How to Install a Ceiling Mounted Bike Hook
Sometimes it can be easy to forget the the garage is supposed to be a place to put your car. More often than not they end up acting as storage sheds instead. One way to free up some space is to install a ceiling mounted bike hook. Bikes can take up quite a bit of floor space and wall mounted hooks often don’t free up as much space as you would like them too. Thankfully, you can create a system to hoist your bikes up to the ceiling in order to save floor and wall space.
In order to build a ceiling mounted bike hook you will need a fifty foot rope, four screw hooks, five quarter inch pulleys, pliers, a screwdriver, a drill, two carabiners, and a cleat and screws.
Start by using a measuring tape to find the distance from your handlebars to your bike seat. Write this length down. It is the distance that you will use between the two pairs of pilot holes that will be drilled into the ceiling. Each pair of pilot holes will be separated by about five inches. All four of the holes should run along one straight line. If there are joists available, drill into them. If not, make sure you are using very sturdy anchors.
Next screw the hooks into each of the four pilot holes. Don’t screw the hooks in too far or you will not be able to attach anything to them. Leave about an inch of separation between the ceiling and the tip of the hooks.
Determine where it will be most convenient for you to stand when you are hoisting the bike up to the ceiling or lowering it back down. Attach a pulley to the three hooks that are closest to this location. Use the pliers to close all of the hooks, then screw them the rest of the way into the ceiling.
Mount the cleat on the wall next to the place that you have decided it will be most convenient to stand when hoisting the bike. The cleat should be installed at about a thirty degree angle, so that the top of the cleat is pointed toward the nearest hook. The cleat should be screwed directly into a stud or a sturdy anchor should be used.
Tie the rope to the empty hook. Make sure that the knot is secure. Run the rope through one of the two pulleys that you have not yet used. Next run it through the nearest hanging pulley, and the next hanging pulley after that. Run it through the last unused pulley, and then through the final hanging pulley. The two loose pulleys that are not attached to the ceiling hooks should then be attached to the two carabiners.
Run the rope through the pulleys in order to lower the carabiners close to your bike. Grab the loose end of the rope and cut off two portions of it. The first portion should be long enough to tie into a loop that will wrap around the front end of your bike seat, around the back of the seat, and to the carabiner. The second portions should be long enough to wrap around a secure portion of the handlebars, through itself, and to the second carabiner.
Attach the bike to the carabiners, then pull on the rope in order to lift the bike up to the ceiling. Tie the rope to the cleat. Wrap up the excess rope the way that you would coil up a garden hose and hang it on the cleat. When you need to lower the bike, simply untie it from the cleat and gently let the rope run back through the pulleys. This will lower the bike to the floor.
If you follow these directions properly you will have a ceiling mounted bike hook that lets you hoist your bike up to the ceiling and save yourself quite a bit of space. It is surprising how much clutter this can eliminate in your garage, providing you with a great deal more storage room for whatever it is that you need to make room for. You might even be able to find a way to park your car in the garage.