How to Make: a Wall Mounted Bike Caddie

In this Instructable I'm going to show you how to make your own wall hung bike caddie.

This is basically a cantilevered shelf that also holds your bicycle, and a helmet or jacket.

Many people like these because it gets your bike off the ground and out of the way. I hang mine high up the wall so things can be stored against the wall below it.

Many steps early on weren't photographed. I'm sorry. To make up for it I've added illustrations.

I also sell complete plans on Etsy, check them out, it's only $5 and helps me continue doing this for you all.

As you can see from the dimensions, this bike caddie is designed to be 14 inches by 14 inches by 7 inches. This fits my bicycle, an old Schwinn. The reason I chose these dimensions is to get my bicycle as close to the wall as possible to help it be as strong as possible. Imagine holding a weight in your hand close to your chest. Now imagine holding it as far from you as possible. In physics, that's called a moment. A larger moment is a larger force. I'll stop with the lesson there, but a small moment is better. Closer to the wall is better.

My handlebars are about 24 inches wide. That means the bike needs to be hung about 12 inches from the wall. So the entire caddie needs to be slightly larger than that, so I chose 14 inches.

14 inches wide also fits under my bicycle's top tube (between the seat post and the headset where the handlebars attach. So 14 by 14 it is.

7 inches is a bit more arbitrary, but it gives me room for a hook, and for bolting it to the wall.

1-3/8" is also large enough to fit my bike's top tube diameter. This can change with the bike as well.

Many of these dimensions will need to be changed to best suit your bicycle.

I often make these from oak, such as the one in the intro image here. But, since this is being made for a friend, I can't offer a photo of this one being hung, so the one shown here is my own red oak version.

Today I'm making one from Cherry.

I begin by running a face and an edge on my jointer, and then passing it through my planer to get the boards flat and square.

I know my caddie top shelf will be 14 by 14. So I cut enough wood to make this part, to about 15 inches. I always go a bit longer then trim it down.

Same with the sides and back. The back is a bit smaller though, since it'll fit between the sides and under the top.

For mine, I ended up with 4 boards that are 15 inches long and about 7 inches wide. I also needed an extra 1 inch by 15 inch plank. Since I need the top to start oversized, I added a 1 inch board in the mix, you'll see in a second.

I use a biscuit jointer, but you could use dowels, maybe pocket hole screws, or even just glue.

Line up two of the 14" x 7" x .75" as well as the 1" x 15" x .75" boards.

Draw a line with they touch, crossing the seam, marking both boards. This will tell you where to cut a biscuit slot. Sometimes I add two lines near each other. This helps you remember what boards went where and with each other. I hope that makes sense.

Cut the slots at these points.

Add glue to the edges and slots.

Insert biscuits into slots, and clamp all three boards together.

The back panel sits between the sides and is below the top. Since we know our dimensions are 14" x 14" x 7" the width of your back panel should be 14" minus the width of you materials times 2.

If all your material is milled to 3/4" thick, that means the back panel should be 14" - 1.5" = 12.5"

And since the caddie height dimension is 7", the back panel should be 7" - .75" (the top) = 6.25"

There are also two holes for mounting the caddie to the wall in the back panel. I use toggle bolts. These don't require a stud and when used properly can hold a lot of weight.

I like to drill holes for these in the back panel near the top so the caddies weight is more hanging from the toggles bolts, not "sitting" on them. I also countersink these into the back panel. It looks nice.

Lots of these dimensions with be based on your bicycle. But assuming you've got that figured out, you can use either a jigsaw or a bandsaw to cut these shapes. You could even keep the sides rectangular, but a nice taper looks nice, and reduces weight farther out in the caddie, removing extra unneeded stress on the toggle bolts.

I use a drill press to first cut the holes that will accept your bike in both arms / sides. Then I cut out the corner with a saw to allow the bike to drop into the caddie.

I also use a sanding cylinder on my drill press to sand the insides of these arms.

I use a router table to ease all my edges, but you could also use sandpaper to soften all of the corners.

With the caddie loosely assembled with clamps mark where you'll need biscuits or dowels. I like to assemble the sides to the back first, then add the top. Proper, careful measurement will ensure your caddie will assmeble nice and square.

When you're ready, add glue and biscuits, and clamp all together.

I like to use 3mm foam padding from Hobby Lobby. I cut it into to strips just under 3/4" wide (the width of my sides) and use epoxy to glue it in place. It's cut to a perfect length to fit in the holders for the bike. I also like using blue tape to hold it in place while the glue dries.

The black one shown is what I use, but as you can see, it's available in lots of fun colors as well.

Finish with your choice of oil or varnish. A simple wipe of poly or oil is sufficient.

Following your toggle bolt instructions, install the caddie onto your wall, and enjoy!

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