Hanging Bike Storage--any remote-release locking pulleys out there?

[usn.mustanger]

I've got 8 bikes taking up way too much floor space in the garage, and since my garage ceiling is about 20', I'm going to utilize some of that high space to store the bikes. The idea I've got in mind is this:

• Mount >10' of 1 5/8" unistrut to the ceiling
• For each bike (8x), I plan on attaching a pulley to an eye-bolt equipped unistrut trolley
• This pulley will be what I use to raise and lower the bikes (the pulley will hook to a strap that wraps around a bike wheel, thus suspending the bikes vertically from the pulley)
• The bikes will then be able to slide together for compact storage, while allowing me to move and separate them to lower individual bikes when needed

Since each bike will be able to move laterally along the unistrut with the trolley, I can't just tie off the bitter end of the pulley rope to a cleat on the wall. So I need a locking pulley. However, all the locking pulleys I've been able to find release with a thumb lever--something I won't be able to reach when the pulley is over 18' above my head. I've found "quick release rope tighteners" like this one on Amazon, but those aren't actually pulleys--they just have channels in them that the rope passes through. So they won't be smooth, and I'm worried that, over time, the friction will wear the rope and/or tightener groove.

So my question is this--does anyone know where I can find locking pulleys that can be unlocked remotely like the rope tighteners linked above?

Thanks in advance!

 

[whateg01]

Hook it on the bike.

Also, 20' ceiling and the pulley will be over 18' above your head? So you're 2' tall?

 

[BurtEggley]

what ever you rig, plan on hanging them upside down on their wheels with hooks. Personally I'd rig a rectangular frame designed to hold 4 bikes and do two of them. Use an electric winch to raise and lower. If you make a rail for each bike in that frame, you can drill or choose holes to match the wheel spacing. If a bicycle changes then just change the placement of the hooks. Or look over your landscape and add a shed out of the way that is designed solely to store and work on bicycles - nothing else. Totally dedicated space.

 

[Stelzer]

To use the link for example, if you had the working end of the rope return to the ground, you could easily tie any one of 50 different prusik hitches on the working end, and have that prusik hitch anchored to something on the ground. Add a prusik-minding pulley to the rope for ease of use. 6 finger prusik is simple to tie and bi-directional, so it allows for infinite adjustment.

You generally want your rope or cord for prusiks about 15-20% smaller than the host line. Any bigger and it may not grab. Any smaller and it bites down too hard on the rope and is difficult to adjust. I do a lot of tree work on my property, so everything I have is what you'd find from an arborist supply, but it's all the same principle.

Incorporating simple prusik hitches would allow you to release the load progressively in a controlled manner. Takes longer to type out than set up.


how to tie a prusik
prusik cord that works good for 10-12mm rope
prusik minding pulley

 

[usn.mustanger]

Hook it on the bike.

Also, 20' ceiling and the pulley will be over 18' above your head? So you're 2' tall?

Lol, yeah, I meant 18' above ground, but didn't phrase that right. Anyways, the "hook it on the bike" answer might be the solution. Occam's Razor.

what ever you rig, plan on hanging them upside down on their wheels with hooks. Personally I'd rig a rectangular frame designed to hold 4 bikes and do two of them. Use an electric winch to raise and lower. If you make a rail for each bike in that frame, you can drill or choose holes to match the wheel spacing. If a bicycle changes then just change the placement of the hooks. Or look over your landscape and add a shed out of the way that is designed solely to store and work on bicycles - nothing else. Totally dedicated space.

This is a neat idea, and one that I (as an engineer) thought about, but I'm trying to keep things within a budget, and electric winches easily break that. And I'm trying to keep things a bit more compact, hence the sliding trolley's within the C channel (unistrut).

To use the link for example, if you had the working end of the rope return to the ground, you could easily tie any one of 50 different prusik hitches on the working end, and have that prusik hitch anchored to something on the ground. Add a prusik-minding pulley to the rope for ease of use. 6 finger prusik is simple to tie and bi-directional, so it allows for infinite adjustment.

