Hanging a mountain bike by the wheel for storage

Hi folks

I’m new to this bike stuff 🙂 and I’m seeking some advice. Will it damage my bike/wheel if I hang my bike by the back wheel in the shed? I’m trying to free up a bit of space for some other stuff but don’t want to cause any damage to my bike.

Thanks in advance.

Wheel should be fine. I’ve known some hydraulic brakes (Magura Julies) not like being upside down though.

If you think about it the wheel survives fine with X stones of you effectively hanging from the spokes so the weight of the bike is not going to trouble it.

I hang all of my bikes by the front wheels and have never had a problem. Halfords sell some cheap Mottez hooks for doing just this.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_249484_langId_-1_categoryId_242557

What he said. The only thing I’d add is that some forks (eg my Pace ones) leak if left hung up (usually when hung by the front wheel) – All my bikes are hung by their front wheels except one which leaks if I do that…

+1 i have my bikes hanging from hooks in the garage wall and no problems in years of doing this, no wheel damage, no bike damage and even the susupension forks are fine, check they work / pressures good, go ride.

Yep, it’s fine. All mine are hung by alternating wheels to save space using BBB Parkinglots. The bikes hung by the front wheels get their fork wiper seals lubed which is a bonus. Never had a problem with brakes although if there is air in the lever I suppose it could make its way into the hose.

Thanks for the replies folks, I’ll pop to halfords after works and see if i can pick up some of those hooks eskay linked to.

Thanks

I hang mine by the front wheel also- it does the fox internals good by keeping the upper chambers lubed!

I hang my tandems from the front wheel to no detrimental effect. Plus all the mountain bikes and road bikes. Wrap an additional couple of layers of 18-23c innertube around the hooks (like bar tape) because the plasticote finish wears off and you will then mark your rims.

Can’t do it with a 29er though, the wheels will explode. With 650b, it’s fine on brick but if you’ve got a wooden wall it’ll come to life and you’ll end up needing to prune it regularily.

Lots of people do it without issues.

Hanging by the front wheel gets the bars higher up and gives a bit more storage space lower down (where the bars would be getting in the way perhaps). However, the only thing I was warned of by a fork manufacturer is that the fork bushings may deform over time given causing sloppy forks when hung by the front wheel. I don’t know anyone having this problem and they are most likely just covering themselves…

The easy solution and best of both worlds is to hang by the front wheel and make sure the rear wheel is taking the weight of the bike and the hook is just keeping it in place (i.e. rear wheel makes contact with the ground). Plus more storage space on the ground too.

I keep 3 bikes this way, held by the front wheel. I do have the hooks set to keep the rear tyre on the ground rather than having the bike suspended fully by the front wheel.

No issues for me over the last 6 years or so.

If the wheel couldn’t hold the weight of the bike I’d be worried about riding it 😯

missing every third spokes leaves plenty of room as well

probably wont work in your shed, but when I was looking for a shed storage solution I saw this which looks ace if you have the room at home 😀 – my missus wouldn’t entertain it however 🙁

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Bike-Bicycle-Ceiling-HOIST-STORAGE-SYSTEM-Pulley-Lift-Hanging-Rack-w-hooks-/300927802966?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item4610b1de56

Don’t hang them if you have high end milled out mavic rims as they machine them so thin it dents them.