Bike Storage Ideas for All Space Sizes

Whether you live in a large home out in the countryside or in a small city apartment, nothing can deny you the joys of biking. But there’s always the little issue of bike storage. If you live in a New York studio apartment, you may not have as much bike storage space as a multi-bike family who owns a gigantic home.

In this post, I list down 11 bike storage ideas that work for different apartment, home, or garage situations. With the right storage system, you can store bikes indoors on garage floors, walls, and ceilings. And if it’s not possible to keep the bicycles inside, there’s a few outdoor storage ideas to consider.

Related: 22 Neat Ideas for Storing Baby Stroller

Everyone Has More Bike Than Needed These Days, It Seems

Statista estimates the size of the US cycling market to be over $6.2 billion. One of my friend’s family live in a 1930 home that lacks a garage, and it seems like there’s bikes everywhere in this home. All the bikes the family’s bought over the years are all there, and they’re never in the way. But that’s because these folks live in a large home, and creativity has given them different ways of storing all these beautiful bikes indoors.

Us? We have a bunch of bikes, and we’ve lived in all sorts of places, some roomy and others not so much. I’m here to share the various bike storage ideas I’ve learned along the way so you can organize your bicycles better.

Not every bike storage idea below works the same way for everyone. The best solution(s) for you depends on how much storage room you have and the number of bikes you need to organize. There’s also the little issue of bike access, how often do you want to access a particular bike?

11 Bike Storage Ideas for Studio Apartment Dwellers and Homeowners

1. Freestanding Indoor Bike Racks: Best for Apartment Dads/Moms Who Don’t Want to Damage the Walls

If you or your kiddo own a road bike and a mountain bike and live in a large-city apartment, this is a really neat way to store your rides. Installing this freestanding indoor bike rack takes minutes. You won’t need help.

But here’s the best part: you don’t need to use any screws on the wall. I imagine you don’t want to damage that apartment’s walls because who doesn’t like protecting their deposit?

Here’s another situation this indoor bike storage idea would work great: where attaching any kind of hardware to the wall would be challenging.

I recommend the Swagman HANG IT Adjustable 2-Bike Storage System… because it works. It should fit two adult size or kid size bikes, one on top and the other on the bottom of the bike rack. The rack design needs you to store the bike in the riding position, that is, in the horizontal position. View the image above; that’s how the Swagman HANG IT looks like.

2. On-the-Wall Horizontal Bike Storage: For Small Garages & Bike Display

If you don’t have an entire fleet of bikes to store (which means you own fewer, better, display-worthy bikes, right?) to store or don’t have much garage space, consider this common bike storage method.

In this method, the bikes assume a horizontal position, pretty much like they do on apartment-friendly freestanding bike storage.

If you’re wanting to display your bikes as art, this is the route to go. I bet you won’t want to display more than one bike on each wall because that’d look like too much bike on the wall.

Storing a bike this way positions it horizontally against the wall. You can use a horizontal freestanding wall stand. This wall stand leans against the wall, and you don’t need to drive any hardware into the wall. No wall damage.

The other kind of on-the-wall horizontal bike stand has you installing the stand onto the wall. This on-the-wall-storage system needs you to mount it onto the wall using hardware.

The beauty of this solution is that some options let you store even the smallest kids’ bikes. You can store balance bikes as well as 20″ BMX kids’ bikes on this kind of stand. But it involves a little elbow grease, plus the install can damage the walls.

This idea makes for great adult bike access, but your kids will most likely need help storing or bringing down their bikes. Also, storing wide-handlebar bikes can be challenging, plus it gobbles up wall space. Plus it’s not the best bike storage idea for multi-bike families living in small homes.

3. Garage Floor Bike Parking Racks: Best for Roomy Garages& Offers Kids Easy Access

With this bike storage system, the bikes store on the floor of the garage or playroom. One HUGE advantage of this system is that kids and adults can very easily access the bikes. You can store balance bikes as well as adult-size bikes, but I found that some bike parking racks don’t work for very small bikes.

Most people who park bikes on the garage floor don’t use this as the main bike storage system. For the most part, multi-bicycle households with tons of bikes on the walls, ceilings, and everywhere else end up parking a few of them on the floor. The bikes that stay here are mostly those that see the most use.

One con of storing bikes this way is that they take up lots of floor space. People with small garages might not find this a feasible idea.

