My daughter is moving into a new apartment. It has a front door at ground level that opens onto stairs leading to the apartment upstairs. She has a bike that she needs to store and the best unused space is the high ceiling above the stairs. I am wondering if I can make some sort of hoist. The bike would be lifted onto a bracket and then hoisted up to the ceiling. The bracket would run in a guide rail that would ensure the bike is securely guided and doesn't swing or scrape against the wall. When I look at the various OpenBuilds components, it isn't clear if they will function with the v-slot, c-beam etc. mounted vertically, with some sort of gantry sliding up and down. Is it possible to have this type of force on the gantry? Are there, for example, runners that will run in a t-slot, with low friction. This would feel more secure. Any thoughts or ideas, especially from anyone who has already done something like this, would be much appreciated. Thank you, Julian
Safety would be the greatest concern here, not having the bike come down on your daughter's head. So a few questions to start. How do you plan to lift the bike? Are you wanting some form of electric lift, a hand crank attached to a pulley system, what? How much does the bike weigh? How wide are the handlebars? What is the inside spacing from the front to the back of the frame? (hook spacing)
All those are great questions. My initial idea is that some sort of sliding mechanism will stabilise the bike as it rises. If I can get some feasible way of doing that, I can look into pulleys, hoists etc, and address dimensions, hook locations, weight requirements etc. I have looked at linear guide rails but these are very expensive. If I can't get a cheaper solution using standard components, it isn't worth investigating further. Thanks
Looks great, but I don't think they are made any more. I like the idea of a gas strut for lifting though.
Honestly, you really can't beat the simplest solution. Silverline Bicycle Lift 20 kg (554289) : Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors and other similar systems go straight up so there wouldn't be much reason to worry about the walls. You'll just need to find a longer piece of cord. If a ceiling attachment is unsuitable, using a couple of XLarge C-Beam Gantry Kit - OpenBuilds Part Store on a C-Beam rail with a plate connecting them and a bicycle mount mounted on that plate would be suitable. Suitable bicycle mounts would include XIAO PEI Bike Wall Mount - Horizontal Indoor Storage Rack for 1 Bicycle in Garage or Home - Mountain Bike Wall Trailer Frame, Foldable Telescopic Bicycle Display Stand : Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors or Steadyrack Bike Racks - Classic Rack - Wall Mounted Bike Rack Storage Solution for your Home, Garage, or Bike Park : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools as both fold flat and would thus not be knee knockers if the lift was left in the lowered position. A rough sketch would look something like this but I'm not going to put in the effort to fake in the bike mounts. As the C-Beam track would have to be installed in sections, you'll find Quad Tee Nut - MAKERLINK (10 Pack) - OpenBuilds Part Store do a wonderful job in maintaining alignment. You'll also need to devise a hoist system to work with this. The rope, pulleys, and clutch brake from the top suggestion might be useful. As always there is a disclaimer. It is up to you and only you to determine the safety of any system you create and install.
Thank you very much for all that info and the suggestions. The C-beam and the gantry are what I was looking for. The bicycle lift looks what's needed to complete the picture. Thanks again. Much appreciated. Julian
