20 Amazing DIY Bike Rack Ideas You Just Have To See
Everyone who owns a bike knows the importance of having a proper storage solution for the bike as well as for everything related such as helmet, water bottle, gloves and gear in general. I’m currently struggling myself to find the best storage solution for a bike inside an apartment and the idea of a DIY bike rack is starting to sound more and more appealing. We’ve gathered 10 inspiring ideas for you to take a look at and hopefully we’ll get to each find our next DIY project idea among them.
Ideally, you should have plenty of room for your bikes, whether you’re storing them indoor or outdoor. Let’s assume for now that there’s room for them outside. You could build a bike rack out of wood which could also include some hooks for helmets. The rack could look something like this. We found this project on addicted2diy and we like how simple and straight-forward it is. Also, we enjoy the fact that it can be painted in any choice of color or colors and that it can be as small or as big as needed.
Chances are you only need a rack that can hold a single bike and it that case the design is a bit different. In fact, there are actually a lot of different design ideas to choose from. One of the simplest DIY bike racks in this sense is featured on instructables and is made of wood boards. It’s basically just a small stand which keeps the front wheel of the bike upright and stable. You should first measure the width of your bike tire before doing anything else to make sure that the stand can actually support the bike. Feel free to stain or to paint the wood once you’re done assembling the stand.
A wall-mounted bike rack is a really great idea if you only have one bike and you want to store it indoors, in a small space. The rack in this case would also allow you to turn the bike into a wall feature. Basically you’d be putting it on display and you’d free up some floor space while doing it. There’s this really cool tutorial on instructables which can show you how to put together a wall-mounted bike rack that looks a lot like a slender and simple shelf. One of the best things about it is that it has these hooks which can hold your helmet and other bike accessories.
When there’s really not much space to work with, it’s important to save as much room as possible and in that case a vertical bike rack can be super helpful. Design-wise it can be simple, without any unnecessary features or ornamentation. The project from instructables seems perfect in that case. To build one just like it you only need a few things: wood boards, a saw, glue, clamps and varnish. If you want you could paint the rack to make it match your home decor.
If multiple bikes need to be stored, you should really consider this project that we found on singletracks. This DIY bike rack is super simple in terms of design and also really easy to put together. A great thing about it is that you can add more slots if necessary once everything is done. Basically the rack grows along with your bike collection. You can create as many slots as you want and you can set them apart at any distance you prefer.
Since you can’t really use your bike all year around, not outdoor at least, you might want to build your own exercise bike stand so you can pedal even when it’s too cold or wet outside right from the comfort of your home. We found a nice tutorial for such a stand on tidybrownwren. The frame is made of wood and there’s a set of pegs which are attached to the back axles. The pegs fit into slots that are drilled into the stand.
An indoor bike rack can’t be too big and should be easy to maneuver and to use. It’s obviously up to you to decide where you want to keep your bike. It could be on the balcony, in the garage or actually inside the house if you have a spare room or if you don’t mind keeping it in your living space. In any case, we find this DIY bike rack idea from minipennyblog to be perfect for indoor spaces. It’s a small, wall-mounted rack with two hooks that keep the bike suspended. Of course, it doesn’t work for all bike types so be sure to check your bike frame before crafting anything just yet.
Another cool and at the same time space-efficient idea is to hang the bike from the ceiling. That sounds like it could be very fun and, as the tutorial from homemade-modern shows us, very easy to put together and super user-friendly. To make a ceiling-mounted bike rack like this one you need copper T fittings, a copper pipe, felt, steel wool and epoxy. You’ll also need a drill, an angle grinder, a rigid tube cutter and a blow torch.
We’d like to show you one more vertical DIY bike rack, this time featured on liv-cycling. It’s space-efficient and it keeps your walls clean. Here’s what you need if you want to craft your own rack according to this design: black iron pipe fittings (floor flange fittings, a 90 degree starter elbow fitting, two 90 degree starter elbow fittings, nipple fittings. a cap fitting, a wood board, clear vinyl tubing, screws and wood stain or paint. You can improve or modify the design if you want to.
A bike rack made out of recycled bike parts, how cool is that? Check out these amazing things that we found on behance. They’re super fun and good-looking and they look awesome. You can use them not just as hangers for your bike but also for coats, gloves, helmets, even umbrellas. It’s one of the best upcycling ideas we’ve ever seen.
This DIY bike rack design is a bit on the bulky side compared to others but it only takes a few minutes to put it all together which makes up for everything else. All you need is a few pieces of wood, a few screws and a drill or a screwdriver. It’s a good bike rack for covered outdoor areas because it’s super easy to put together and easy to use as well. Check out the tutorial on twelveonmain for more details.
The wall-mounted rack designs are great because they take the bikes off the floor and they’re space-efficient. This design from instructables is super practical if you have several bikes that need to be stored and organized rather than just one. It allows you to place them up on the wall vertically and to offset them so you can fit more on a single wall.
Even two bikes can take up lots of space, especially if you have to keep them indoors. A practical storage solution is required and that usually comes in the form of a wall-mounted bike rack. This one from Instructables is quite similar to that but it’s designed to be a freestanding module. That allows you to move it and also means you won’t have to make permanent marks on your walls.
You can get pretty creative with your DIY bike rack designs and try to create hybrids like this one from instructables. This is both a bike rack and a bookcase/ storage module for all the related accessories like helmets, gloves, raincoats and so on. The bikes are attached to the side of the bookcase which is strong and sturdy enough to support them.
If you’re looking for a DIY bike rack that’s compact but also easy to use, practical and easy to make, check out this design from buildsomething. It’s made out of wood and it doesn’t take up much space as well. It can also be stained or painted to match the wall or to look in a specific way and you can have several of this installed side by side for as many bikes as you have. Adding more is always an option.
You’re probably not very inclined to spend a lot on a project like this, especially when you don’t really have to. DIY bike racks can be super cheap, especially if you use reclaimed materials. A pallet bike rack like the one featured on landscapemagazine is both very practical and super inexpensive to make. It’s also easy to craft and it looks lovely. You can use the little ledge at the top to display a few little flower pots or as a storage shelf.
A lot of times it’s very convenient to store bikes inside the garage but if you don’t have a garage or if you’d rather have a separate dedicated area just for bikes and other similar things consider making a storage shed. There’s a great tutorial for one on 3x3custom. This is something that you can build in your backyard so you can have a special place for all your bike gear, scooters and whatever else you can think of that’s related.
Most bike racks are meant to have a fixed placement. They’re either attached to a wall or to something else and there’s quite a few freestanding models that you can actually build yourself. There’s even fewer ones that can be considered portable. The project from letscampsmore is thus quite special. It’s also super easy and cheap to make.
It’s always worth considering using reclaimed materials or repurposing certain items when working on a DIY project like a bike rack for instance. Check out this really cool and versatile one from kellyleighcreates which was made from an old crib rail. The rail was absolutely perfect for that. All it took for this project to be done was creating a sturdy base for it.
If space is not really an issue, consider making a PVC bike rack like the one featured on madebymarzipan. It’s similar to what you’d usually find in a park or at the mall and it’s something that you can put in your driveway or backyard. It’s also a great design which allows you to add more bike modules later on if needed.