You generally want your rope or cord for prusiks about 15-20% smaller than the host line. Any bigger and it may not grab. Any smaller and it bites down too hard on the rope and is difficult to adjust. I do a lot of tree work on my property, so everything I have is what you'd find from an arborist supply, but it's all the same principle.

Incorporating simple prusik hitches would allow you to release the load progressively in a controlled manner. Takes longer to type out than set up.


how to tie a prusik
prusik cord that works good for 10-12mm rope
prusik minding pulley

This is interesting... but anchoring anything to the ground would kind of defeat the sliding trolley system I was going for. But just so I understand... the prusik hitch would ride the working end and act as a stopper in the "prusik-minding pulley"? With the pulley almost 20' in the air, how would you loosen the prusik to release the working end of the host rope?

Thanks to all for the replies!

 

[whateg01]

Lol, yeah, I meant 18' above ground, but didn't phrase that right. Anyways, the "hook it on the bike" answer might be the solution. Occam's Razor.

Another, maybe better solution would be to have each trolley have a bar that extends downward with a cleat or hook on it. If it hooked on the bike, you'd probably want it to hook somewhere near the top so it doesn't pull the rest of the bike upward. It's doable but might be a pain to manipulate the hook from the floor.

 

[driftpin]

Get some sailboat pullies. A 'jam cleat' for the line will infinitely position the height of the bike wherever you wish. If the line is good enough for a 150 Genoa you don't have to worry about the weight of a bike or multiple bikes if you choose to go with some type of two three or four bike lift system.

 

[tarmy]

I hang 7 bikes on this. Uses a cheapo HF winch. Hard to see but I use a 2x2 20’ long tube steel with hooks attached. You can see the winch on the wall and a cable headed up. There is a remote control for the winch so you are not under it during operation.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

If you look up "deer hoist pulley gambrel" you'll find an actual pulley system with a locking/unlocking mechanism just like you are looking for. Might be overkill though as these are made for 200 lb. plus whitetail deer.

Just found this one as well that's more compact:

Pulley with Jam Lock

 

[Ing3018]

Bicycle pulley lift

We have 4 bikes hanging from the attached garage ceiling, each with one of the linked lifts. This has a locking pulley like the OP wants.

 

[walta]

Sell or give away the bikes. Once they are on the ceiling the chances of them coming down and getting ridden is almost zero.

 

[Dig Doug]

I went with this type of set up been in use for 5-6 years

I made a more positive attachment so nothing would come loose - you can see the blue rope on the rear tire

 

[whateg01]

I went with this type of set up been in use for 5-6 years

What is op going to tie them off to if they need to slide?

 

[Dig Doug]

mine is tied to the back wall. I can walk under my set up, and I haven’t ridden them in 4 years !

You set them at different elevations one high, one lower
hang one bike off the upper bike

hang 2 bikes off one set up - hook 1 tire on each bike and lift


This pulley locks in the cord, like a cam lock

20 feet is way up there you’ll need a long cord up to 50 ft !

 

[usn.mustanger]

Bicycle pulley lift

We have 4 bikes hanging from the attached garage ceiling, each with one of the linked lifts. This has a locking pulley like the OP wants.

I looked at those, and they're nice, but they won't work with the trolley system I envisioned in my OP. That's a key, since I've got to hang 7 bikes.

 

[usn.mustanger]

Sell or give away the bikes. Once they are on the ceiling the chances of them coming down and getting ridden is almost zero.

Well, I'm sorry if that's your personal experience, but my wife and I ride just about every weekend, so you couldn't be more wrong. Any actual suggestions for my question?

 

[usn.mustanger]

If you look up "deer hoist pulley gambrel" you'll find an actual pulley system with a locking/unlocking mechanism just like you are looking for. Might be overkill though as these are made for 200 lb. plus whitetail deer.

