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Bike storage is a very important part of the cycling experience. If your bike is hard to get to and you are navigating stairwells to get on and off the street – it can discourage you from cycling. I get that. At the same time, you want your bike to be safe from baddies and bad weather so keeping it outside isn’t always the best option either.
I live in a first floor flat. Each morning, I roll my bike outside my bedroom (we sleep in the same room, of course), through the hallway, juggling the front door (while also deterring the cat from getting out by throwing my arms and making loud strange noises), picking up my bike (thankfully she’s light), and making my way down the curved stairway. At the bottom of the stairs, I awkwardly adjust to support my bike to open the door while avoiding the inevitable grease on my skirt. Once the door swings open, I have to move quick. I hustle down a couple steps and throw myself out the front door, hoping there is no one passing at that moment. As I can’t catch the door behind me, it always slams and I say a quick sorry to my neighbors on the ground floor.
OK, while I’m making it a bit dramatic – over time, I have become a pro. It only took two skirts full of grease stains.
While I have a back shed, I’m hesitant to use it to store my bike due to all incidents of theft in Portobello over the past few months. Some folks have garages, others have stairwells where they can lock up with other bikes (however, I have heard countless stories of bikes being stolen from these railings). For me, the stairwell is too slim and there aren’t any railings to support a bike.
There is real potential for some cool DIY design projects around bike storage. Since I started cycling, I’ve been compiling my favourites – have a look.
I absolutely love the hanging bikes in flats but seriously, as much as I clean my girl – she is filthy. How do folks hang their bikes inside without bringing in the Scottish rain, mud, and lack of sunshine? I’m not sure my kitchen table would survive this.
The great folks over at Spokes put together a guide to being a cycling flat dweller and are looking for case studies on great examples in the city. They also have a great deal of information on products and consultations around the topic.
How do you store your bike? I will certainly (and shameslessly) steal your ideas.
Alas, I cheat! My bike that lives indoors is a wee Brompton hidden in the cupboard under the stairs (one of the few non-carpeted areas in the house). But if it’s been rained on, it sits folded in the kitchen overnight or until it’s dry.
There is no cheating, only ingenuity :)
Thats got me thinking… Maybe i can come up with some kind of ceiling hanger from reclaimed wood..
I’m intrigued. And I promise this wasn’t a passive aggressive nudge!!
Great photo’s and a lovely post…i really need to put some thought into this. Currently, my two bikes sleep propped and tangled in a damp old brick built shed that used to be an outside toilet (back in the days when the north of England was all mills and cobbles). Poor things.
Thanks! Sounds cold :) I love your site – always open for guestbloggers over here!
Thanks Jo, very kind… I’ll get back to you on that.
In my bedroom so its the last thing i see before i sleep and the first thing i see when i wake :)
(Handy if a zombie apocalypse happens in the early hours)
Best reply ever
In the hallway – all piled up. Altho we’re about to move and will hopefully be fashioning a nice safe space in the garden for them all. Long tandems are tricky to store! I’d love to have them all hung up, but just dont have the space. Too many bikes!
Edinburgh council were trialling community bike shed/storage somewhere a year or two ago. Wish we had it in Porty, we navigate from the top floor with two bikes (twice a day) and it is such a faff.
Hi Megan, there was some chat about this on Twitter. We should explore this as I would really benefit as well!!