Condos and Bikes

[Alcova cyclist]

So we're thinking it's time to downsize from our single family home to a condo, but not really sure about the bike situation is most places. Some places seem to have nice bike cages/racks but that are pretty crowded, some much less nice (but still pretty crowded). In the spirit of N+1, I have 3 bikes and my spouse has 1, plus we have a tandem. Five bikes seems like a lot to store in a garage (and we really don't want to bring them into the living space). I can probably easily lose one of my singles... maybe 2 (though I like having a "bad weather bike").

I guess I am really just asking for general thoughts/recommendations etc. on how to store bikes safely and easily in a condo/apartment environment. We're basically looking from Ballston to Rosslyn and then into DC (Logan/Dupont circle areas), so if anyone has experience at any of the larger buildings in those areas -good or bad- that might be helpful too.

Thanks!

[jrenaut]

As the owner of a condo management company in DC, I would say you're going to have trouble. The larger brand new buildings (built within 5 years, maybe less) probably have decent bike parking, but I would bet almost nothing in Logan or Dupont will. Your choices will be 1) storing them in your unit or 2) the bikes get stolen.

[veleau_monica]

not the same b/c i rent but all my bikes sleep inside with me, in my studio. can your bad weather bike be capital bikeshare? that, plus creative wall storage. In larger units can you pull the couch out from the wall and slide a bike behind it plus another bike above on the wall?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/...t-small-space/

(i just don't own a dresser or any dining furniture so my bikes take up space normally used by those furniture items.

[ChristoB50]

I'm fortunate to have a (tiled floor) "breakfast nook" space as part of my 6th-floor condo kitchen's floorplan -- which I don't use as a breakfast nook. I got a floor-standing/wall-leaning bike rack for 2 bikes - I keep the lighter pedal bike hung on the upper brackets, and just park the heavier ebike on the floor directly beneath.
My condo garage provides a basic bike rack (ie, bikes in parallel, a wheel passed through the vertical slots.) I took one look at it when I got my ebike and decided I wouldn't be risking it... Many bikes apparently haven't been moved in years, judging by the uniform thick dust, dirt and flat tires -- which perhaps bodes well that they weren't targeted for theft? -- but the rack sits far from the garage elevator lobby doors, decreasing the number of residents who can casually observe it day in and day out...
Instead, it is "out in the open", in 2 otherwise empty car parking spaces ~40 feet from the neighborhood side-street-facing vehicle entry garage door, not enclosed within any kind of dedicated/fob-controlled room or cage. And, that garage-entry wall has a large cutout ventilation window (filled in with chain-link-fencing material) -- making the rack and all the bikes fully visible to anyone who wants to take a long look at their leisure, while standing outside our garage -- Should a bike strike their fancy, perhaps come back with bolt cutters and just discretely slip in once a car has activated the garage door and pulled away... (Maybe I'm paranoid, but it is way too easy to imagine this scenario happening!)
So yeah, my bikes always park inside my unit. If I come in from a messy/wet ride, I swing by my parked car in the garage where I keep some bike-cleanup towels in the trunk just for this purpose -- wipe the wet bike down before rolling it into the condo (carpeted) hallways, elevators, and my apartment.

[elbows]

Condos need to do what they do with other things and just charge per bike. Maybe some do. They should do that for cars as well.

I lived in an Arlington condo and was on the board. The bike room was a perennial issue. It was always way too full of barely used bikes (and regularly used bikes). As a daily rider, I finally got tried of maneuvering my bike through the madness (and regularly bruising my fingers, and greasing my clothes) and started keeping it on my deck, which violated policy but was not enforced. Honestly, if they had charged me $100 bucks a year or something (and similarly reduced condo fees) I probably would have thought harder about how many bikes to keep AND I would have been happier with my bike parking. (And the condo should definitely charge for vehicle spots which of course they didn't.)

#freeparkingisntfree Its true with cars and with bike room issues.

[Steve O]

These four bikes don't take up a lot of space this way. I ordered the carpet runner custom.
They are Michelangelo racks and just lean against the wall - no mounting necessary - making it relatively easy to take the bikes off, move the racks, and vacuum / clean underneath.

[ChristoB50]

That's the same rack I got -- purchased after seeing yours, in fact, a couple years back