I have been looking at various DIY bike racks -some from PVC and some from wood. What I have noticed is that most of them either interfere with the rear derailleur or don't hold the bike tire securely in place. Those are two capabilities that I really wanted in my bike rack. I had an idea of how I could manage this so I bought my materials (less than $30.00) and built this two-bike bike rack as a proof of concept. This rack accommodates both of my bikes tires. The road bike uses 700c x 28 and my mountain bike uses 27.5 x 2.2. It can easily be modified to fit shorter or wider tires.

The bike rack was built with 3/4" PVC pipe and connectors.

I used ¾” lathe screws instead of PVC glue in case I need to modify it later.

Tools

Chop saw

Tape Measure

Permanent marker

Cordless Drill and Driver kit

1/8” drill bit

#2 Phillips bit

Supplies

3 - 10' x 3/4" schedule 40 PVC pipe

12 - 3/4" x 3/4" press fit PVC elbow connectors

16 - 3/4" x 3/4" x 3/4" press fit PVC tee connectors

1 box (200 count) # 8 lathe screws 3/4" used less than 75

Step 1: Cut List and Assembly Diagram

I initially designed it using PowerPoint and color-coded it so it would be easier for me to assemble once all the pieces were cut.

Step 2: Cut to Size

I would measure one piece of PVC to size and set it on my chop saw then I secured a stop at the end of the PVC so I could duplicate the cuts for the desired number of pieces. Please use safety glasses when cutting since the debris flies everywhere and be carful when cutting the shorter length pieces

Step 3: Assembly Step One

I assembled all the pieces as shown in the photos and laid them out on a hard flat surface to pre-drill some of the joints and fastened them with lathe screws. You may notice that I did not pre-drill all of the joints since I wanted to be able to rotate them for alignment.

Step 4: Assembly Step Two

I started this part by connecting the front, back and middle piece where the tire will sit. Make sure the "tees" in the middle section face up. Connect the back piece to one of the sides, and then you will be able to rotate the front piece to align and connect with the side. Repeat for the other side as a mirror of the one you just completed. Once that is done you can attach them together as shown in photo two. Attach the two remaining pieces that hold the tire. Make sure bike rack sits flat then pre-drill and fasten the rest of the joints.

Step 5: Done

In the first picture you can see that the front of the rack is higher than the back and the part that sticks up in the air (locking mechanism) is perpendicular to the diagonal pipe and not to the ground. The tire sits flush against the front of the rack and the locking mechanism is pushed backwards by the tire causing a friction fit. In order to get the bike out of the rack you must push the locking mechanism backwards far enough for the tire to roll over the front. You can see in the last photo that the rack doesn't interfere with the derailleur.