Another disadvantage is that many on-the-floor storage options don’t accommodate 20″ kids’ bikes. One more thing: some of these kinds of storage systems don’t work well with disc brake bikes. Check out the BIKEHAND Floor-type Parking Bike Stand on Amazon.

This storage option works well for heavy bikes such as mountain bikes and DH bikes. There are single-bike versions, two-bike choices, and 3-bike options. Obviously, the more the bikes the rack accommodates, the costlier.

4. Use a Mounted Vertical Bike Rack: Good for Storing a Bunch of Adults’ or Kids’ Bikes

The great thing about a vertical garage wall bike storage system is that it enables you to store more bikes without needing too much space. The bicycles store in a vertical position, which means you need to have enough above-floor space.

If you have a small-ish garage with too much car parked inside, this isn’t the best bike storage system for your family. Unless you’re OK with bikes being in the way and bumping into the portions that stick out into the room.

Another downside is that this is a wall-mounted rack, which means hardware in walls. Plus, it’s not easy for kids to access their bike when they want to ride.

One upside to vertical bike storage is that pretty much all options fit all kinds of balance bikes and all sizes and shapes of kids’ pedal bikes.

4. Hoist That Bike to the Ceiling: Best Storage System for Super Tight Spaces

There are times when using any kind of floor-style or wall-mounted bike racks may not be feasible. If you have an extremely tight garage without floor or wall room to spare, you can always make use of ceiling space.

Hoisting a bike to the ceiling and lowering that bicycle back to the floor using a pulley system and ceiling tracks works best for adults, teens, and older kids. But it’s not the most ideal storage choice for young children.

The beauty about this ceiling bike storage idea is that the bike stays out of the way the entire time. Plus you’re still able to park your car underneath. Also, most pulley/ceiling track systems work well. However, installing ceiling bike storage can be a pretty technical undertaking for most people.

When installing bike pulleys, make sure it will fit your bike’s wheelbase. Fortunately, you can tweak the system to accommodate large bike sizes down the road.

This works best for single-bike riders living in space-starved situations. But some ceiling bike racks work for multiple bikes. These systems (for example, the Saris Grind Bike Storage) are designed to allow you move the other bikes around so you can remove or store one of them.

6. DIY Shelf + Hooks: For DIY Dads With Multiple Bikes

This idea may not work for every family. It works best for families with decent DIY skills. If you can get good bike hooks and build super strong shelves, you can design and build out your very own bike storage system.

If you live in an apartment, this isn’t for you obviously. It’s for homeowners with the skills and space to install a custom bike storage system for as many bikes as they own.

With a little creativity, hubby or whoever has a dexterous pair of hands in the family can create decent bike helmet space above the DIY bike storage system.

7. Store Your Bike Fleet in an Outdoor Bike Shed

If you’re a born DIY spirit, you’ll enjoy building out your own outdoor shed. Building it rather than buying a pre-made choice makes sure that you control material and construction quality. But building out anything good takes time, skill, tools, and sometimes hard-to-find supplies.

If you’re like most people and don’t want to spend several weekends constructing a DIY bike shed, that’s OK. Amazon carries tons of good and some not so good pre-made outdoor sheds.

The better ones cost a pretty penny, but they work. They keep the interior environment completely dry even when it’s raining or even snowing outside.

I spent some time researching the best pre-built outdoor bike sheds. And the nearest I got to decency is this weather-resistant outdoor storage shed from Rubbermaid. This Rubbermaid outdoor shed will not only keep your stuff protected all year round, but it’ll also make your backyard look more appealing.

The main material used to manufacture this pre-built bike shed is resin. And resin won’t rust nor rot even if you live in a cool and wet climate.

It looks like a miniature house, and with a height of 7 feet, the majority of us won’t ever need to crouch when entering this little outdoor shed to access the bikes or yard work equipment such as riding mowers, leaf blowers, and whatnot.

Note that you still have to assemble the parts. Putting this shed together isn’t difficult, and most people can build it in 4 hours tops with a drill and some sealant to shut out wasps. But if building out things isn’t your forte, this little project might take a few days to complete.

Be sure to install it on a level surface. At $1000-ish, this is a hefty investment, but chances are it’ll protect your bikes from Florida weather and other kinds of stormy weather for 10+ years.

