most compact bike storage ideas?

[mrsa111]

I'm trying to plan out how to make a bike storage area in my van build. I'm trying to save as much space as possible with it as I dont have a ton to work with. I'm thinking of making mounts that hold the bike by both front and rear axles, with wheels off, that would save a good chunk of length and height, and that way I could turn the handlebars sideways and store them much closer together. If I could store 2 bikes inside like this I'd be happy, 3 would be ideal.
I'd like to have the bike storage boxed in and access it from the back of the van, and use the top/sides of that box for other things, table, bed, cooking area, etc..

anyone have pics of some good ideas for really compact bike storage?

 

[Bikersmurf]

Going with your idea, I'd make mounts for the front axle & wheels on a 'drawer' with full extension sliders. You could possibly even lay the bikes on their side across the van, and have a board that separates the two of them that hinges up on a piano hinge.

 

[DAV!D]

There are loads of pictures on google of under bed bike storage in vans. Usually it's sprinter vans but depending how high you are comfortable with it can work in normal vans. I had a folding mountain bike in a bike compartment in my westy, but my new ford I'm going with a 29er and it will be under the bed but I'm adding a high top. The cool thing is, I'm 5'10" and if I raise my bed high enough for the bike it actually puts my bed at the widest point of the Ford van which lets me turn my bed sideways across the van.

 

[Drizzt]

I'm working on this very thing, albeit at a snails pace as I tend to use my van as is rather than build it. What kind of van are you building? There are a ton of pictures out there of Sprinters as DAV!D mentioned, so no shortage of ideas if that is what you're building. Most Fords I've seen they usually take up more room. My current method (which I don't have pictures of) is to remove the front wheel and turn the bars sideways. Doing that I can pack them in pretty tight, around 18" for two MTB's leaving room to let them wiggle a bit. Could probably get them tighter if you're willing to potentially have some rubbing. It does waste a lot of room above them, but not enough for a bed or anything. I have a half cocked plan to build a 13" tall box underneath them for components and storage of helmets and gear and the like. I say half cocked because I play with it on the computer at work on lunch and really haven't played with it in the real world. But it looks like I may have to remove the bars and I'm not keen on that. I hadn't considered removing the rear wheel, mostly due to the hassle of managing the loose chain but also that would also leave you with more loose wheels to deal with. Might have to play with that idea some.

Here is my half cocked plan. What's under them is a marine heat exchanger AC unit and a water heater. This looks nearly the same as my current set-up but with the bar removed rather than just turned to the side. (In the model I just removed the bar, in the real world I just loosen the stem.)

 

[BobbyJones]

I've thought alot about this as my whole reason for a van / truck is to have secure storage inside for two bikes while away from the vehicle. The caveat here is that I'm still in the "planning to plan" stage while I figure out what is actually going to work for me.

I also like clean lines and not a big fan of stuff all over the place and value clearance overhead while sleeping.

Depending on your tastes and size, and how you're going to be using both your interior space AND your bikes / gear I'd like to point you in the direction of storing them flat on the floor opposed to upright. I went through a few scenarios and it looked like storing them in a deep gear drawer one on top of each other would work out best for me. Along with a few strategically placed pieces of foam of course. The foam is not only for protection but to prevent lateral force as well. I suppose one could go nuts and do hinged mounting brackets in the drawer like you'd find in bike transport bags like this . I'm not there yet.

All of my trial and error consisted of actually doing this on the floor and "boxing" in the volume with cardboard to see just how big it was. And trying different stacking scenarios to see which would work best in real life use.

I was inspired by both the years of throwing bike transport cases around in all sorts of vehicles and by this Alex Hannold video at around 2:12 - DEEP drawer!

 

[KeyserSoSay]

I'm looking into getting a motoped to mount and keep in/on my rig, and have searched the prospect of folding handlebars- I'm surprised there are not more options out there (most I've found seem to be vaporware), but there are a few, and in my case it would be worth the effort to custom build a set.

might be a premise worth exploring for others here. Would definitely make storing/mounting bikes, (especially multiple bikes) much easier, as would the readily available folding pedals. I'm obviously not a true biker, as I'm sure many who are already have well formulated opinions about the use of these types of accessories.

http://www.bikelightsreview.com/miscellaneous/folding-handlebars/

http://www.tuvie.com/retrofit-folding-handlebars/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iciGJ4iQhXE

http://www.seekpart.com/product/Folding-bike-Handlebars-1775516.html

 

[Mwilliamshs]

I'm looking into getting a motoped to mount and keep in/on my rig...

