Alan@TreeFort

I was originally just going to ask for advice on cool ways to display bikes indoors, but thought it would be more fun if you just post pictures of your creative display ambitions. Please take a picture of your bikes on display and hopefully it will inspire me to do something awesome too. Wall mounts, cables, pulleys, floor stands, its all good! Show us how you do it.

iab

This is how I actually display my bikes,





This is actually how I want to display my bikes,

AZORCH

Wow! I love this! I want this! My wife, on the other hand, would shoot me.

Might be worth it though.

Drillium Dude 

I just lean 'em up against the wall - although this shot below could pass for being a "display", I suppose:



DD

Otis

I find this a bit much, and think the guys who raced these bikes originally would just find it silly. Bikes can be fine craft, treating them as fine art cheapens them in my eye.

I love looking at nice old bikes but I'll keep them "displayed" them in my workshop.

cuda2k

Display may not be the best word, especially with the old computers and rifle case piled in the corner.

auchencrow

I just pack them in anyway I can, but I fabricate these portable two-bike stands to keep them all from falling over.

non-fixie 

There's always one on display, usually a recent acquisition or build.

randyjawa 

It never occurred to me to display my bikes in my home. I, like at least one other member, always keep one bike beside my computer, just as eye candy when my eyes need a treat. The rest of my personal bikes are tucked away, leaning against one another, in the smallest spare bedroom in my house.

I have, however, put my bikes on display at Bicycles for Humanity functions, this vintage bicycle yard sale, being one example of doing so...






I think vintage road bicycles boarder on being mechanical art and, my guess is, so did some of the craftsmen who built them. With this in mind, display is just fine with me and I am now considering installing a stand, so that my one bike in the living room limit (my wife's idea), can be extended to two, with one over top of the other.

Nice

non-fixie 

You sell earrings too? Great way to get rid of the superfluous nuts and bolts, jockey wheels and - for the really extravert - 42T chainwheels!

non-fixie 

Very nice collection BTW, and it's great that the general public gets to admire them every one in a while.

iab

A minimalist display does not equal fine art. While you may not like it, don't make it something it never claimed to be.

There is no doubt though what is displayed is probably one on the finest collections of track bikes in the world. You believing them as "cheap" speaks volumes.

Gravity Aided

I display them here, on C&V

AZORCH

Whether bikes should be considered "art" or not is somewhat debatable. Although I would probably lean toward the idea that the craftsmen who forged such machines also were heavily influenced by aesthetic considerations, I simply cannot presume to know what they or the fellers who raced them would have deemed "silly." Here's what I do know: (a) those are beautiful bikes, regardless of any other considerations; (b) the display system pleases my own personal eye very much; (c) they are tastefully displayed, which was a valid response to the OP's question.

My own bikes are not displayed in the house, nor are they "displayed" in my studio either. They are stored on hangers, from which place I very much enjoy looking at them while I work. But I am an enthusiast and I would be happy to display my interests if I had the chance, as most enthusiasts do. Baseball cards, stamps, and other collectibles were never originally intended to grace the walls and shelves of one's home, but they certainly decorate a bunch of dens and "man caves." I don't find that practice silly and I do love the display of these bikes, over the top or not. As long as I get to pull my bikes down and ride them (and for me, that is the primary thing), I'm happy.

jeirvine 

I just leave one in the living room. Fits right in with the decor.

MrEss

I rather like it, especially with the other junk sitting around there. Makes it seem clear (to me) that this is practical storage not art display, but it still looks nice and uncluttered. A great combination, IMO.

Alan@TreeFort

I'm surprised this thread is garnering so much, um, controversy. Anyhow, from my experience many art historians define "art" as author intent. Meaning if the author meant for it to be art, then it is. Whether you like this description or not, that's what many agree on. For example, the graphic design for a box of brillo pads is generally not considered art. However when Andy Warhol put it in a glass case and displayed it as an art piece, it became art because he said it was. In the same sense, those old (and beautiful) track bikes are probably not art nor were they created to be. However, the way the owner arranged them, painted the wall, chose the stands, and arranged the rest of the space we can call art, or at least creatively artistic.

