Gallery: Here’s how Portlanders store their bikes at home

Portlanders have created some ingenious ways to store and secure their bicycles at home.

Portlanders have known for years that we’re blessed with some of the best public and commercial bike parking in the country. But our private residential bike parking goes unsung, simply because it’s harder to photograph.

Last week, we asked readers to share shots of their residential bike parking setups, and got a big response. Unsurprisingly, some folks have put in some pretty impressive efforts. I’ve collected a gallery of noteworthy ones below.

Start with the image at the top of this post from Brandon, whose “six-adult household in Lents” makes room on an interior wall for six bikes, one trailer and a bike pump.

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And here’s what looks like an apartment setup from Mike in Southwest Portland. Notice the precise placement of the red hooks on the ceiling joist:


Here’s a creative system using wood, eye hooks, a U-lock and a cable lock. “Not a sketchy area but not taking risks,” writes Jason. “Obviously not bulletproof, but a good enough deterrent”:


This submission from Kari is a two-parter: one with the door to her family’s terrific bike storage area closed and one with it open. “We don’t have a garage, and I find lugging a bike up and down stairs to be a pain, so we had a roof put on between the house and the fence to create a covered storage area for our various bikes: one kid’s bike, a balance bike, 2-4 regular bikes depending on the day, and a cargo trike,” she writes. “There are two ‘bike racks’ inside that we can lock to, and we keep the front gate locked, too.” It looks as if the result offers access from both front and back yards. Don’t miss the sweet tile work, either:


“I upcycled an old handle from a cart used to push semi trailer brake drums around and painted it bright green to make my own staple,” writes Mike from Northeast Portland. “A couple bags of cement mix later, and I can sleep at night”:


Here’s a similar setup made from scratch. “I designed the rack, and had a friend at work build it,” writes Scott:


Timo writes in that he has “parking for both the home and guest bikes. Old falling down garage-type shed was removed and new shed for bike storage and maintenance installed; dumpstered street-seating railing from formerly iconic downtown restaurant used outside.” You can click Timo’s photo to get a closer look at the totally unique bike rack, presumably full of memories for owners of the former Greek Cuisina:


Chris writes that his next-door neighbor built this beautiful shelter for his family’s bikes:


The remarkable thing about Pete’s bike dock below isn’t really the physical security, but the work he’s put into security measures and accessory charging that he’s put together for his extremely nice racing bike, which he calls “Bumble Beast.” It’s equipped with Di2 electronic shifters and a Garmin 705.

“While it’s not locked, I do have a motion sensor (that texts me) and webcam setup for security in there (and dogs roaming the grounds),” Pete writes. “What’s not pictured is the Addonics WiFi NAS adapter I recently added that not only charges the Garmin but exposes its ride history files to my home network (yes, I’m a geek). The switch eliminates leakage current in the Leviton 2.1A dual-USB outlet when I’m not using it”:


“My Vanilla is as beautiful as any piece of artwork that I own (and much more fun to ride),” writes Jason. “She doesn’t deserve to be relegated to a cold garage. I couldn’t find a hanger that I liked, so I made one out of some leftover hickory.”


Anthony’s bike storage setup also blurs the line between bikes and art:


“I’m very proud of my homemade bike storage situation,” writes Caryn. “After friends had their bikes stolen from their garage twice, I installed this set up: a fence pole with holes drilled through it for locks and cemented into the ground.” The second image is a close-up:

Got a great home bike storage solution to share? Link to it in the comments, tweet to @BikePortland or email me us at info@bikeportland.org. If it’s got some noteworthy details I’ll add it to this post.

 — Michael Andersen / The Real Estate Beat is a weekly column sponsored by real estate broker Lyudmila Leissler of Portlandia Home/Windermere Real Estate. Let Mila help you find the best bike-friendly home.

Michael Andersen (Contributor)

Michael Andersen (Contributor)

Michael Andersen was news editor of BikePortland.org from 2013 to 2016 and still pops up occasionally.

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9watts
9watts
9 years ago

I hope this becomes a regularly updated feature.
So fun to see the attention people are putting into this.

Esther
Esther
9 years ago

Before anyone complains about my DIY staple rack being too tall: the pipe cutter I got last week was too small to cut it, but I temporarily put it up for parking while I track down an angle grinder. 🙂
-Timo’s wife

dwainedibbly
dwainedibbly
9 years ago

Lots of great ideas here. I would love to see more!

Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger
9 years ago

Installation #12 has my vote…very ingenious low budget once set into concrete.

Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger
9 years ago
Reply to  Todd Boulanger

Though it may be best to keep the shaft length as short possible…just to reduce the leverage a longer post has…

John Liu
John Liu
9 years ago

Must hope my wife never sees this page. I, and my jumble of random dirty bikes leaned, stacked, and wedged higgledy-piggledy in the garage, are feeling very low-rent at the moment.

