumble. James feels that his bike is the place where he can unwind, leave troubles alongside the road, meet new people, go new places, and live the life of adventure that he loves. He is ready to share the ride with you.
