Writenride 

Hey there.

I am sure many of you had experienced this unique problem from time to time. I am moving my bicycle collection and parts out of storage into my house, and I am having some technical problems figuring out where to display all my bikes. I don’t have a lot of space in the house for setting up my workshop, parts inventory and completed bikes. I thought of wall storage, ceiling storage, and basement storage. But I don’t want my bikes or parts to oxidise and rust, if I can avoid it. I have about 15 bikes to display. Gosh, that’s a lot to ride…But they’re all cool!

Could you show us some of the creative ideas you came up with in a squeezed space?

Thanks!

AdventureManCO 

Do you have a spouse most important question

merziac

Well good luck, I have way too much of all of that, 2 riders live in the garage with too much else, parts storage and cleaning is there too and the main tool box that is half the size of a car.

Bikes get worked on in the garage, on the back patio and in the basement where there is also way too much stuff.

No proper displays at home but I try and take some to shows when I can, they are to few and far in between.

The attic and shed have plenty as well, again, way too much.

SJX426 

If the bare frames were assembled, I would have 16. One is for my daughter, yes I am still working on it and she doesn't really have room yet. I keep them all in my third car garage and still have a challenge with parts, noteable wheels, storage and other tools.

ScottCommutes

My wife worked in museums for awhile, and museums have this exact same problem. People want to donate tons of cool stuff, and the museums certainly want the stuff (at least the coolest of the cool stuff), but people rarely donate the money for a new wing of the museum to house their stuff. The Morris County Museum by me displays a beautiful (but completely random) exhibit of music boxes because their owner donated his music boxes along with the money for the new wing. Even when that guy (Guinness) had the millions to donate for a new wing, he still needed to find a random museum with a random interest in his money and music boxes.

Only one in a million bikes is every worth preserving long term - most are mass produced and not particularly collectible. The new ones are also generally better than the old from a riding perspective. Yours are most likely destined for the scrap heap, either before or after you yourself are six feet under.

Good luck in your endeavors. You have a lot of bikes Enjoy them and don't let them become a hinderence. We all know that life isn't about collecting stuff and that you can't take it with you.

VRJAKE 

Similar conundrum. If all goes well, will be moving to a new house, with a workshop space of similar size but different configuration - hopefully better. Current workshop is small, ~300 - 350 square feet. Two decent size work tables, bike stand. 8 bikes hung from ceiling hooks by front or back wheel, one or two on the floor for display (though the hung bikes are easily viewed as they all get ridden). Shelving key for boxes of parts, most of those are in wood wine boxes, and some bling display. Craftsman tool chest and box. Couple frames hanging and a large frame box for wheels and fenders. It gets claustrophobic with any much more, so I minimize and tend to adhere to one bike in, one has to go.

As for climate control, it's a basement so dehumidifying is important. Might be wise in a garage as well.

Chombi1 

I used to be able to store and display .most of my biles in my house, but eventually, they just don't fit inside anymore so half of them are in my garage parked next to my car and hanging from two bike stands. I thlught of hanging them grom the garage ceiling, but my ceiling in there just isn't high enough and tue garage doof needs clear space to open up.
What worries me is someone might eventually break into my garage and steal the bikes, tools and parts I have in there, living very near the city. It is always something to consider if you will decide to store or display any of your bikes in your garage, as garages are pretty easy to break into without anyone noticing. Specially when you are away at work all day.

SJX426 

I have a heater and a dehumidifier in mine. Heater is set to 60 and the humidifier to 45%.
I have not had any issues with the bare frames hanging for years with one application of WD-40.
You might have noticed the insulation on the garage door. I had the builder put insulation in all the walls too.
Under the long crosscut saw is an opening to the 2-car garage where I hang a Visqueen barrier I can drop to help control temp and humidity movement between the two.

Vintage_Cyclist

Mine used to sleep in the house, until they kept reproducing, Now they sleep in the garage. At least I don't have to haul them in and out of the house anymore.

The mechanical alchemy occurs in the secret underground lab.

Vintage_Cyclist

Think defense in depth. The more security measures that need to be defeated, the more time, noise and pain in the ass it is to thieve stuff.

I've got each bike separately cable locked to a the aluminum ladder on the floor in the picture. Long enough to get both wheels and frame. In addition to the garage door lock, I installed a pair of rings (one in the cement, one through the door) that are locked together with a heavy padlock. Most tools and random parts are in the basement. Nosy neighbors are a plus too.

