When you have as many bikes as we do, finding a place for them all can present a challenge. Especially living in the Bay Area where living space is at a premium and a garage/man cave is but a fantasy. We’ve tried various racks throughout the years, but when the size of our fleet outgrew our six bike solution and ceiling hooks, it was time to try something new.
We’re fans of the Feedback Sports line, and the A-Frame Portable Event Storage Stand was at the top of the list. It holds eight bikes by the seat rails, and though it has a sizable footprint, it looked to be an adequate solution for our storage woes. However, at the time it was a bit out of the budget, so after seeing a makeshift saw horse my brother had cobbled together, I decided an inexpensive DIY solution could work for us.
I was once a full-time bike mechanic and am reasonably handy, but my woodworking skills are a bit lacking. Researching the easiest way to create a sawhorse, I found inexpensive sawhorse brackets at Home Depot. (a set was only $6.97) I also purchased 3x two by fours and had two of them cut in half at the store.
All that was left was to bolt it all together with a few wood screws using my cordless drill driver. Ta-da: DIY A-frame bike storage rack.
Tools required:
- Drill driver
- Wood screws
It doesn’t get much easier than this. The A-frame rack is basically a DIY sawhorse, using a full-length 2×4.
Hanging our bikes off the seat rails, we’ve managed to pack 11 bikes on it, though getting them on and off with that many stacked on can be a challenge. An additional downside is that it uses a considerable amount of space.
After using this setup for a while, one day my pal Shea and I took to brainstorming about improvements. The solution: use the rack to hang hooks from. Hanging the bikes vertically would lessen the footprint of the rack, and free up a bit of space.
I’ve used the inexpensive bike hooks in the past; they generally work acceptably well when hanging lighter bikes vertically, depending on what you screw them into. At $1-2 each, they’re one of the most inexpensive bike storage solutions, and found in garages across the land. Sheetrock ceilings and heavier bikes can present a challenge, so we only use them for a single road bike.
A trip back to Home Depot and the purchase of four more 2x4s was in order. I ended up cutting them down about 10 inches for a bit of clearance, using a jigsaw.
After I screwed the rack back together I drilled pilot holes and added my tire hooks.
I was looking to store about 8 bikes on the rack. Though I knew I could do more, selling off a few bikes would really free up space, and make loading and unloading the bikes much easier. I ended up spacing out the hooks 8-12 inches apart, varying it a bit so we’d have some flexibility. (some bikes have wide bars that make additional clearance a nice option)
In the end I elected for 7 hooks on the inside of the legs, with an additional hook on the outside for quick and easy access. There’s a bit more sway with the longer legs, and I ended up cutting some cross braces from wood I had lying about from previous projects and added them for additional stability. I also added small hooks and spots to hang tires and hydration packs on to take advantage of the storage space. The rack currently uses the wood screws to hold itself together and while it’s stable enough, I may add a cross brace in the future for additional stability and peace of mind.
Total cost of DIY Storage V2.0: under $30.00. (Note, I forgot to add bike hooks, so add another $8.00)
Tools and materials required for DIY Rack 2.0:
- Sawhorse Brackets
- Five 2x4s
- Wood screws
- Drill driver and drill bit
- Jigsaw
- Scrap wood for braces
- Bike Hooks
Save yourself serious time hunting for the brackets at Home Depot and go straight to the 2x4s by ordering up Sawhorse brackets on Amazon:
