PatrickGSR94

My garage is rather messy at the moment, and I have a shelf or two that has various bike spare parts scattered around on them, along with other stuff.

If I should get to some real organizing at some point in time, what methods do you all use for organizing spare parts? I know there are all kinds of small storage bins, drawers, etc. that work great for very small parts. But what about larger parts like spare saddles (I now have 4 of them), handle bars, cranksets, etc?

Any pics of your organizing/storage methods would be awesome.

dr_lha

Should I post a pic of my large cardboard box full of bits? Hmm....

ThermionicScott 

For me: cranksets and chainrings get hung on the pegboard (organized by BCD ), along with spare BBs and cassettes in their Shimano boxes. Other new/used parts go into shoeboxes that are roughly separated by type (one box for English 3-speed stuff, another for parts I took off my Diamondback MTB when I converted it to fixed-gear, another for small parts like Japanese headsets, axle sets, spare rear hubs, etc.)

I try really hard to sell off saddles, handlebars, and wheels that I don't anticipate ever using again. In the meantime, they are hung on nails driven into the floor joists above.

PatrickGSR94

Ah nice, didn't think of hanging cranksets and stuff on the pegboard. My current pegboard is filled mostly with tools but I will probably be adding some more later.

fietsbob

I, for small parts scored a Lot of 35mm film canisters from a film processor .. and hot melt glued them in a group of 7 1 in the center ans 6 around it

Big stuff in plastic Costco Bins. and zip loc Bags in those.

noglider 

I have just a few categories:

- components
- supplies
- accessories
- small bits

It's hard enough to keep things into bins with these markings. Trying to categorize to a finer degree is too hard for me.

Mauriceloridans

My wife keeps buying fresh salad greens in clear plastic boxes about the size of shoe boxes. I like them to sort spare parts because you don't have to label, you can see what's in them even stacked.

PatrickGSR94

hey neat idea, but the clear plastic salad containers we get I think would be too flimsy. Sometimes they don't want to stay closed, either.

Mauriceloridans

Nah, they're overbuilt for containing greens. The lid problem is solved by stacking.

mconlonx

Ziplock bags. Like goes with like and gets tossed in the bag in a drawer. Drawer is a spare dresser I was left with. Not so fastidious that I sort chainrings by BCD, rear derailleurs by road/mtn. This is a step up from just tossing components or accessories in a drawer...

cderalow

I'm OCD. consumables are sorted into little dividing containers.

Large parts right now (there aren't many) are just random in one box.

Tools... tools I'm a bit extreme about.

dbg

I have standing bins with various sized slide out drawers. I frequently engage in this ritual where I pull them open and slide them closed in rapid succession two at a time when I'm scanning for solution ideas or weird parts. Bigger things have larger bins (deraileurs, shifters, hubs, stems, pedals, brakes, BBs and headsets, etc.) Good cranks hang on pegboard, chainrings used to --till I had too many. I also have deeper storage junky parts bins that get purged every year or so.

RubeRad

I have a paper bag from Trader Joes with a lot of stuff thrown in.

Also, for small stuff, I have what I call "The Tin of Small Parts", it's an empty round tin that used to hold chipotle steak rub, and it's got stuff like ferrules and cable crimps, bottom-bracket guides, ball-pumping needle, bag of ball bearings, etc. The Tin of Small Parts lives in my bike toolbox.

I also have a shoebox with a random assortment of worthless freebie taillights, gloves, mounting hardware, etc.

PatrickGSR94

heh sounds like me with my drawers full of fastener hardware. I inherited it from my grandfather who was a small engine mechanic in his retirement years. So when I need some bolt, nut, washer, etc I'll rummage through the stacks of little drawers. Of course it's not organized very well, nor is anything labeled.

AlmostTrick

Separate boxes, or pallets.

Drivetrain
Saddles/seat posts
Handlebars/stems
Lights/reflectors
Pedals/toe clips/straps
inner tubes
misc

Tires and wheels are together in one area.

Most of my spares are kept out of the way in my crawl space, which has easy access from my half basement. I either find what I need in a minute, or find that I don't have it.

Homebrew01

All my spare parts are stored in the basement ..... in one of those boxes, I think .... probably.

Gresp15C

I just use open topped cardboard boxes on a shelf: Drivetrain, brakes, hubs, wheelbuilding, and attachments. A box of "bad tubes" furnishes innertube rubber for shimming the clamps on lights, bells, etc. Tools coexist with my regular househould tools. Big parts have their own big box.

CafeVelo

Everything gets its own box on my repair cart, although if I acquire any more parts I'll need a bigger one. Campy parts are also segregated and organized the same way. I would like to separate things further into index and friction systems. I need a bigger space...

obed7

I have some stackable containers the wife bought for me... you can see them in the background of the picture... the fronts are clear so I can see what is in each of them...

Delmarva

Bike parts are in a box so labeled. Cassettes are held together with a zip tie.

ThermionicScott 

You'll have to forgive* the lighting in these shots. The bulbs are good for seeing my way around the shop, but weren't installed with any aesthetic considerations.







* Or not, I don't care. It's just a figure of speech.

Rubato

Everything that won't fit under my bunk goes behind the seat in the truck-or in the file cabinet at work.

Yan 

I keep my parts in a couple of drawers and a large tool chest. Lately I've finally decided that I'll never use some of the take-off parts I've accumulated, and have given a bunch away to my shop to keep in their much more massive junk parts bin.

bikemig 

I think I'm checking in with Scott before I buy any more chainrings!

bikemig 

I keep my parts organized in plastic bins or cardboard boxes and then stack them on utility shelfs:



The spare wheels and rims go on hooks:




The consumables (cable housing, cables, tubes, etc) go in bins under my work stand:





A book shelf works great to hold my bike repair books (natcherly, , small parts, ball bearings, grease, oil, cleaners, wax, etc.:



The other book shelf holds miscellaneous stuff and the most important part of any work system, a rocking music system: