With and evergrowing fleet of bikes in our garage, our current system wasn’t cutting it anymore. We had four bikes hanging on the wall with pedal mount hangers and the kids bikes went where ever we had space. We added some floor stands to the mix, but we really wanted everything off the ground. And when the appropiate amount of bikes for a family is always n+1… we were quickly running out of space.
Then one day, like the internet was listening, an ad for the Stashed SpaceRail came across my Instagram feed. I was instantly intrigued. I started researching it and fell in love and knew it was the solution to our bike storage problem!
The Stashed SpaceRail is a bike storage solution that can maximize your space, gets your bikes off the floor and works with all sizes of bikes. Keep on reading to find out why we love it!
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we earn from qualifying purchases.
A Little Bit About the Stashed Company
Stashed was started when bike storage became tight after the founder had a family. Stashed is based in the UK and the SpaceRail was developed during the pandemic and launched spring of 2022.
The SpaceRail is their main product and everything else they produce is an accessory or extra for the SpaceRail.
Life changed when I had a family. The space we once had to store bikes was suddenly compromised and I had a choice; find a better storage solution or sell some bikes! That is how Stashed Products was born.
–Stashed Products
All About the SpaceRail
The Stashed SpaceRail is a modern way to store bikes and maximize space. You can mount it from the ceiling, from the wall, or even from an angled ceiling. The SpaceRail actual rail remains the same for all applications, just the mounting brackets change.
The SpaceRail is a modular system, designed to meet your needs and change over time if your needs change. You can store 1-24+ bikes on one continuous SpaceRail.
Each section rail is 44.9″ long and holds 4 hooks (for best spacing), you can connect an infinite amount of sections as long as the structure its mounted to it can sustain it. If you are looking for longer or shorter sections, reach out to customer service for a custom length!
For our family of four that has over two bikes per person, we decided to go with the 12 bike wall mounted package. 3 SpaceRail sections and 12 bike hooks.
SpaceRail Specs
Tech specs for ONE section of SpaceRail.
- Each SpaceRail section can hold up to 220 pounds
- Each SpaceRail section is 44.9″ long
- Recommended 4 hooks per section of SpaceRail (packages are sold that way)
- Standard hooks are rated to 65 pounds and hold up to 3″ tires. If you need to hang something wider than that, you will need the Fat Tire adapter.
- Each hook comes with two spacers, one for each side of the hook.
- Component materials: 304 Stainless Steel, Acetal, Nylon, 6063 T6 Aluminum, BZP Steel, Mild Steel
Wall, Ceiling, or Angle Mounted Options
Ceiling – Mount to rafters, joists, etc. This is the base for every system and the least expensive option since you don’t need other hardware and parts., even if you order “wall mount” you will still get boxes that say “ceiling mount,” plus the wall mount kit box.
Wall – For mounting to a wall that is perpendicular to the floor. 3 mounting positions available on install – 25.6″, 21″, and 16.1″ away from the wall. (We put it ours at the furthest one out.) Perk of the wall mount is that you can have storage above the rack on the brackets.
Angle – There are adjustable mounts from 0° to 120° to help you keep your SpaceRail parallel with the ground, even if your ceiling isn’t.
Installation and Use
Due to the high ceilings in our garage, we went with the Wall Mount SpaceRail. Installation was pretty straight forward, nothing too complicated. The hardest part was probably figuring out the proper height and making sure our line was level.
There are some great instructional videos on their site that I recommend watching while you are waiting for your rack to arrive on your doorstep, then have them on stand-by as you are installing. I also recommend reviewing the PDF instruction guide while you are waiting to figure out some of your measurements that are essential for installation. This will speed up the process if you already know where you want your rack. There were also paper instructions included in the box.
