Hanging bikes to store them - Damage bearings?

[Blakeatron]

Running out of room to store all the bikes...

So I can squeeze a few more in I am thinking of fixing a scaffold pole to the roof joists (approx 2.3m height) and then getting some large, hopefully rubber coated, meat hooks.

I can then hang the bikes 'top - tail' off the floor and make a bit more room!

Would hanging the bikes damage anything? Bearings etc - I am thinking they should be fine but just want to make sure, Told a friend my plan today and he recoiled in horror at the thought.


There is nothing too precious in the stable - 3 mountain bikes, fatty, kids bikes and hopefully a cheap roadie next year!

[anonymous-user]

I was told that suspension forks don't like it ...

[Some Gump]

Fine.
A bearing knows now which way is "up". Having the weight of the bike (9kg?) hung off a hook is somewhat less than the weight of a rider (90kg?) on the same bearing...

[Blakeatron]

^^ that was my thinking too!

Will have the expensive forked ones on the back wheel

[JimmyTheHand]

Blakeatron said:

Would hanging the bikes damage anything? Bearings etc - I am thinking they should be fine but just want to make sure

Last time I got mine down from the hooks it hung on the LBS wanted > £100 to fix it. Mind you I think that was due to the 10+ years it had hung on the wall and it involved new tyres, brake and gear cables. No issues with bearings etc. (drive train needs replacing - but was worn before its lie up and new bike on order so will ignore it). It has no suspension to worry about it, which would seem most likely issue. It rides as well as ever I remember it doing.

I suggest check putting on the hooks don't interfere/damage cables/levers etc.

[yellowjack]

I was in my LBS yesterday, and they store their 'awaiting repair' and 'completed repair' bikes in exactly the way the OP described. 'S' hooks hanging from a bar the length of the room on both sides, with the bikes hanging "top'n'tail" one by the front wheel and the next by the rear wheel. It seems to be an excellent way to make the most of the available space...

[47p2]

I hang mine on hooks, I decided after this picture was taken to hang them all by the back wheel and have never had any problems

[ndg]

With road bikes you can hang them either way up no bother. With mountain bikes there are two things to consider - forks and brakes. Hanging by the front wheel is (IMO) best as it means that the fork lube oil drains down to the wiper seal foams so they don't run dry, and any air in your brake system should migrate to the lever where it can get back out into the reservoir.

Brakes should be fully sealed and have no air in them, but I've had problems on apparently well bled bikes which were stored upside down before, solved by arranging storage so that the levers were slightly higher than the calliper.

[PHmember]

Mine are all hung up by the saddles. Never had any issues:

[budgie smuggler]

PHmember said:

Mine are all hung up by the saddles. Never had any issues:

Nice bikes mister, spin (composite?) wheels, judys and maguras. What bikes are they?

[PHmember]

Thanks, the bike nearest the wall is a 1992 Mongoose Amplifier, Spins front & rear on that one & Magura 20th anniversary Hydrostops.

The other one is a 1996 Raleigh M-Trax, built for Barrie Clarke & ridden to his 2nd XC national championship.

[budgie smuggler]

[PHmember]

Lol

[aka_kerrly]

That Raleigh is rather cool! I thought at first glance it was a Kona king kahuna titanium - another seriously cool bike from the early days of MTBing.

[PHmember]

I still want a Hei Hei with titanium Project Two forks.

The angle of the top tube on the Raleigh is very similar to early 90s Konas. It's roughly about a 16" frame.

[Ponk]

Admittedly the Zesty hasn't been down recently but I've not had any problems. Don't know why I didn't do it sooner as it saves so much space.

[aka_kerrly]

PHmember said:

I still want a Hei Hei with titanium Project Two forks.

The angle of the top tube on the Raleigh is very similar to early 90s Konas. It's roughly about a 16" frame.

Fine choice, it's been a very long time since I heard someone talking about Project Twos, let alone titanium ones - weren't those only issued to Kona race team?

[Eleven]

PHmember said:

Thanks, the bike nearest the wall is a 1992 Mongoose Amplifier, Spins front & rear on that one & Magura 20th anniversary Hydrostops.

The other one is a 1996 Raleigh M-Trax, built for Barrie Clarke & ridden to his 2nd XC national championship.

Are those Rock Shox Judy SLs?

I have some on one of my MTBs which I built in the 90s, had a few people want to buy the forks off me for some reason.

[PHmember]

That seems to ring a very distant bell, but I honestly can't remember if they were team issue only. I seem to remember them doing a titanium one piece Velocity stem & bar combo as well.

[Eleven]

PHmember said:

That seems to ring a very distant bell, but I honestly can't remember if they were team issue only. I seem to remember them doing a titanium one piece Velocity stem & bar combo as well.

I blew up the photo and it says they are Judy SLs, but then that could mean nothing. Sponsored users of sports equipment often get "ringers" which are bespoke but painted to look like the manufacturer's retail model.