EricL

I'm about to be forced to move out of my nice house that has a shed where I keep my bikes. Been looking at houses/duplexes because I don't want someone above me but also because they tend to have more storage options than apartments. But apartments are obviously cheaper. I have 2 bikes that I ride frequently (commuting and training/recreation) and can't imagine keeping them both in an apartment all the time because of the small space and the potential mess. The 3rd bike I will probably store with a friend until I can get a more permanent situation.
So I'm curious - anyone with more than one bike that lives in an apartment? Where do you keep them? Did you seek out a complex that has storage available? I'm in Denver looking for a 1 bedroom place. Suppose if I had 2 bedrooms I could keep the bikes in there.

Cyril 

Really? If the apartment you find is so small that you can't find space for your two bicycles, ditch your couch. Priorities.

martianone

Delta and Racor make two bike "gravity" racks that lean against the wall and hold the bikes on arms. Have used both, not sure one is really more effective than the other. While both are "free standing", suggest if possible an holding hook at the very top. Also put a piece of old carpet or some type of mat on the floor underneath for floor protection and helps keep rack base in place. The rack will fit in many hallways or against wall behind sofa or chairs. One studio apt I had for a while had a huge closet area, rack fit and bikes fit in fine- hanging clothes I put on the coat rack.

Snuts

I hang my road bike on a bicycle hook screwed into the closet ceiling in the entrance to my basement suite.
My commuter, or city bike is in the yard. Should it need to come in, in the wet or snow I would set it on 2 boot matts in the entrance.
And my Touring bike is in my Stationary trainer (Hamster Wheel I call it) to watch videos on.

wphamilton

I have an L-shaped hallway, where I keep four bikes. There isn't room there for furniture, so the bikes are taking up spcae which would otherwise be unused.

Dave Cutter

When I lived in the 3rd floor apartment... I had a storage unit in the hallway. Often the bike stayed there. Sometimes in was leaned against the wall in the kitchen (behind the table). If I'd had two bikes... one would have always been in each location.

Now-a-days they have those two bike racks.

Machka 

I lived in a 2-bedroom apartment for 13 years ... and kept my 7 bicycle (including 1 tandem) in the second bedroom.

Well, actually ... I had one bicycle on the trainer in the living room, and one bicycle in the hall ready to go out the door, and the other 5 were in the second bedroom.

I bought a loft bed (like a bunk bed without the bottom bunk, and they lived under there.

FBinNY 

New Yorkers have long been squeezing bicycles into small apartments. Besides the various hooks and rack described above, they use alcoves, nooks, the ceiling over the entranceway (if it's high enough), mounting on what's essentially a rain gutter high along a hallway, and leaning out to clear the pedal and handlebars above head height, and god knows how many creative solutions.

One fairly common approach to maximize usable square footage is to raise the bed on a platform as close to the ceiling as acceptable (loft bed), and close off the space below as a bike/stuff storage closet, or even work area.

BTW - you're worried about 2 bikes in a 1 bedroom apartment. Around here 3-4 bikes into a (small) studio apartment isn't rare at all.

bulldog1935

how about a bicycle tree? two bikes take up the floorspace of one

markwesti

Eric first of all read rule # 1 then #4 and you must follow #12 .Velominati ? The Rules

martianone

Nice ! Wish I had known of this before I got the Delta or Racor.

blakcloud

When I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment, I kept my commuter on the balcony and my second in the bedroom. I don't like bikes in my house but sometimes there isn't much of a choice.

BobbyG

I don't need it or do it, but I always thought hanging the bike vertically against the wall with a lipped rubbermaid-sytle mat below it was space efficient, and help prevent a mess. I also like the idea of lofting the bed and parking the bikes under it.

exmechanic89

I live in a condo (glorified apt) and I'm in the same boat. It's forced me to keep my bikes down to 2 road bikes and one mtn bike - and my wife's bike. Hoping for a better situation at some point in the future. It's tough because you're always shuffling bikes around and it feels cramped.

coffeesnob

Timely post for me. My wife and I have / are considering moving closer to town and into an Apt. The bike storage thing is definitley an issue but it would be so nice to be able to bike in town and be able to pedal to the va capitol trail. Right now everytime we go for a good ride we have to put on the bike carrier, put on the bikes and drive 30 minutes or so before we can start. The thought of living in a 2nd or 3rd floor apt to me just seems like it would be a nusiance.

indyfabz

See #5 above. Whenever I went apartment hunting the first thing I thought about when I went to see places was "Where might I stash my bikes inside the unit."

Texico

My last apartment hunting experience was a little over a year ago when my girlfriend and I were moving in together. We got a 2 bed/1 bath and use the spare bedroom as the office/gear room. I have two feedback sports velocolumns which I use for bike storage.

The hard part was finding an apartment I could keep my 12ft kayak in. They don't design apartments for storage of large things.

Lazyass

Any apartment should have a wall space for a rack. I got this in October for $70 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Cycle-Product.../dp/B0176RB2JM

Grand Bois

Gresp15C

Rule #96: Your bikes must look better than your furniture.

jefnvk

I had four bikes with a work stand and area, plus a full 8' home bar area and kegerator in my apartment living room. Apartments don't have to be small.

There were others in my complex which had outdoor sheds.

alcjphil

Look for wasted space. I have a little alcove just inside my front door that measures 40" wide by 2' deep. Almost looks as if there should be a closet there. I built a shelf across it high enough from the ground so that I can hang 2 bikes under the shelf. I also gained storage space for all kinds of stuff on the shelf. By hanging the bikes in opposite directions I can hang them much closer together than if they were hung facing the same way. So, 2 bikes n a space 40" x 2' plus a ton of shelf space

TenSpeedV2

2 bedroom apartment and I have 5 bikes in here, 1 stored in the 2nd bedroom. 2 on the wall on a gravity rack which I despise. The other 2 are on plastic mats that I use for wet/snowy bikes. It can be done, you just have to want to do it. And I gave up my small kitchen table for the extra space. Never used the table, always use the bikes. Made total sense.

genec

Did it for years... back before I bought a house... the key is looking at your rooms and realizing that you really only use the bedroom for sleeping at night... so park a bike or two in there for daytime storage.

This is exactly what my son does now... in his tiny two bedroom college apartment... has his bikes parked in the bedroom... doesn't bother his sleep at all.

genec

Bikes as "ART."