I think that's basically what we're doing here. I've got a nice old bike that I like, and want to create a aesthetically pleasing way to display it. The bike was probably not created as a piece of art. But I think its beautiful, I took many hours carefully restoring it, and want to proudly show it off, mostly for my own pleasure.

Now I'm not getting defensive at all, I completely appreciate the hang-it-in-the-garage perspective. In fact, was this bike in my size and in better condition, I probably would store it in the spare room for a more utilitarian way to gain access to it to ride. But its not, so I'm going to show it off and only take it out on really short rides on the nicest days.

rootboy 

And I think I know which bike that is, Alan. Can't wait to see it. My bikes usually hang from hooks in the floor joists in my basement shop with an unfinished ceiling, but I've recently decided to display/store one of them on the wall in my family room since I have a bit of wall space freed up. To that end, I'm currently constructing a custom hardwood wall bracket, which isn't done yet so no pictures. I may even make it lockable.

ericbaker

I think my most begging question is... What the diference now between craftsmanship and artistry? I think you'd all agree that these bikes are all fine examples of craftsmanship... is art not a combination of skill and aesthetic, albeit perhaps, widely varying on both fronts? To think that these builders took no interest in the apeal of appearance in their designs is silly.

To add to the OP, this is by bedroom

Captain Blight

Ah, the Early Grad School school of design. Good lighting makes all the difference with that. And that's a nice old Royal you have.


I don't imagine "Piled in a heap in the basement" counts as 'Display', does it? No? Then I'll not be showing pics of my heap in the basement.

jeirvine 

More like mid-40's, post-divorce school of design - similar aesthetics.

And in terms of art vs. non-art, I decorate my house with lots of stuff that's not art, but is still fun to look at. And if Duchamp could hang a urinal in a gallery, I can display some polished high-flange hubs in a teak bowl on a shelf if I wanna.

stausty

There's a daily rider downstairs, too, but these are the infrequent riders/projects. I think I am the current leader for most bikes per unit floor area. The fact that the vacuum cleaner fits in as well is just bonus.

Otis

To me it's a "gallery" setting, and galleries tend to be fussy and full of BS.

I'm well aware of the quality of these bikes and I did not say they were "cheap", only that the setting "cheapens" them to me. That would be open to some interpertation, not sure about volumes. Maybe you can tell me like one chapter.

But I guess my post was a bit antagosnistic and I should not bring up the craft vs. art argument around here. But I will go on record that I believe bike building is a craft, bikes do not have a soul, and your dog is not really smiling (it just looks like it sometimes).

Reynolds 753

I use more of a "shrine" approach by adding some accessories...

randyjawa 

Actually, Bicycles for Humanity does not sell anything except bicycles that are inappropriate for use in Third World riding conditions. That said, B4H has partnered up with like minded non-profit groups in symbiotic relationships. The beads you see are made of paper, by ladies in Africa, and distributed world wide on their behalf, with 70% of the profits going back to those who make the beads. The movement, called Caring Hands I believe, has proved to be very successful in Thunder Bay and surrounding area.

John, the fellow who looks after bead sales here, gives B4H a percentage of his bead sales take, at any bicycles event that he attends. Again, a win-win situation, from start to finish. I might add that the beads are incredibly popular. I even have a necklace that I wear, at any public B4H function. Bikes and beads, - that's me;-)

The vintage racing bikes you see are all mine, except for the Bennotto. The bikes were for display purposes only. It was winter time and we managed to sell two bikes through the yard sale for a hundred bucks. We were given the percentage from what the bead sales generated by John and earned about $450.00 in donations to B4H, that day. And...

Towards the end of the day, a fellow plopped himself down in the little coffee lounge, I had set up in amongst the vintage road bikes. He complimented the display, adding that he was an old time road bicycle guy, himself. By the end of our conversation, he had invited me to come by his place, to purchase this lovely old Canadian made road bicycle...