Just found this one as well that's more compact:

Pulley with Jam Lock

I like that suggestion, but those don't have pulleys, so they're pretty much just like the ones I linked to in my OP. However, if they're able to handle a few hundred pound buck, I suppose they can handle sub-40# bikes just fine! I might look into those, thanks!

 

[rzims]

I was looking for a pulley type system which is what I used for the kayaks. Ended up not finding anything I liked so I dedicated a wall. We ride quite a bit and I wanted my wife to be able to get her own bikes without the hassle/risk of lowering it from the roof of the barn.
Went with a simple hook system to hang the bikes from the front tire/

 

[usn.mustanger]

I was looking for a pulley type system which is what I used for the kayaks. Ended up not finding anything I liked so I dedicated a wall. We ride quite a bit and I wanted my wife to be able to get her own bikes without the hassle/risk of lowering it from the roof of the barn.
Went with a simple hook system to hang the bikes from the front tire/

Wow, nice! Very neat and tidy! Unfortunately for me, one of my objectives is to free up the wall that they're all leaning up against now. I have a very high ceiling in the garage, so I'd like to put that unused space to use to store my bikes while freeing up an entire wall of my garage for... wall-y things.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I like that suggestion, but those don't have pulleys, so they're pretty much just like the ones I linked to in my OP. However, if they're able to handle a few hundred pound buck, I suppose they can handle sub-40# bikes just fine! I might look into those, thanks!

Sorry...my bad. My post was confusing. The link I posted and the deer gambrel pulley are two different things. If you research deer pulley gambrel you'll see that they are 100% a pulley system.

That link I posted is something else I found that I thought might work. Yes, they are like the ones you linked. It says they can hoist 300 lbs. If you scroll down on that page that I linked you'll see that that company also makes an attachment so it does act like a true pulley.

Good luck. 8 bikes. You're either a serious cyclist...or have a huge family! LOL.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I hung mine vertically on a rack I built using these hooks, but if you scroll through their gallery you can see how others have done ceiling mount systems. You could make a unistrut carriage for everything and raise/lower them all together.

The Ultimate Unistrut Sliding Sliding Hook Gallery - Shop Gear-blocks

The ultimate Unistrut bike rack hook installation gallery showing how installers use their sliding hooks to improve their living spaces.

shop.gear-blocks.com

 

[Nomadmax]

This is how I store some of mine. They were originally sold at HF, I got them off CL.

 

[Notgrownup]

I’ve used this type for years for 2 bikes, my ceilings are 13’ high

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I've got 8 bikes taking up way too much floor space in the garage, and since my garage ceiling is about 20', I'm going to utilize some of that high space to store the bikes. The idea I've got in mind is this:

I was thinking about your project more. I am a cyclist and have dealt with bike storage over the years. Wondering if something like this would work for your 8 bikes. I rigged up a hoist for the top to my K5 Blazer in my barn that uses ropes, pulleys, and a Harbor Freight electric winch. Instead of having 8 separate pulleys to manage, with 8 different ropes, could you simply build a lightweight platform that would fit all 8 bikes and then lower and raise that platform with the simple touch of a button on the electric hoist. You remove and use the bikes that you want and when the ride is over back up they go with the touch of a button.

You can see in these pics how I rigged up my lift. I have 4 anchors points on the ceiling with pulleys that route the ropes over to my winch. I would think you could easily rig up something very similar for your bikes.

Just throwing it out there.

 

[Smilodon]

I’ve used this type for years for 2 bikes, my ceilings are 13’ high

General warning about these types of hoists. I've used a couple for many years, but the "rope" (cord?) that originally came with them was so awful, it disintegrated in a very short time (I live in a hot climate, and the closer to the roof you get, the warmer it gets). Replaced the cord and they have been going for many years with no issues. Just keep an eye on the original cord, or you'll have an expensive drop on the roof of a car or whatever is underneath them.

Or just budget in replacing the cord from the get-go.

 

[mysha52]

For your high ceiling bike storage, you might look into using a single electric winch to lift a platform for all bikes. It's efficient and may solve your space issue. As a side note, if you're upgrading your bike storage setup, don't forget about bicycle insurance uk. They offer great coverage options for different bike types, which I found really handy when I enhanced my own garage setup.

