Professional organizers know how challenging it can be to store bulky items in small spaces and bicycles are certainly bulky. When they need to be stored inside, we often think first of wall-mounted solutions. But that won't always work; there may not be sufficient wall space, or users may have physical limitations that make it difficult to lift their bikes. So floor stands will be a better choice for some users.

Photo by Takumi Ota

The Milestone from Love One, with its slits in solid stone, seems as though it would hold a bike very securely; I doubt anyone will bump into it and knock the bike over. But at 24 kg (52.9 lbs) it's not something that most buyers will want to have shipped. (It's also quite expensive.) And while many users will want something attractive in their living spaces, the Milestone is more luxurious than needed in most situations. 

Enter a caption (optional)

Bikerax are designed to make shipping easy. They range in weight from 2.5 kg (for the one-bike size) to 7 kg (for the 5-bike size). They are made from four pieces of plywood, and I think even someone as assembly-challenged as I am could put them together. 

Enter a caption (optional)

Enter a caption (optional)

The Velo-Stand from GS Cicleria gently squeezes the bike's rear wheel to hold it securely in place. The stand uses adjustable wing nuts, which seems like a smart design.

Enter a caption (optional)

Enter a caption (optional)

Wall-mounted options are still useful for many users, though, and there are numerous designs that can work well.

Many shelf-style bike racks are designed only for top-tube bikes, so it's nice that The Industrial Farmhouse also designs ones that will work for users with diagonal-tube bikes or step-through bikes. Both of these designs have enough room to store a helmet on top.

Enter a caption (optional)

Alexa Lethen is an industrial designer who developed some clever bike hooks. The knobs are mounted on the wall with a hidden screw, and the hooks fit over the knobs. But when they're not in use, the hooks can just be removed. (That saves space and prevents users from carelessly running into empty hooks and hurting themselves. ) The hooks have rubber coatings to protect the bike frame's finish.

Enter a caption (optional)

While the Alexa Lethen hooks call attention to themselves by their beauty, the Pincher from Karl Mikael Ling was specifically designed to be visually light—it fades into the background so the bike itself becomes the focal point. The Pincher consists of a steel wire hanger and a solid aluminum mounting plate; the plate has an industrial grade polyurethane pad to protect the wall. The hanger portion can lie flat along the wall when not in use.

Because it's a single piece, the Pincher has less flexibility than the two-hook design to support different frame types; it can only support a top-tube bike. 

Enter a caption (optional)

Hurdler Studios calls the Clug "the world's smallest bike rack." The clip holds one wheel in place while the other one rests on the floor. For easier cleaning, some users will prefer a product which keeps the bicycle above floor level—but others will appreciate this minimalist design. And the vertical orientation allows the Clug to fit into spaces that don't have the free horizontal wall space for other racks or for hooks.

Enter a caption (optional)

The Endo from Cycloc has the same vertical orientation as the Clug, but it allows the bike to be stored off the ground as long as it weighs no more than 15 kg. (The Endo will hold bikes up to 20 kg, but the heavier ones require one wheel to rest on the floor.) The large pads with rubber inserts protect the walls.

Enter a caption (optional)

Gear Up provides a bike rack that goes on the back of the door. There are obvious limitations here; the rack won't work if there's a wall (or anything else) to the side of the door which would keep that door from fully opening when the bike rack was in use. But for some users with limited space, it might be just what they need.

Buyers note that not all doors will have enough top clearance for this rack. They also note that while this is a nice apartment option because it doesn't require any installation that landlords may object to—it just hooks over the door—the optional bottom plate which protects the door does need to be screwed to the door.

And a door that's frequently opened and closed would not be the best place to install this rack, since the movement might jostle the rack and cause some damage to the bike. (Users could take the bike down before opening/closing the door, but that would become tedious if they had to do it very often.)