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This bike rack on castors makes it easy to store multiple bicycles in a tight space and can be built in just a day.
The project
We recently had our council hard rubbish clean up, so I figured it was a good time to organise the storage under our stairs. Our biggest problem was all the bikes and scooters. I needed to organise them in a way that allowed us to move the bikes easily to access the storage behind them. Using timber and bike hooks from Bunnings, I created this bike stand on castors. Can’t believe how easy it is to store them away and move them. After measuring the heights and widths needed and cutting all the lengths, I was able to knock it out in a day.
How to build a portable bike stand
As I wanted this to fit in the storage room under the stairs, I had to make sure it would fit. If you're planning on making this for an open area, you can make the stand wider with more space between the bikes.
Stand dimensions
Height: 1.6m plus castors
Width: 47cm
Depth: 67cm
Bike dimensions
Length: 1.7m-1.8m
Handlebars: 63cm-70cm
Wheel size: 67cm-70cm
Materials
700mm x 350mm structural timber
Timber screws (minimum 20mm)
4 lockable castors
2 wall-mounted bike hooks
Wood cuts
Stand
2 x 1.6m
4 x 40cm (stand supports)
2 x 20cm (vertical supports)
Base
2 x 47cm
4 x 60cm (7cm wheel gap)
2 x 8cm (bottom wheel rest)
Crossbeams
4 x 46cm (cut angles: 55 degree and 30 degree).
Step-by-step directions
1. Measure and cut all required lengths. Pre-drill if you can.
2. Screw together the base (making sure it is square). Use the wheel rest as a spacer for the wheel gap.
3. Attach the 1.6m lengths. Clamp the stand supports to ensure the correct spacing for the bikes, then screw together.
4. Attach the crossbeams.
5. Attach the bike hooks. The second hook should be 10cm lower, allowing room for the handlebars and a gap between the pedals.
6. Once you are satisfied with all the measurements, attach the castors.
Important notes
My bike stand was designed to fit a small storage room. Alter the plans as required for your needs. Increasing the stand width will allow you to hang both bikes upright with ease.
Make sure the bike hook has a protective cover to reduce the chance of damage to your bike's rims.
Lockable castors add stability but also make it easier and safer when attaching and removing bikes.
Thanks for posting this.
Considering something similar with a modification to make it possible to roll the bike on and off with stand placed down longways. Could be simpler to get the bike on and off. May even consider combination of wheel at the corner end to allow it to be moved like a trolley jack. I've sketched out some ideas. The hinge may add un-necessary mechanical complications and could be dispensed with.
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Lifecycled. It's a pleasure to have you join us, and great to see you've taken inspiration from this project.
By changing the back set of swivel castors to fixed castors and placing them right at the edge, you could push the current design around like a trolley jack. I've created a scale rendering to check those clearances, and it appears everything works. Your idea of adding trolley wheels would also work quite well.
I'll be looking forward to your project coming together. Please reach out if you have any questions or need assistance.
Mitchell
Thanks @Tara86 for the inspiration with this bike stand.
I built one very similar, with few minor changes. I used a fixed version of the bike wheel hooks (as per picture) - these are a bit more expensive (~3x) but allow insertion of the bike in the rack without having to use one hand to lift the hook to engage it with the wheel; instead, you can use two hands to manoeuvre the bike, with less chance of it falling over.
This bike hook also comes with a "tyre tray", normally used to locate the rear tyre on a wall, to stop it moving sideways. I used this at the base of the bike stand (as per photo) for the rear tyre to rest on; otherwise I found the tyre could jam in the wooden frame and/or the frame would dig into the tyre.
The other thing I found was that despite using structural pine (MGP10), the uprights were a bit bendy. I had some aluminium angle laying around so I attached these to the back of the uprights to stiffen them (can be seen in first photo).
(As an aside, it seems that long, thick pine is only available in treated now, either H2 or H3. This is annoying as the chemicals tend to get on your skin. I'll probably paint it to avoid this, at some stage in the future).
