Custom Bike Holder

This year, due to Covid-19, I could not row in my club. To stay fit, I cycled a lot. After I bought a bike, I was directly in love with it. In order to prevent that the bike gets stolen, I kept it in my apartment. However, this made my room look like a storeroom and took a lot of space, so I thought: “Hey, why don’t I just hang it on the wall?! Wouldn’t that look awesome?” I then designed my bike holder with Autodesk Fusion 360. I am very pleased with the end result and want to share it with you.

My bike holder is

• very easy to implement for everybody with simple tools,
• not expensive, stable and durable,
• a visual highlight and a very nice week-end project.

Finally, it is easy to adapt to suit a variety of different requirements.

Attached you can find the construction plans and a 3D-model.

• 18 mm (0,709”) plywood pieces in the following sizes
  • 284 x 202 mm (11,18” x 7,95”) --> one top
  • 284 x 130 mm (11,18” x 5,12”) --> one back
  • 270 x 60 mm (10,63” x 2,36”) --> two sides
  • 140 x 100 mm (5,51” x 3,94”) --> cut diagonally for two support triangles
• jigsaw (or another saw)
• drilling machine with 6 mm (0,236”) bit
• dowel jig
• wood file
• sandpaper (120 grit) or grinding machine
• wood oil and brush
• 6 mm (0,236”) wooden dowels; 30 mm (1,18”) long
• wood glue
• 2 big screws and matching dowels for mounting on the wall; around 8 mm (0,31”)

First of all, think about your circumstances and requirements. “What do I want to hang up? A skateboard, a light race bike or even a heavy mountain bike?” Ones you have an answer, take measurements of what you want to hang up. For my bike, I needed to determine the distance between the center of the handlebar and its outer edge and the diameter of the top tube (see Step 4). For my bike, which weighs 8,6 kg, I took 18 mm (0,709”) plywood.

Now, it is time to cut the plywood into the required elements. You can do this with a jigsaw, a table saw or a circular saw. When working with a jigsaw or a circular saw, use a saw guide to get a straight cut.

The next step is to drill the holes for the wood dowels. The diameter of the drill has to be the one of the dowels. Dowels with a diameter of 6 mm should work fine with 18 mm plywood. When drilling, it is very important that you do not drill through the plywood! To ensure this, mount a stopper on the drill bit. If you want to be able to disassemble the bike holder, take screws instead of dowels and predrill with a diameter that is smaller than the screw itself.

Now, take your saw, cut out a V-shaped piece in both side parts and round the notches with a coarse file. After that, sand the curved surfaces and edges with 120 grit sand paper. The breadth of the notches must be equal to the diameter of the top tube. The minimum distance between the center of each semi-circular notch and the wall-side edge must be half of the handlebar width. To accommodate the brake cable mounted under the top tube, create a tiny recess in the holding notches.

For smooth surfaces, sand the sides and edges of all pieces with 120 grit sand paper or a grinding machine. For visual aesthetics and in order to protect the bike holder against moisture and dirt, you can varnish all surfaces with wood oil.

Now, most of the work is already done. Yes!!! You just have to do the assembly, but prior to gluing the bike holder components together, join all parts in a dry run. There is only one way to put everything together, so it is very important to follow this order: First, put the triangular supports with the back wall together. Then assemble the resulting part with the top. Lastly, assemble the sides. After the glue has dried, the bike holder is stable and ready for use. Voilà!!!