Oldairhead 

Space is an undefined quantity, how much do you have, how much do you need etc. Experience tells us that no matter how much space you have you will fill it up and still need more. Good luck on your quest.

gearbasher

Here's my two cents and words I now live by. Sell off as many bikes as you can. Keep 4 or 5 "riders". And spend your time riding instead of searching for more bikes you might ride only once or twice and buying parts you'll never use. Think of all the time you spend working on these bikes, when you could be in the saddle with a smile on your face.

merziac

While I agree with plenty of this in theory I will posit that IMO many here including and especially myself derive great pride, pleasure and satisfaction from the immense sense of accomplishment that comes with sourcing, massaging, futzing, fussing, wrangling and all else that it entails to make these our own and have them prove out so very well on the road or trail from our effort.

The compound effect of making it my own, my way is priceless to me and an absolute must for the process.

As I have stated many times here, I have been a mech/tech/hack all my life including professionally auto, drag racing mc's and wrenching on bikes.

Its in my DNA and is a big part of this for me to make the most of all this down to the very last nut and bolt.

gearbasher

I've spent 30 years of my life as a conveyor mechanic. After retiring, my hands are finally grease free. I'm sick of wrenching and only do it out of necessity, keeping my bikes (down to 5) and my '60 Volvo on the road. I'd rather be riding. It's might sound pathetic, but nothing brings me more joy than a good paceline.

merziac

Nothing pathetic about it, your riding, your deal, plain and simple.

My riding is quite pathetic by most standards here but I'm fine with it, it is what it is and I'm good with it, I have to make them my own to justify the spend, time, energy and effort.

Yep, I get it, a bit apples and oranges IMO, my wrenching has always and only mostly been transportation oriented, very wide ranging from Ford dealership tech to drag racing mc's twice a week for about 20 years at the same time and bikes mainly for the last 15 years.

That's all the beauty of this cycling deal, anyone can ride and or wrench as much as we want, or not.

roadcrankr

Stud finder. Bolt wall mount about eight inches from ceiling. Screenshot below from Amazon.
This is key: My future wife encouraged me to display in living room and in my office den.
She sees the artistic beauty in my nice vintage bikes. Mixes well with pictures and furnishings.
Our home contains four bedrooms, family room, living room among its 2,100 sq feet. Bit of a luxury of space.
My daily riders hang vertically in my den. Various other vintage bikes hang in the garage. All parts bins inside a bedroom closet.
Lots of security, cameras, alarms, etc. Very important to me as a collector. I love collecting!



From Amazon. Some nice adjustability.

jamesdak 

Well said, for the most part I don't find the number of bikes I have to interfere with my riding. In fact being able to take out something different day by day is part of the joy. I'll pick riding over wrenching any day but really once you sort out a new ride it can spend a lot of time in the rotation without any real maintenance requirements. A win/win to me.

jamesdak 

Similar concept I use but made with recycled parts and few dollars in plumbing bits from hardware store.

jamesdak 

OK, it it helps. My "bike cave" is a 12" x 12" room. I can easily put 30 road bikes in there in a way that are all easily viewable. I can also easily pull any of the bikes out for my daily ride with minimal effort. In fact I could easily take some banners off one wall and hang yet one more bike up. I use a combo on hanging displays and then one old 4 bike shop rack and a bunch of two bike racks side by side. With those I have a row of bikes that alternate front in to back in so that I can fit them in closely without banging into anything. Some pics from over the years to help show this.

Eric F 

My bike space is 1/4 of a 2-car garage. Staggering the bikes on the ground between the bikes on the wall was the magic trick that made things work for me. The bikes on the ground are the ones I ride most often.

merziac

Tx, I get it and don't dispute the need for many to prioritize riding over wrenching but for me they go hand in hand, one doesn't happen without the other, by my hand, period.

Chombi1 

The problem with having too many bikes is, they tend to get in the way of accessing other bikes in the collection. Everytime you want to get to certain bikes in the room, you have to play a game of rubix cube with the bikes to get to it and sometimes, that itself is hard to do, because bikes tend to hook themselves to other bikes with its handlebars and pedals. Very similar to when you have to sort out a bunch of hangers piled together. Sometimes it gets so tedious that you actually end up neglecting bikes that are almost hidden away in corners of the room because it just too much work to even get to it.

jolly_codger

Does she have a sister? Hell, even mom or grandma?

iab

Pompiere

All of this plus it gives me something to do over the winter when outdoor riding weather is crap.