Introduction: Vertical Bike Rack From 2x4s
I recently built a vertical bike rack from scraps of 2x4s leftover from another project. I built this rack so that the rear wheel from one of our bikes could rest on the floor. I found that I would need this bike to be hung at 63.5" using these hooks, but the wheelbase on this bike is larger than the wheelbase on my other bikes. You can adjust the length of the height (77" for my project) as needed.
The spacing of each bike will be 12", and the top level is 12" higher than the bottom level. If you don't want to alternate the levels to hang each bike, then you will need to accommodate for about 18" of spacing between each bike.
Lengths to cut 2x4s:
2 - 77"
4 - 36"
4 - 28.5"
5 - 15"
2 - 18"
2 - 20"
Screws: 2.5" wood screws
Bike Hooks: Any bike hook system will do, but I picked up these from Home Depot.
Edit: Read this instructable. It is important for the discussion of spacing as well as to see how they did the hooks. One of my bikes rubbed the coating off one hook, so I repaired it with handlebar wrapping and electrical tape.
If you only need to hang one bike, here is my single bike design.
Step 1: Cut Your Wood!
Cut the following lengths of your 2x4s:
2 - 77"
4 - 36"
4 - 28.5"
5 - 15"
2 - 18"
2 - 20"
The 36" lengths are the legs of the stand. Cut a 1.5" x 1.5" corner on one side of each leg.
The 28.5" lengths are the crossbeams. Cut 45 degree corners on both sides of the cross beams (i.e. measure the width of the 2x4 and make the cut extend to the same length of the width).
Step 2: Assemble the Base
Attach the 36" legs to the 77" vertical boards. Unless you are exclusively hanging road bikes, make sure to screw the legs into the shorter sides of the 2x4s in order to leave 3" of clearance for the bike wheels.
Attach one 15" length 2x4 to the 77" vertical boards.
Attach 20" sideboards to the 77" vertical board and 15" base panel on either side of structure.
Attach 15" board to 77" vertical boards and 20" sideboards.
Step 3: Attach Top Supports
Attach 3 supports at the top using the remaining 15" pieces.
The middle support needs to centered at 63.5" to accommodate the height of one specific bike.
The top support is flush with the top of the 77" vertical boards, but its center is is at 75.5".
The lower support is hung at 51.5" in the center, but you can get away with hanging this wherever you feel like, or adding addition supports in the middle of the structure.
Be sure to pre-drill holes to hang the hooks before attaching the top two support pieces.
Step 4: Attach Bike Hooks
Screw in bike hooks to the holes you pre-drilled in the previous step.
Step 5: Attach Crossboards
Attach the 28.5" crossbeams (with 45 degree cuts) to the legs on the bottom as well as the 20" sideboards and 15" support board on top.
Step 6: Attach Support Boards to Legs
Attach two 18" 2x4s to the legs for additional support in order to stabalize the structure. The second 18" 2x4 is necessary so that the derailer from the bike on the lower level does not hit the crossbeams.
Step 7: Enjoy!
I am planning on staining the bike stand so that it matches other things in my apartment, but for now this is a functional bike stand that cost me under $10 (because I had the scrap wood).

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45 Comments
11 years ago on Introduction
Brilliant!!!
I've been looking for way to fit the bikes properly in the shed and this is perfect. Thx for the idea!
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
Forgot to mention that the only thing I would add to this is a diagonal brace on the back that goes all the way from top to bottom. The bikes add quite a bit of weight to this thing, so it could begin folding itself a bit over time (although I noticed you had a couple of screws in each corner, which should mitigate this).
Reply 7 years ago
Xjdjff
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
Good Idea with the diagonal brace, especially if you trying to build a larger rack that hangs more bikes!
Reply 7 years ago
Good
11 years ago on Step 5
Is it 28.5" from tip-to-tip, or to the beginning of the 45 degree cuts?
Reply 11 years ago on Step 5
That would be from Tip to Tip. Cut your 2x4 to a lenth of 28.5", and then cut the corners out.
28.28" is the hypotenuse of a right triangle whose sides are both 20".
Question 2 years ago
Did you attach this to the wall? I'm looking at this for inside a shed, but it's a metal shed so the walls aren't structural. Thanks!
Answer 1 year ago
This is for a freestanding bike stand - not attached to a wall
Question 2 years ago
Don't think I saw this question but if you don't have any 2x4 around and need to buy some how many would you buy?
Answer 1 year ago
If you haven't gotten an answer yet, I worked it out to 7, eight foot 2x4s. One each for the 77" cuts, the leftover will give you the 18" boards. 2 boards will give you the 4 x 36" boards, plus the 2 20" boards (that he doesn't list in the lengths to cut section, but are shown as the side boards at the bottom of page 5). One board will give you all 4 of the 15" pieces, and 2 more boards for the 4 x 28.5" pieces.
Question 2 years ago
In my garage it has a ledge (5-1/2" tall & 3-1/2" deep) and then baseboard on top of that. Any suggestions how to work around that so it will still be sturdy? I will be using this with two beach bikes and they have rather large handle bars that stick out far. How do you suggest I alter this to work around that so that they both fit with taking up minimal space?
10 years ago on Introduction
Are the 20" side boards from step 5 missing from the cut list? Surely I'm just missing it...
Reply 2 years ago
Reply 10 years ago on Introduction
Yes, thanks for catching that.
Question 3 years ago on Introduction
I'm hoping to build this for two bikes in my small apartment as well - about how much space (with the two bikes on it) would you say it takes up?
10 years ago on Introduction
Here is a 4-bike version. The whole build (not counting time buying hooks and lumber) took about 4.5 hours. I used slightly different hooks on mine. Rather than being a single long screw that goes into the wood, the hooks have a flat metal backing that spreads the bending moment over about six inches. These hooks were about twice as much at Home Depot than the style you used ($5 instead of $2.50), but I think they are very firm.
Reply 3 years ago
Hi, Can you provide details of your 4-bike version please. What is the width of it please? Many thanks Ben
Reply 3 years ago
Hi Ben, I built this rack 7 years ago and took it apart 5 years ago when I moved from that apartment. I don't have any measurements left at this point. I do believe I followed the suggested 12" spacing from the original Instructable, which would mean the overall width was approximately 48".
Reply 3 years ago
Thanks for replying. I plan to give it a go. Cheers Ben