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Make your own free bike racks out of milk crates and bricks!

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By Practical Frog
We host international students and have ended up with an array of bikes stored in our garage.

Its a great way for the students to get around for free, as well as being quiet, healthy and environmentally great! The problem was the pile of bikes that was continually in the way. Or the pile you made over in the corner that was moved to get at the bike on the bottom and is back in the way again... :/

We looked at buying bike racks but weren't too keen on the price and then while scratching our heads in the garage last weekend, we had one of those serendipitous moments.

We put milk crates and bricks together and... Voila! One free sturdy bike rack!

Here's what I did...

 
Take your milk crates and fill them full of bricks - like so...

 
Do this in the place you want the bike rack as they get too heavy to move otherwise!
 

 
You need one more milk crate than you have bikes. ie three bikes needs four milk crates to hold them up, five bikes need six crates and so on...

 
This has worked amazingly well and is adaptable, moveable, expandable and de-constructible if we don't need bikes anymore! 
 
 
Some bikes fit better with the centre axel of the front wheel lifted up and placed on the edges of the crates.

 
Others just wheel in and stay standing up. As its fully moveable you can custom build each gap to its own bike!
 
We  used about eight bricks in each crate. That was enough to hold each bike in place without moving. The way the bricks go in doesn't matter...
 
This has been a wonderful addition to our garage! No more piles of bikes in the way and less damage to them as they were getting pulled apart getting them out of the pile. Its also easier to find the helmets as well!

We found our milk crates at the dump shop and the bricks came from my Aunties place - but you can find free bricks at all sorts of places, if you don't have any lying around... Rocks would also work as would gravel or sand in an old chook feed sack. (The possibilities could be endless!

Score card:
Green-ness: 5/5 for not buying a new one and creating one from items just sitting around. 
Frugal-ness: 5/5 for not spending a cent!
Time cost: Maybe 10 minutes..?
Skill level: (I don't think you need one for this project! - Its pretty easy!)
Fun-ness: More relief than fun to have the bikes undamaged and ready to roll when you need them!

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