Here are some of the tools you will need for installation…
- 4mm hex key (included)
- 10mm Spanner Wrench
- Bubble Level
- Pencil
- Tape Measure
- 13mm Driver Bit
- 4mm Drill Bit for Timber
- Driver bit for fasteners other than timber
- Electric Drill
- Impact Driver
- Stud Finder
- A helper (makes it way easier, especially if you are installing multiple rail sections!)
For our measurements, we took our family’s largest bike (my husbands mountain bike), stood it up against the wall and then grabbed a hook to get a good visual where the rail needed to be so the bike would be a few inches off of the ground (there is a good diagram in the instruction PDF).
Next we set up our laser level which made getting wall mount brackets in a straight line much easier and used the stud finder to make sure we would have a well supported rack.
Once it was time to install the rail on the brackets, we initially used the 21″ setting but found we didn’t have enough room to swivel the larger mountain bikes without the handlebars touching the wall.
We then put it out to the furthest setting at 25.6″ and we can swivel all of our bikes. If you have mountain bikes, we recommend setting the SpaceRail at the setting furthest away from the wall. If you are ceiling mounting, check your distance from the nearest wall to make sure you have enough space.
Hook Spacers:
Every hook comes with two spacers in the bag. If your front axle is greater that 5.9″, it is recommended that you use the spacers so there are not any accidental bumps on the forks. If you are using spacers, if the hook with spacers is in the middle of other hooks, use spacers on both sides. If the hook is on the end, the spacer is only necessary on the side towards other hooks.
We ended up putting spacers on all our hooks, it wasn’t necessary, but it makes it easier if bikes swap spots, we know they have a wide enough space.
Adaptability
We love that this rack is adaptable to your needs. If you don’t need or want all of your hooks on at once, then leave some off. The end-caps are easy to remove, slide in or remove a hook, and tighten the end cap back on.
Its expandable, infinitely! We started out with 3 SpaceRail sections and 12 bike hooks. We have almost all of them full right now, but there is a bike or two that needs to be sold. However, if we do continue to grow our fleet, we could add on another section and 4 more hooks for more space.
We chose to organize our bikes on the rack by size, biggest to smallest. For us, this puts the smallest bikes near a rear service door, and therefore less impact as we use that door. This order also helps keep bikes from having bad alignment with their neighbor.
What We Love About the SpaceRail
There is absolutely so much to love about the SpaceRail! We love having our bikes off of the floor and that we have room for so many bikes (and more if needed!)
Space Maximization
The SpaceRail was designed to maximize your space. With the ability to alternate handlebar directions, you can get more bikes in the same amount of space.
The other big space saving design is that you can slide the hooks (with bikes) in the rail. Your bike is no longer stuck in the position where you hung your hook. This means you can slide your bikes nicely together and still have space on the other end of the rack. Or, if you need a bike in the middle out, slide bikes either direction to create a safe space to lift the bike out.
Bike Hooks
These bike hooks were a big selling feature for me. Not only do they slide nice and smooth in the SpacRail, they LOCK when they are unloaded. This was important for me because I am short and I have to lift my bike up to a hook that is well over my head. If the hooks didn’t lock in place, I would probably bump it with the tire and send it further down the rail and then I am chasing it.
These hooks are stationary when unloaded and they take about 10lbs of pressure to hold the spring mechanism down for sliding. No bump and run here. I have no problem getting my tire hooked on to the hook.
And they SWIVEL 360°. Load your bike with handlebars facing you, spin it around so the handlebars are towards the wall and then slide it down the track to maximize your space.
Ease of Use
This rack has been so easy to use. I am a small person (5’2″), and when my bike was hung on the wall it was such a process to get it down. Grab something to stand on, carefully lift off the wall and get it down. And if I needed my road bike, which was above my mountain bike, I had to repeat that process twice. First to get the mountain bike down and out of the way, then get the road bike down, then put the mountain bike back up and out of the way.
With the SpaceRail, I just walk up to my bike, lift it down, walk out of the garage and off I go! It has made our bike days so much easier. Putting them away goes the same.