 

[duneslider]

I have somewhere around 18 bikes in my garage in various methods of storage.

The rope and pulley method is my absolute least favorite. The amount of rope needed for an 18' ceiling would be enormous; they are a hassle to work with, somehow seem to always want to jump off the pulley at the ceiling, generally a pain and not fun. That said, I have 4 bikes stored that way but the ones I put there do not get used often. Wife hates these and doesn't want to deal with them, kids will pull a bike down but they aren't ever putting it back up. I have had bikes fall off these a couple of times, luckily not on cars or people.

I have one of these racks link to rack that I use to hold 4 bikes but I likely could make quite a few more fit if I wanted. This one is much more user friendly and I use a cordless drill to operate it. It's a little slow but generally speaking easy to use. It really wasn't that expensive and I have a half dozen extra wheels and extra tires stored up on top of it as well. I would buy this again but it is still not super convenient to use especially if you are accessing it everyday, or even multiple times a week. On this one we put bikes that don't get frequent use, or we swap bikes back and forth during MTB season the road bike is up there collecting dust, during fat bike season the mtb goes up there. The wife and kids are totally fine using this one but generally still they don't put bikes back up because it takes too long. I really wish this one was just a button on the wall.

For the daily use bikes we use the Velocirax Tilt and Pivot This is obviously the easiest to use and that is what the bikes go on that get used most often. Everyone will remove and return bikes on this.

I agree that I like utilizing the ceiling space but I really think if you use your bikes often you won't be thrilled with the bikes being up high. In my last house I didn't have room for bikes in the garage, so ceiling was my only option and I used the pulleys. I did that for years and hated it all the time. I hated the ropes hanging down and in the way, I hated getting bikes down and putting bikes up, and dealing with the rope, and the rope getting tangled, the kids pulling the rope down and getting them all messed up. If you have to go up with them all then do it in a way that will make it as user friendly and easy to use as possible which usually means some sort of powered option.

 

[czarins]

Late to the party, but I’m looking into a similar system to get my less frequently used bikes out of the way. I’m looking to hang them by the front wheel and hoist vertically.

One other option to consider is a halyard lock type mechanism. They’re used in sailing to cleat a headsail at the top of the mast, letting you remove line tension down the mast once they’re cleated. You then pull on the line to release. The mechanism is very similar the button on a pen, where one click engages and a second disengages. Here’s an example, explanation starts at around 1:30

Everything from the sailboat racing world is complete overkill (and $$$) for this application, but perhaps someone has a similar mechanism with lower load ratings and more common materials. It wouldn’t be too complicated to reverse engineer.

 

[driftpin]

Late to the party, but I’m looking into a similar system to get my less frequently used bikes out of the way. I’m looking to hang them by the front wheel and hoist vertically.

One other option to consider is a halyard lock type mechanism. They’re used in sailing to cleat a headsail at the top of the mast, letting you remove line tension down the mast once they’re cleated. You then pull on the line to release. The mechanism is very similar the button on a pen, where one click engages and a second disengages. Here’s an example, explanation starts at around 1:30

Everything from the sailboat racing world is complete overkill (and $$$) for this application, but perhaps someone has a similar mechanism with lower load ratings and more common materials. It wouldn’t be too complicated to reverse engineer.

I earlier proposed jam cleats and pulleys to place the hoist line against a wall & out of the way.

 

[czarins]

Yes, jam cleats are certainly easier to find. It’s basically the standard for this type of thing.

The halyard locks are just a much easier system to use. The other benefit is that line tension is released when the lock is engaged. This means that the only load during use is at the lock, and the rest of the system only sees any load during lifting and lowering. On boats this means smaller and lighter spars, and in general it makes line management much simpler.

If that doesn’t impact the rest of the system, then a jam cleat is all you need. Personally I’m still on the hunt for an affordable halyard-lock type solution. Once you use it the benefits become pretty clear.