Mid terraced house Bike Storage (in driveway Dublin North)

budhabob

Hi all,

I cycle to & from work 3-4 times a week and another member of the house will likely do similar soon. At present I bring the bike through the house - I'm thinking of fitting a bike rack (bolted down) in the driveway so that I can lock the bike outside during the week and only have to being it through the house at the weekend.

I am aware of the various bike sheds / shelters etc but trying to keep driveway usability and cost down - just wondering does anyone else do similar and how they find it?

Thanks.

beggars_bush

Buy a van. Put bike in Van.

Electric Nitwit

In my old house I put some gate hinge eye bolts through some old whiskey barrels off donedeal (and through a bigger plate inside so it wasn't just the wood holding them)

Not the best picture, can just see the rear one...

Half filled with polystyrene and general rubbish, then loads of soil to use as planters. They weighed a ton and the locks were solid, I was confident the bike was as secure as the D lock. Very cheap to make and, I like to think, they looked good too

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122588311#Comment_122588311

I hate to say it but this probably the cheapest, easiest and one that cannot fall foul of planning laws. I used a Saab93 when I lived in an apartment. €800 for an alarmed security storage facility. I would say it could be picked up for half that now. A van has the risk of being seen as a tool storage device would be the only thing of note, hence a car might be better.

loyatemu

you see on the continent they have metal rings attached to the front wall of the house for locking the bike to. Or something like this. Really depends on how worried you are about the bike getting wet, and obviously if it's a valuable bike I wouldn't lock it up out front at all.

Alkers

For security something like this and a heavy motorcycle chain would do: https://www.halfords.ie/motoring/motorcycling/security/magnumplus-anchor-4-bolt-heavy-duty-lock-536216.html

Doesn't interfere with the use of the driveway at all, we have one in teh front garden which I used to use for a motorcycle but it's been handy for trailers also.

You can get a wifi camera for cheap enough too, with motion detection / human detection as a deterrant.

budhabob

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122588632#Comment_122588632

I have a camera in place already. Something like this is a great idea, thank you!

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122589389#Comment_122589389

Not to be a cynic, but a camera won't put off most scumbags. Not having your bike on display is, in my opinion, the first and best step to prevent theft. Also then stopping deterioration of your bike quicker due to the weather, if you are going to lock it out front, you want some sort of cover. Yet again, an older car with a blanket to throw over the bike is cheaper, less likely to draw attention and will protect your bike from the elements.

tomasrojo

Few ideas here. PlantLock bit like barrel-based idea upthread.

https://thebestbikelock.com/how-to-lock-your-bike/#tab-con-4

tomasrojo

That site has summaries of ground anchors and bike covers too.

There's an interesting lawn anchor you corkscrew into the soil he mentions in the ground anchor page.

loyatemu

the best cheap option (which I'm alway recommending on here) - buy a old, cheap but functional bike on Facebook or Adverts, lock that outside for your daily runaround and keep the good bike indoors for using on the weekends.

alentejo

Maybe ask the OPW for advice on a bike parking solution;)

tomasrojo

If you're not wedded to using your current bike, a Brompton is perfectly usable as a commuter, and you can definitely get it into and store it in just about any dwelling, when folded. I use one for maybe most local journeys, because it's there at hand when I walk to the front door. If you put it in a bag you could put it under a desk at work.

beggars_bush

Did you buy the van/car yet?

Mefistofelino

Exactly how difficult is it to bring the bikes through the house? It cots nothing, doesn't require you to leave bikes in public view for most of the week, and you can do it immediately. Even if you had to put something like a velosock ( or even just a large bin bag) over the oily bits to bring it through, it can't be any more hassle than trying to load it into an otherwise useless van/ car.

JMcL

You don't say where you're based, but on the offchance you're near the coast, don't ignore the effect of salt air on anything stored outside. We're close to the coast and anything made from steel in particular practically dissolves in no time (e.g., the last Sky dish we had turned into barely held together rust in about 4 years)

We're mid terrace as well, and I just about manage to store the fleet (mine + family) inside. Do you store the bike inside at the weekend or in the back garden/yard? From the security, cost, and pernickity planning authorities. it might be worth it at the cost of a bit of hassle.

budhabob

Thanks all, definitely not getting a van... unsightly and would take up loads of space - sensible enough plan all the same. Based in Dublin 11, my bike is currently stored in the inside all the time - some food for thought in these posts

jethrothe2nd

I'm in a terraced house and realistically there is no ideal solution. However while its a bit of an inconvenience bringing bikes through the house, we quickly got used to it. Even if it was a complete pain in the h*le, I'd rather do that than leave them out the front.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122623172#Comment_122623172

An Old Saab 93 is ideal with the seats down for bike storage, vans can also attract tool thieves.

Cabaal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122595322#Comment_122595322

Bringing a bike through a house creates a blocker to easy and quick use.

I keep mine at side of a house and even thats a pain in the arse every morning and evening, bringing one through the house when its wet is going to be seriously annoying and it creates needless work!

nilhg

I think there was a trial of bike bunkers in the street for areas where houses don't have adequate space or access for bike storage, did anything come of it and would you guys consider using them if they were rolled out?

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122624274#Comment_122624274

Yeah we do the same. No garden out front, straight onto the path, but some folks lock them to the front of their houses.

Next door neighbour had her bike nicked from outside the house a few weeks ago.

I use mine every day of the week to cycle to work, so drag it through the house twice a day. My missus does the same. Drives us mental but absolutely no other option.

I really do want them out of the back garden too as they take up about a quarter of it! Dublin Council could really do with speeding up their bike bunker programme.

o1s1n

The programme has finally gone out to tender after years being stuck in limbo.

300 shelters by 2026 apparently.

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/bike-bunker-scheme-to-expand-with-300-new-shelters-expected-by-2026/a544672197.html

JMcL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122625458#Comment_122625458

The look quite nice, though it does look like they have wheel benders internally. It's a joke that the annual price is twice that of a car permit - should be 1/6 given you can store 6 bikes in the same space

o1s1n

It's a joke that it's twice that of a car permit but I'd still pay it if it got the bikes out of my house!

The waiting list is double over prescribed if I remember correctly so you'll be lucky to even get a spot at that price.