Its even easier with our lightweight kids bikes. Just lift them off the hook when they are ready to ride, 20 minutes later put it away, 20 minutes later get it down again and its not a big ordeal.
Although we encourage independence in a lot of areas for our kids, we are currently OK with them needing to ask us for their bike. This allows us to make sure they are wearing proper helmets and gear, they can tell us their plan with their bike and we can get our reminders in about being responsible with our bike.
The rack keeps everyones bikes safe from tipping over on the floor or getting bumped into.
What We Were Not So Crazy About
There really isn’t much to dislike about this system, its solid and keeps out bikes organized. But, if we have to pick something, it would be the cost.
Cost – Plus Shipping and Duty Tax
This rack is an investment and if you are here in the states, you have to tack on even more for shipping and then later you receive a letter from FedEx about the duty you owe for your import. As mentioned before, the ceiling mount is the most cost effective because you have the least extra hardware.
Cost Compare for 4 Bike Hooks, 1 SpaceRail Section:
- Ceiling Mount: $389
- Wall Mount: $609
- Angle Mount: $467
Even though we were able to purchase this rack at a discount for this review, we still spent a pretty penny + $150 in shipping + $100 in duty that had to be paid via invoice from FedEx.
Now, we are very happy with this rack, but the price point is up there and I know it is definitely too much for many, including some of our team members here. Although not quite as much as a new XC race bike…
They Can Wiggle (but we knew that)
Anything hanging by a tire on a hook is going to have the ability to wiggle or twist a little, and the SpaceRail hooks are not exempt. However, I think the spacers do a decent job of keeping the bikes spread apart, you just need to watch pedal placement as those will likely be the fist items to bump a neighbor bike.
When we get a good breeze through our garage, I do notice the bikes sometimes gently swaying in the breeze. Other times one of us has accidentally bumped a bike and caused some movement, but nothing has ever caused any damage, and we typically keep them spread out on the SpaceRail with kids and dogs always in the garage.
If you are worried about pedal scratches, Stashed sells pedal covers or you can pick up some relatively inexpensive ones on Amazon. We recommend carefully sliding only one bike at a time and not pushing multiple to avoid any unwanted scratches.
Where to Buy the Stashed SpaceRail
Directly from Stashed.com! This is the only place to get your own SpaceRail.
Final Notes and Similar Products
All in all, we love our Stashed SpaceRail, it was the bike storage solution we needed for our garage. We have been using it for 4 months and don’t have any complaints. Our bikes are organized and off the garage floor.
I am a pretty indecisive person and I definitely over think a lot of purchases, and this one was no different. Before we pulled the trigger, I combed the internet to see what else was out there…here are some of my findings.
There are quite a few DIY tutoirals I have come across for similar function. There are also a few commercial products available now as well. But, these lack a few of my favorite features on the Stashed product – that the hook locks and swivels.
- DIY Tutorial by Joy of Bike – No swivel hook, no locking hook with this method, inexpensive but DIY.
- 1UP RS Slide Bike Storage – No swivel hook, no locking hook, but significantly cheaper and in the USA. (Check out our 1UP Car Bike Rack Review)
- Cieling Sam Bike Slide Pro – Newest one I have seen out there. Hooks swivel, but not sure if they lock. No wall mount option, you would have to DIY it. Made in the USA.
I am sure more companies will start to come out with a similar product in the future, but right now I think the Stashed SpaceRail is still superior to these other options.
Related Articles:
- Family Cycling Safety Tips
- Bike Ramps for Kids: A Beginner’s Guide
- Bike Maintenance Basics for Families
- 1Up USA Heavy Duty Double Rack Review
- VelociRAX Review
- How to Organize Outdoor Gear
Stashed SpaceRail Review
© 2024, Kids Ride Bikes. All rights reserved. Republication, in part or entirety, requires a link back to this original post and permission from the author.