How to Make a Bike Storage Hoist

A hoist storage system can be custom fitted to any type of bike.

Bicycle storage is a problem for many people, since floor space is often limited, and wall mounted systems may not free up enough space and can make it difficult to store and retrieve the bikes. Often a better solution is to create a simple system that hoists a bike up to the ceiling for storage, freeing up floor and wall space.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 50 feet of 1/4" rope
• 5 1/4" pulleys
• 4 screw hooks
• drill and bits
• pliers
• rope cleat with mounting screws
• 2 carabiners

1. Measure the distance between the handlebars and the seat of your bike; this determines the distance between the front and back pairs of hooks you will mount into into the ceiling.

2. Draw a straight line on the ceiling, centering the line over a ceiling joist (or plan to use heavy-duty hollow-wall anchors, like toggle bolts). Make marks for four pilot holes along the line, placing two holes at each end of your measured distance and keeping the holes 4" apart in each pair. Drill a pilot hole for a screw hook at each mark, then screw the four hooks into the ceiling, leaving about an inch between the ceiling and the openings on the hooks.

3. Determine where you will be standing while raising and lowering the bike, and attach pulleys to the three hooks closest to that position. Close all of the hooks with pliers and screw them the rest of the way into the ceiling.

4. Mount a cleat onto the wall at the position where you will raise/lower the bike. It helps to install the cleat at about a 30-degree angle, or so the top is pointing towards the closest hook in the ceiling. Screw the cleat directly into a stud, or use anchors.

5. Tie the rope securely to the empty hook (this should be the hook farthest from the wall cleat). Thread a loose pulley onto the loose end of the rope, then feed the rope through the attached pulley closest to the empty hook. Feed the rope through the next attached pulley, add another loose pulley, and feed the rope through the final attached pulley. The rope should run through 5 pulleys, with a loose pulley hanging from the rope between each pair of ceiling hooks. Attach a carabiner to the rope between each pair of hooks.

6. Cut two lengths of rope off of the loose end. Use one piece to tie into a loop that can slip around the bicycle seat and attach to one of the carabiners. Tie the other piece into a loop that wraps around a portion of the handlebars, loops through itself and clips onto the other carabiner. Connect the loops to the bike and carabiners.

7. Pull the loose end of the rope to raise bike to the ceiling, then tie off the rope securely to the cleat. Wrap up the excess loose rope and it store on the cleat.