Do you have a moped picked out? I really like my Honda Elite SR (50cc) for a variety of reasons (2 stroke so EASY/NO maintenance and plenty of pep (more than a 4 stroke), LOTS of storage, no fuel pump to fail, fits in my van easily side-to-side, etc) but it doesn't have folding handlebars. For that feature you'll have to go back to older bikes, not aware of any since the 80s that offered it. Trouble there is most of the older bikes (Passport, CT70, etc) had manual transmissions which impact whether they're legally a moped in lots of places and they also have very little storage and the CT in particular has a LOW seating position I wouldn't want in traffic. The Passport and CT90, CT110, etc use much larger wheels (19" IIRC) which means they're both longer overall and taller.

 

[KeyserSoSay]

Do you have a moped picked out? I really like my Honda Elite SR (50cc) for a variety of reasons (2 stroke so EASY/NO maintenance and plenty of pep (more than a 4 stroke), LOTS of storage, no fuel pump to fail, fits in my van easily side-to-side, etc) but it doesn't have folding handlebars. For that feature you'll have to go back to older bikes, not aware of any since the 80s that offered it. Trouble there is most of the older bikes (Passport, CT70, etc) had manual transmissions which impact whether they're legally a moped in lots of places and they also have very little storage and the CT in particular has a LOW seating position I wouldn't want in traffic. The Passport and CT90, CT110, etc use much larger wheels (19" IIRC) which means they're both longer overall and taller.

I was looking at the motoped

https://motoped.com/


These are basically downhill mountain bikes with a motor. I kind of want a cross between their Survival model and their Pro model and looking to build it to suit my own plans. and was hoping to go with their purpose built automatic shift (top mounted) electric start 50cc which solves a lot of problems trying to retrofit another Honda engine to the design. 100 miles to the gallon, motor up-pedal down. self rescue. these are super cool and in my state are treated basically like a bicycle if 50cc or under.:roost:

I've been waiting to see what this company does, love the product, but can never tell if they are actually building and selling these or stuck in some vaporware loop.

Sorry to deviate from the thread topic :violent-smiley-031:

 

[Mwilliamshs]

Sorry I missed the TO in MoTOped. Yeah those are cool rigs. A buddy wrecked his downhill bike and was gonna part it out for a motoped build last year but couldn't get a kit from them without an outrageous lead time, like 3 months I think, which made us suspicious.

 

[KeyserSoSay]

Sorry I missed the TO in MoTOped. Yeah those are cool rigs. A buddy wrecked his downhill bike and was gonna part it out for a motoped build last year but couldn't get a kit from them without an outrageous lead time, like 3 months I think, which made us suspicious.

from what I understand, they have been bought out by a larger company, cannot meet their current demand, so they have not paid any attention to marketing, or updating their website, up-scaling production, reassuring potential customers they are for real, or providing parts and kits as was once their model- I hope this is the case, and they eventually catch up and make it easier for a customer to understand what they are getting, and getting what they want and need.

Again, sorry to the OP and everyone for discussing this so far off topic in this thread.

 

[dar395]

Here is my half cocked plan. What's under them is a marine heat exchanger AC unit and a water heater. This looks nearly the same as my current set-up but with the bar removed rather than just turned to the side. (In the model I just removed the bar, in the real world I just loosen the stem.)
View attachment 382975
View attachment 382976

I too was in wonder of the van that is being used in the beginning post, our's being the E350 Ford ext I could see this plan working, if were talking Astro bumper mount might be better, I do like this clean approach for the inside storage. Our own rear "Bulk Head" area has much value in the added space, we don't use it for bikes but the approach is some what the same. Our own divides the rear section off fully from the living space unlike the open approach as above. Photo added for comparing.



The increase of wall space {Two sides, Front and Back} increases the useable area, if the wall was moved in 8-10" further I could see the bike space as well as the front of the wall area giving much needed support for wall mounted items again on both sides.

We have found our bikes mounted outside makes larger cities a little harder to visit, inside would make for a bit of safety.

On the subject of Mopeds and other smaller bikes as they were added in the post above, this is of much interest to myself as well, maybe the subject could be started on a thread here in the van section as an add-on to our choice of van, sorry I had to add another photo!