TOM
TOM
9 years ago

MA says: “Portlanders have known for years that we’re blessed with some of the best public and commercial bike parking in the country.”

don’t get out much ? please show us some of those examples of “the best public and commercial bike parking in the country.”

John Lascurettes
9 years ago
Reply to  TOM

I’m surprised that while walking around town with your eyes closed you haven’t ran into any bike corrals. Those things are everywhere – and appreciated.

John Lascurettes
9 years ago

And as far as commercial parking: I’ve got a bike room at work where I store my bike, it’s key card access and it’s inside a garage that is key card access. That’s pretty damned sweet. Plenty of other employers around town do the same.

Dan Morrison
Dan Morrison
9 years ago
Reply to  TOM

Bike corrals. Tons of staples in the sidewalk furnishing zone. Bike lockers at transit stations.

scott
scott
9 years ago
Reply to  TOM

You should go to another city. Like Indianapolis or Cleveland. See what they have.

Adam
Adam
9 years ago

I would love to see a “tiny house” version of this, if you will. My partner and I live in a studio, and our bikes are just piled in a corner in a disorganized mess. Our building has bike parking, but it is not secure enough to give either of us peace of mind. Parking five bikes in a studio is a real challenge. I’d love to see people’s solutions!

Also: the pole with the holes in is such a good idea.

A.K.
A.K.
9 years ago
Reply to  Adam

Perhaps a ceiling-mounted solution, if your rooms are high enough? Not exactly the same, but I hang my two racing bikes from hooks mounted in the ceiling of my garage to get them up off the floor and reclaim some space. My old Schwinn is far too heavy for that, so it remains on the ground.

scott
scott
9 years ago

I’m confused about #9. Is the custom Argonaut not pictured? That is a Masi and those brakes look mechanical, which they would have to be to work with Di2. Also, SRAM with Shimano? What’s next? Cats and dogs living together?

John Lascurettes
9 years ago
Reply to  scott

The Argonaut also has a cloaking device.

scott
scott
9 years ago

*pushes back nerd glasses and resumes game of Magic: The Gathering with a satisfied look*

Pete
Pete
9 years ago
Reply to  scott

Yes, it’s a minor typo that Michael didn’t have a chance to correct (the Argonaut’s hidden in my dreams). It’s a 2013 Masi Evoluzione (the Chinese frame with the Italian name 😉 and the picture was the original build while I gathered components and waited for Reynold 32s to be laced. The 62cm frame was chosen specifically for geometry/features (not color!) and then I replaced the stock 45-degree fork with a 43-degree Enve Road Disc fork which makes it more responsive and allows me to mount a TRP Hy/Rd (hydraulic but cable-actuated). Rear brake is just a DA caliper with cryo blue pads. The front wheel was built by Ron Ruff at http://whitemountainwheels.com on a DT Swiss 340 center-lock hub with a Shimano “IceTech” rotor. The Red compact actually works OK with the 10-speed Di2 system (battery is in the seatpost), but even more blasphemous are the Shimano 52/36 chainwheels going on it next (sorry SRAM!).

I just posted pics at http://windluvr.com/masi but they aren’t cached yet (they’re buffered here: http://windluvr.com/photos/photos_4e586be6/cycling/DEvoluzione).

The bike rides like a dream (because I fit it to myself from ground up!); it accelerates quite well, climbs easily, and my descents are faster having gotten used to braking later into the setup for turns (disc brakes are coming for good reason). The only complaint I have is the Hy/Rd has a little cable slack, which I think is because the newer Shimano ‘Super SLR’ actuation is different (but TRP wanted Hy/Rd compatible with “everything”). Also hard braking can cause the rotor to squeal sometimes, but I haven’t played with other pads yet (and just got these bedded in).

Some guys buy Porsches for their mid-life crisis… 🙂

Pete
Pete
9 years ago
Reply to  Pete

edit: http://windluvr.com/photos/photos_4e586be6/cycling/DEvoluzione

(the trailing ‘)’ got picked up in the URL, but the photo album should cache the pictures overnight into http://winduvr.com/masi ).

Grandma
Grandma
9 years ago

Esther
Before anyone complains about my DIY staple rack being too tall: the pipe cutter I got last week was too small to cut it, but I temporarily put it up for parking while I track down an angle grinder. 🙂
-Timo’s wife
Recommended 3

Esther,leave it tall,add some hooks to hang helmets,backpacks,coats ect.

Amysue
Amysue
9 years ago

I was thinking about submitting a photo of our setup, but apparently our neighbor Chris did it for us! Thanks, neighbor Chris, whoever you are.

Patrick Barber
9 years ago

We use two actual street staples, which we ordered from the company that supplies San Francisco with bike racks. Our landlords were kind enough to not care that we bolted them to the driveway.

Mike
Mike
9 years ago

While not a PDXer, my (EUG) solution puts a spin on a common approach. It stores 6 bikes in 5.5′ of wall space! The pivoting mounts allow access to each bike and minimize space required perpendicular to the wall.
http://goo.gl/vAjxoW