Caddywumpus

I'm looking for some ideas for nice/attractive way to store my commuter gear in my bedroom. By gear I mean my helmet, shoes, two pannier bags (used for commuting to work) and a convertible backpack pannier that I use on weekends or when riding downtown.

I keep my bike in our detached garage that is not 100% sealed from outside elements or lizards or "Palmetto Bugs" (giant roaches) that we have in Savannah. So to prevent any early morning surprises from insects/wildlife in my half-awake state before i start pedaling I decided to bring the gear inside each night.

I'm imaging something that would have a hook for my helmet and backpack, small shelf for my shoes and two bars the same diameter as my rear rack to just hook the panniers on to when i come in.

I'd prefer it to be more vertical than horizontal so that it could fit behind an open door or a smaller part of the bedroom wall. My wife supports my commuting and acknowledges that it would be best to store this gear inside.
So I'd like to do right by her and come up with something that my wife could look at without her eye twitching.

Any ideas, links, drawings, photos etc would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Gordon

ThermionicScott 

Vertical storage on hooks would be a nice, visually attractive way to do it. Haven't found exactly what I have in mind, but here's something: https://www.bikenyc.org/blog/stylish...apartments-nyc

pdlamb

A small cabinet or armoire might fill the bill, if you can find one with a fairly tall shelf for the panniers. Shoes in the bottom shelf; gloves, helmet, sweatband on the top; and clothes might go in a middle shelf if you've got an extra.

no motor?

There was a full time commuter here that had a really nice looking set up for storing his riding gear. I forget his name, but he lived in Minnesota and used to work for the library - there are some posts of him pulling the book trailer with his bike if the search function would work.

ThermionicScott 

I think you're thinking of @tsl. Rochester, NY, not Minnesota. Lemme dig.

Here we go. Posts 4 and 10 in this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plu...l#post16329892

no motor?

Yes, that's it. I wonder how he's doing in his new job?

ThermionicScott 

Me too. Haven't heard from him in a while, so I hope he's doing alright.

Papa Tom

I've been thinking about converting the perfectly good rear rack I replaced with my QuickTrack Topeak into a holder for my bags when I bring them in the house. Any ideas for how to support it?

CreakingCrank

I hear they mount marvelously to a bike. Perhaps you should buy another bike.

I just realized I might be a bad husband.

Papa Tom

Ha!!! Thanks for the great belly laugh at the end of this miserable day here on the East Coast. Get another bike...imagine tha --- hey, wait! That may not be a bad idea!

tsl

Hi all!

Life changes and such, so I don't visit or post like I used to. But I still get the notifications of mentions and quotes.

As for the job, Parking Administrative Services was soul-destroying. I got out of there after 18 months. Now I'm in Buildings & Zoning, providing clerical support to two groups--Low-income homeowner rehab grants, and abandoned structure demolition. It's much more satisfying to help people who want to rehab their homes and also to clear out urban blight. (Although the clerical work probably isn't nearly as satisfying as actually operating the machinery to knock 'em down.)

On topic: I still have the same apartment and storage solutions shown in the thread linked above. The vertical storage racks from Saris and my IKEA storage bench and cubbyholes work perfectly for me. Except when adding more bikes.

Just a couple of weeks ago I found one of those "round tuits" and ginned up these racks for more storage.



Two techniques of using old bars.

The simpler of the two just uses a couple of 3/4" pipe straps. It works fine for a bare frame.



Of course bars and pedals stick out. So when storing a full bike, the storage has to stick out from the wall as well. Using the same 3/4" pipe straps, I mounted a 3/4" x 6" pipe nipple to the wall and dropped a 120mm stem for a 1" steerer over it. Add the handlebar and an old set of 8-speed levers: Presto!



I just have to find another round tuit so I can wrap the bars.

Note that in cycling, tubing sizes (including bars and steerer tubes) are measured using OD (Outside-Diameter). In the hardware store, everything is ID (Inside-Diameter). This explains why 3/4" pipe straps and pipe nipples work for 1" bars and substitute for 1" steerers.

Hope this helps!

And thanks for the mention to bring me back for a day.

tsl

Going back to read the OP, Gordon, how about screwing a towel bar or two to the back of the door (or the wall behind the door) simulating racks, and just hang the panniers by their regular hooks?

It would have to be the old-school small diameter towel bars.

Helmet and backpack can go on regular coat hooks, and the shoes in one those ladies shoe storage thingies that hang on a door--modified for one or two pair as opposed to a dozen.

Spend some quality time poking around the closet and storage department at a home center. You'll see the things I mean.

no motor?

Glad to see you again and glad things are going well for you. Do you still have the sweet bike parking at work you mentioned too?

alan s 

I throw it all in a laundry basket. Gear dries easily and it’s portable.

tsl

Sadly, no. Indoor bike parking was a library perk.

While at Parking Administrative Services I was able to revive the Bike Locker program in the city's parking garages. I use a bike locker now just steps inside the garage directly across the street from City Hall. Only the handicapped parking spaces have a shorter walk than me--by about 30 feet. Fully-enclosed, Medeco pick-resistant locks, $50 a year rental, what's not to like?

ThermionicScott 

Great to see you again Bruce @tsl! Glad the new (new) job doesn't suck, and I have a couple old handlebars that are just begging to be turned into sweet racks.

BobbyG

Glad to see your avatar and know all is well!

I credit your posts on winter commuting for giving me the info and encouragement to get some studded snow tires and go for it. I've got three full winters of snow commuting under my belt, and I think of you every fall and spring when I swap winter and summer tires.

Thanks, Bruce!

no motor?

That's great, all you need is your snake for added security.

Caddywumpus

I had thought about this as well. Finding an older rack and cutting it in half long ways then mounting it to a wall or another board or plywood.

Papa Tom

I have a lot of extra audio and drum stands around the house, so I would probably mount my old rack on one of those. Not a big project, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Caddywumpus

Thanks for the suggestion...this would definitely be the quickest solution.

Caddywumpus

Over the last few weeks I had some time to kill in the garage and came up with this commuter gear rack. I have an outside detached garage that is not sealed... spiders etc. So I'd rather bring my gear in each night.

The back of the rack are reclaimed from a hardwood that pallet I found. The pallet strips are glued with construction adhesive and tacked with an air nailer to a piece of scrap plywood. This gave it a ship-lap kind of look to it. The top shelf is from a board/plank I found in our attic.

I took an old Bell Sports cargo rack (from my first commuter setup) cut it in half long ways using a grinder with a cutting wheel. I then used electrical cable mounts to attach it to the rear panel of the rack. The top shelf is hinged because i'm 6'ft 2in and this prevents me from having to lean over to make sure the mounts on the back of my panniers find their home. I have the one basket (because I'm not capable of building cabinets) in the center to hold mostly seasonal stuff.. like leg warmers gloves etc. Despite my best efforts with the rustic Ship-lap look I was going for...in the end the all natural wood version got vetoed by the wife because it did not match our aesthetic.

Jim from Boston

I think you are describing @tsl of Rochester, NY.

I used advanced search; keyword = storage, username = tsl:All with pictures. Only a sample.

no motor?

Yep that's him.

Gresp15C

Another laundry basket user here. With 4 cyclists in the house, anything clever starts eating up money and space. Laundry baskets are cheap.