8. Use a Heavy-duty, Waterproof Bike Bike Cover

Another strategy to store bikes outdoors is to use a good bike cover. Bike covers aren’t expensive, and the largest ones such as the Team Obsidian XXL Bike Cover can fit up to 2 bikes (not 3 as product description states). We’re talk about a sub$40 investment in a good outdoor bike shelter here.

If you live in a place where it rains hard and often, don’t worry because the tough material used to make this outdoor bike cover is waterproof. It also looks good, the kind you can use to cover an electric bike stored on the balcony of a 4th floor apartment.

The material is durable and isn’t easy to pierce during use or transportation. And it folds down to a really small size. It packs small enough that you’ll want to bring it on all your bike trips.

This is a much cheaper idea than idea #10 below.

10. Store Your Bikes in an Outdoor Bike Tent

If you thought only Sagittarius guys seek like sleeping under tents out in the wildest nooks of the planet, you’re wrong. Bikes have no trouble spending nights and days under the mighty protection of a weatherproof outdoor bike tent.

This outdoor bike storage idea works well. You could even get one for storing a baby stroller if you can’t store it indoors.

It looks like a real tent and keeps rain and other harsh weather elements out. There’s one little thing to keep in mind: you need a bike stand inside the tent if you don’t want the kick stand to poke holes in the bottom of the tent.

If you don’t want to shell out for a bike stand, then get a thick rubber mat or pieces of plywood and place them under the bikes’ wheels.

I recommend the lightweight and portable Yardstash III bike tent and it’s available on Amazon. If you anchor this bike tent properly, you shouldn’t have to worry about mild hurricanes or strong tropical storms.

You can store at least two adult size bikes in there. Kids’ bikes? 3 or 4. It depends on the actual bikes’ dimensions and how creatively you utilize the available space.

But reviewers pointed out that the Yardstash III doesn’t hold up very well to strong UV light. If you live in one of those sunny locations such as Texas or Florida, don’t buy this. Because UV light degrades it pretty quickly. Folks in warmer areas would be best served by Yardstash IV. Yardstash IV demonstrates greater resistance to sun damage.

Don’t about your neighbor’s mischievous cats scratching the Yardstash IV or Yardstash IV because both tents are made of a really tough material. Oh, and the Yardstash III will set you back almost $175 vs almost $195 for the tougher version, Yardstash IV.

9. Tuck Your Bikes Under a Tall Bed: For the Craziest Bicyclists

When researching how to store bikes when you live in a small apartment, I bumped into an idea that might work. But it’s a crazy idea that needs you elevate your bed. The weird Reddit commenter suggested to raise the bed as much as needed to fit the bike size you have under the bed.

Look at the image above and see how the guy did it. Dude said sleeping high up feels different and better. But I noticed he needs to use steps when getting into bed. Steps are OK, but definitely not a good idea for when you come home completely wasted after a long night out with your biking buds lol.

10. Hide Bike Behind Apartment Furniture (for Lazy Apartment Dwellers)

Don’t want to invest in a free-standing bike stand or any other kind of apartment-friendly storage? No worries, you can always tuck your bike behind furniture.

To prevent road or trail muck from getting on the carpet, place something such as a rubber mat under each bike wheel. A rubber mat won’t allow damp dirt to seep through and soil your carpet. Plus, cleaning it is pretty simple.

But wait, mats and rugs cost money. And you’re looking for a completely free bike storage idea for an apartment dweller. Here’s an idea for you: rummage through your apartment and see if you can find an old blanket. Once you find it, lay it flat on the floor before propping the bike against the wall behind the sofa.

Keep carpet clean tip: Grab the edge of the carpet and fold it over so that the area beneath the wheels stays carpet-less. Then, proceed to lay down the old blanket and standing the bicycle. If you place a rubber mat or a small piece of plywood beneath the wheels, you don’t have to fold over the carpet.

11. Get a Bike-friendly Apartment

There’s an emerging trend in the real estate development world: bike-friendly buildings according to the New York Times. In large cities like New York, more and more real estate developers are responding to the bike storage needs of an urban population that’s cycling more often than ever.

When the time to move comes, donate your bike. Or move with the bike and hunt for an apartment in a building that offers bike room for renters. Some bike rooms even offer bike repair stands and even bike helmet storage.