unterhausen

Horrors, I need to park my car in the garage. And for some reason my wife doesn't think I should park it on her side and make her park outside. So the frame shop is going to have to get compressed and parts of it moved to the basement. But the bike collection is also taking too much space.

My thought is that putting two levels of bikes parked with their handlebars and rear tires touching the wall will fit the most bikes. Bikes overlapping as much as they can without making it a real mess. Anyone try this scheme?

wrk101

How high is the ceiling? Hang them vertically from the ceiling, one hook per bike. Remove pedals and rotate handlebars 90 degrees and you can pack them vertically just a few inches apart.

Car can probably park underneath the bikes, taking zero floor space.

unterhausen

The ceiling is not very high. The way the door rails are situated, it would be a real problem to get a bike on a hook there. But there is room for two levels of bikes below the rails.

Jeff Wills

My garage has a 8-foot ceiling and it's drywalled, so the studs are covered. I have a length of 2x4 bolted to the studs about 18" from the wall and there are 6 hooks screwed into the 2x4. I can hang 6 bikes in a space 12' long by 2' wide with the space underneath the bikes free for storage boxes of random stuff.

unterhausen

That's about what I have now, the problem is there are still 3 bikes on the floor. And it's a real pain to hang bikes from hooks. That was one of the least pleasant parts of being a bike mechanic. My back still flinches when I think about lifting a Schwinn varsity

SurferRosa

Put the nicest ones inside the house, you know, as decoration.

"Honey, why is your Bianchi hanging above the bed?"

"Isn't it sexy, dear?"

Insidious C. 

Maybe hang one bike from another to achieve two levels? Certainly not ideal but if the need is temporary it may be tolerable.

I have a similar issue with garage dedicated to bikes. Recently I had to replace the camshaft in my truck. Rainy season had already begun. I borrowed a tarp and did the job in the driveway, much to the horror of my neighbors.

jyl

Alternate hanging bikes front wheel up and rear wheel up. Alternate long and short hooks, so that handlebars don't foul saddles. You can even experiment with alternating distance from hook to wall, so that bike are alternately wheels facing wall and wheels facing away from wall. If you get bikes really tightly packed, you might put something over the pedals to avoid scratching adjacent bikes.

squirtdad

would a pedal hanger like this help https://www.amazon.com/Venzo-Bicycle.../dp/B07BBNBGPC

USAZorro

A variation of this solution is what I'll be doing when I do the make-over of my bike storage in a narrow basement storage space. Slatwall is pretty pricey, so looking top either go with bands of slat, or to adapt similar hangers to attach to studs.

Hudson308 

This.
Removing pedals and rotating the handlebars is the way to pack the most bikes into a given space. It also helps you keep stems from welding themselves into the steerer tubes. Hanging vertically in alternating orientation will also give you more open floor space. They don't have to be overhead... just high enough on the wall to get them an inch or two off the floor. Those flash-welded Schwinns won't need to be hoisted up high... just tipped up vertically and lifted an inch or two. This arrangement will also keep them from becoming dominoes when you bump the first one getting out of your car.

jeirvine 

For my riders, in my basement I alternate one bike vertically on a front-wheel hook (rear on the ground), and one bike on the floor facing out, rear wheel leaning against the stud. I fit two bikes per about 22" of wall. It's possible to (carefully) grab any of them without moving the others, and hooking the vertical ones is pretty easy. I also hook spare wheelsets above the bikes on the ground. Here's a quick diagram. In reality, they can be closer - about 2" between handlebars:

unterhausen

I didn't mention that these bikes are all riders. The unridden ones are in the attic. I was thinking about the pedal hanger idea. Someone sells that for regular walls, Delta maybe?

With no car in my half of the garage and the frame shop only taking up half of the empty bay, I have really gotten used to having the bike I want on the floor. I have been thinking about parking my commuter on the front porch, but my wife accuses me of making the front porch look like the beverly hillbillies already.

imakecircles

Use hooks like in some of the suggestions above, but mount them on French cleats, so that you can slide them as close together as possible once the bikes are hung. I've also seen some kits that use a similar solution made out of aluminum, but prefer the DIY approach.

SJX426 

https://www.amazon.com/Venzo-Bicycle...s%2C136&sr=8-4

Bought one of these but don't like it. But for your situation, it might be the best solution. Hard to get the top on out though.
Current high ceiling solution
P1000485, on Flickr

Single car garage solution
WP_20140302_002, on Flickr

Low ceiling, double car garage solution.
P8031673, on Flickr

CliffordK

If you hang the bikes horizontal, you can probably park the hood of the car under the bikes.

Alternate bars forward/back.

unterhausen

the hood end of the garage is still going to be the frame shop, it's just that I'll have to park the car outside to build frames in it.

dddd

How far from the wall can the bike space be?

Saddle height?

As a modified form of the usual "sardine" approach (22 bikes hung vertically and perpendicular to a 17' wall), perhaps the bikes could be twisted 45-degrees or so, by twisting the opposite loops of each hook 45 degrees instead of 90-degrees.
Using this approach, the usual bikes-per-foot spacing would be reduced, but so would the distance out from the wall.

Here is what 90-degrees from the wall looks like. But if they were twisted to be more like fish-scales(???).

repechage

reconsider the fleet? Heavy bikes go away.
Cheaper car- one you can tolerate parking outside? I laugh now at all the extension cords run out to cars in front of the garage door. level 1 charging, 120v. I'm told basically 5 miles per hr of charge...
One acquaintance had to get a level 2 charger, 11k and a new 200 amp service panel later...

squirtdad

OT but electric cords to cars are normal......for block heaters, when it gets 20-30 below zero (at least in Montana where I grew up)

Andy_K 

In my experience, having some bikes hanging from the rear wheel in a tight space makes hanging the bikes awkward. When I had to condense my storage space I went for a two level approach (like what I think you described in your first post).



The upper bikes are still a little awkward to get out, but it's manageable.

unterhausen

I hate going to gas stations and I'm still on the first tank, 750 miles later. So I'm happy with the car. The level 2 charger is coming when I upgrade the heating system and need a subpanel anyway. It's rare that I drive the car before it has finished charging.

I have to clear everything out and do some experiments.

Bianchigirll 

What about a garage extension?

unterhausen

I have a shed, hopefully it doesn't come to that.

xiaoman1 

That's the ticket...I did a similar thing and use Park hooks got the idea from another BF member!
Ben