7 ways to store your bike inside your NYC apartment
You can use your bike as your headboard, but safer bike storage options for your NYC apartment are available.
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Cycling is great exercise as well as a popular—and even necessary—commuting alternative for New Yorkers who want to avoid frequent delays and overcrowding on the subway.
In fact, more than 828,000 residents ride a bike in NYC on a regular basis, and there are hundreds of miles of bike lanes across the five boroughs.
While lots of riders use Citi Bike, many aficionados prefer their own set of wheels, and so need a place to store them at home. Plenty of NYC apartment buildings provide a bike room as an amenity, and StreetEasy currently shows nearly 4,000 active sales and rentals offering bike storage. But with “decent” bicycles costing anywhere between a few hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on your riding habits, you may not want to leave your two-wheeled investment in your building’s shared bike room.
That leaves finding a place for it in your apartment, which might be a challenge depending on its size—and what your lease says about drilling into your walls.
However, “there are a tremendous amount of options, from just basic hooks to a floor-to-ceiling pole that’s suctioned so you don’t need to drill anything,” says Gino Riccardi, manager of Toga Bikes, an Upper West Side bike shop in operation since 1967. “Some even let you store the bike like a piece of art, with a light on top.”
1. Delta Tintoretto Tension Storage Rack, $100
Forget holes and drilling, this tension-fitted pole is easily installed on ceiling heights from 7 feet, 6 inches to 9 feet, 6 inches and holds up to two bikes of any size up to about 155 pounds.
2. Gear Up OakRak Freestand 2-Bike Storage Rack, $160
This freestanding rack may look more like it’s meant for coats, but it holds two bikes and up to 200 pounds. It comes in two colors, and you can add two more bikes with a kit that’s sold separately.
3. Saris The Show Off, $275
Not just a clever name, this wall mount enhanced with European beech wood and soft cork literally shows off your bike up to 30 pounds with a remote-controlled, battery-operated LED light.
4. Sunlite Bull Storage Folding Rack, $33
This bike rack, which comes with the hardware you’ll need to attach it to the wall, folds up when it’s not in use.
5. Allen Spacesaver Storage Rack, $35
This mounted rack comes fully assembled and needs just one screw to install. It folds up when not in use, and can double as a repair stand, too.
6. MSW Universal Storage Stand, $36
If you’ve got floor space to spare, this stand holds one bike and fits any style bike, “from road bikes to fat bikes,” Toga’s site says. Plus, it has rubberized feet to protect your apartment floors.
7. IceToolz Storage Hooks with Dowels, $4.50
If you’re able to make holes in your apartment walls, these hooks, which are sold as a pair and come with two hollow wall mounts, are the most basic, and cheapest, option.
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