A good bicycle storage shed will serve many functions including:
- Security for your bike against theft
- Protection against the elements
- Free up valuable space in your garage, on the back porch or from behind your couch
- Make your bike convenient and easy to use
- Must be attractive to the neighborhood
- Should be somewhat invisible and not stand out or call attention to its self
And since this is CheapSheds.com, here are 2 more considerations:
- Cheap
- Easy to build
Security
Let’s begin with the first thing that most people ask of their bike shed, to protect it against theft. There are several levels of security for your bike. The first line of defense is to keep it out of sight. If people don’t know you have a bike then they will not be inclined to steal it. But if they know you have one then you need to plan on physical security.
The weakest point of a bike shed is usually the door. Either the door its self, the hinges or the lock or the door hasp.
Door
If your bike shed is metal like an arrow shed you have no security because someone can just lift the door off the tracks and set it aside. Or else they would just have to lean against it hard to push it in.
Hinges
Many sheds are built with screws holding the hinges on so all you would need to get in is a screw driver. So your bike shed should have carriage bolts holding the hinges and hasp on. This way no one can screw them out and take the door off.
Hasp
If your hasp is fixed and doesn’t rotate then it can easily be defeated by putting a tire iron through the padlock and twisting it off. This is very silent and easy to do. But if you have a rotating hasp then this will not be an issue. But weakness will be an issue because then all you will need to do is take that same tire iron, put it through the padlock or behind the hasp and pry it off. Even if you have carriage bolts the hasp can easily be torn away with a little leverage from a tire iron.
Lock
Even a good lock can be cut with a set of bolt cutters. But a good lock will at least look tough and might deter the casual bike thief.
Location
Where you put your bicycle storage shed will have a major impact on security. If it’s in the back yard behind a locked gate and out of site you will have fewer problems. But this might make it more difficult to access your bike so it will be a trade off.
If the shed is lit at night this will further deter thieves, as well as locating it under your bedroom window where you can hear if someone is tampering with it during the night.
Protection Against The Elements
Rain and sunshine can damage your bike so a bike shed should protect against both by simply being enclosed.
Free Up Other Space
Having a dedicated bike storage shed will free up space in your garage, under your back porch or from behind your couch so you can use it for other more valuable uses.
Make Your Bike Convenient And Easy To Use
If you have to dig your bike out every time you need it you will not be so anxious to use it. But if it is convenient and accessible you will likely use it more often and can get to it quicker. You can locate your bike shed close to a gate and you will not have to worry about carrying dirt into the house from the tires. Also a bike shed should allow a place to store bike accessories like helmet, gloves, shoes and water bottles etc.
You don’t want to have to lift your bike up either. A small person might not have the strength to lift a bike overhead to hang it up on a wall or ceiling hook. So you want to be able to roll it in and park it.
Attractive To The Neighbors
Many homeowners associations specify that any accessory structures blend in with the look of your house. Also you don’t want your neighbors complaining about an ugly bike shed so it could be made of similar materials as your house and painted to match. This way no one will complain about it looking ugly.
Invisible
A bike shed should not stand out or call attention to its self. This is another security feature. Make it blend in with the look of your house and paint it one color without a trim color so it doesn’t draw the eye. You might also disguise it by putting some vents on it to make it look like a hot water heater shed. Maybe even add a short stove pipe coming out of the top for maximum effect.
Size / Cost
The two largest factor in the cost of a bike shed are:
- Size
- Whether your purchase one ready made, in a kit or if you make it on your own.
Any shed can serve as a bike shed. The bigger the shed the more bikes you can put into it and the more bike related stuff you can store. A big shed will also give you a place to service your bike out of the weather.
An ideal bike shed would have enough room to stand up in, so at least 6 to 7 ft vertical clearance. And a few feet on either side of the bike so you can walk it in and sit it on it’s kickstand. Then you need a few feet behind to walk around it and get to the other side or out the door.
6 feet wide would do for a bike shed if you store a bike on either wall with walking room between them. If you want to park them side by side and walk on either side of both bikes you will need more like 8 ft wide shed. Plus about 3 feet behind to walk and get to the door.
So an ideal size for a 2 bike shed would be either 8×6 or 8×8. A ready made shed this size will cost a minimum of $1,000 and up to $3,000 for something really nice. Even if you make this size shed using my cheap shed plans, it will cost you about $500 to $600 in materials alone.
Another way to control the cost is to make your bike shed smaller. You can do this by parking your bike vertical and storing your accessories on a shelf or hooks. You can store 2 bikes vertically in a space about 4 ft square with plenty of room for accessories. You will not be able to get in the shed and service your bike but you can do that under the back porch or in the garage, then return the bike to its shed for the night.
By vertical I don’t mean hanging it. I mean rolling the front wheel up the rear wall and parking the bike standing on it’s back wheel. This way you will not have to lift but a fraction of the bikes total weight. Just enough to get it rolling up the wall. Then hook the wheel around a nail or peg and lean it against the sidewall.
It will stay in place nicely and take up less than half the space of standing horizontally on both wheels. And you can do all this just standing in the doorway of the shed. So you don’t need to walk around the sides of the bike. This will save another 50 % of the space requirement.
So rather than needing an 8×8 shed you can store 2 bikes vertically in a 4×4 shed at about 30% of the cost.
Portable / Modular
Aside from saving lots of money, a small bike shed will be portable so that you can easily move it if you want to change locations. Either across the yard or to another house. If you sell your house and don’t want to take the shed with you, you can sell it in the paper and someone can easily move it in a pickup truck.
This would be necessary for example if you rent a house or apartment. And you will have better luck asking your landlord for permission to locate a small bike shed near your apartment than a larger one.
Or you can make it modular to make it even more convenient to move. By modular I mean where you can take it apart and move the pieces then put it together at the new location.
Ease Of Construction
The only real option most people have is to build a bike shed out of wood. Metal takes special tools and the components are not readily available. However building a bike shed from wood only takes common hand tools that most people have in their garage or they can borrow from a friend or neighbor. And any Home Depot or Lowes has all the necessary components to build a wooden bike shed.
A Cheap Bike Shed Design
So our goal is to design a cheap bike shed to store 2 bikes at a minimum cost and with the least amount of effort and complications to build.