I live in a big old building in center city Philadelphia, and like most of the residents in my building own a bicycle. It's generally the preferred method of transport in urban areas; it's quick, easy to park, and cheap. Unfortunately, this means a build-up of bikes and bike accessories by the front door, where most residents (myself included) leave their bikes.
I've seen plenty of other Ikea-based bike racks on IkeaHacker, and they all wandered too far from the all-ikea solution I was seeking. This one required aluminum bars cut to size, this was a similar design, with wall reinforcements, this one used wood for supports.
The obvious solution was to use off-the-shelf parts to fill in the aluminum bars and wood used in other designs. With a quick perusal of the Ikea site, and using the very inexpensive Broder 80" Post as a base, I came up with a estimated purchase list, the total for 4 bikes (in 2 separate setups) should cost me under $60 US. A quick trip to the nearby Ikea, and sure enough, the total for all the parts was only $58! The receipt scan is embedded to the right, you can see I also purchased a 60ยข blue plastic ikea bag to carry the assorted gear to the car.
The Build
Most of the parts are made to work with each other, so there's not much beyond following the simplified instructions. In this case, I used the Broder 80" Post and the Broder Post Extension to make the base of each bike stand. Our front hallway is 12 10 feet in height (higher than most average homes) but the Broder Post with the Extension fits the bill perfectly. I simply mounted the Broder post into a ceiling joist, then used the non-twist bracket at the top of the mount to prevent the usual twisting of the post. The built-in spring design offers plenty of tension to set the post, and once it's set, it holds bikes perfectly.
The Bike Mounts
Then, the Stolmen Hooks applied to either end of the Broder Center Shelf Brackets for a 10" spread between the two hooks. This is enough to hold the smallest of bikes, be far apart enough to allow easy balancing, and still offer some solid support. To mount the hooks to the open holes on the Shelf Brackets, I used inexpensive 1/4" bolts and nuts from the hardware store. Inserting a lock nut helps make the mount nearly indestructible.
Final Touches
I used an old bicycle tube cut into short 10" sections to wrap the Stolmen Hooks. Now they've got a softer rubber grip that prevents the bikes from sliding off the hooks due to being unbalanced. I also used a few bits of gaffers tape to hold the rubber tubes on the hooks, and also holding the Broder Shelf Brackets onto the main Pole. I found you could pull off the entire assembly when lifting your bike, as it was so light compared to the bike, so a strip of gaffers tape ensures it won't easily come loose again.
With a bit of adjustment, I think I could stack 3 bikes per Broder Pole in our large front (and slightly cluttered) hallway (assuming the top bike would rarely be used). For now, I have a pair of setups with two mounts on each to hold a total of four bikes.
Got Any Improvements?
Leave a comment if you like this idea, or use it in your own home. I'll link to other photos and posts using this similar design. I'll also hope that I can someday be featured on IkeaHacker!