Who would not like to have a well-equipped and functional space to take care of your bicycle and maybe even friends’ bikes?
But often the only available space is that of the basement or garage, which is definitely insufficient to set up a workshop properly… so, how to do that?
Organise the spaces
The larger space is surely reserved for the bicycle, so you can move yourselves around it to reach all its parts with ease. You will need to place the tools on the walls and you need a kickstand to secure the bike during work. Let’s see the steps to follow in detail.
Protect the floor
Treating your bike means having to deal with oils, greases and lubricants. Such stains are difficult to remove and then it’s best to prevent, lay out on the floor some cardboard, pluriball or low quality parquet available in any DIY store. Creating a surface as smooth as possible will also help you to not spend hours on the floor looking for some small piece fell down.
Equip yourselves with a kickstand
A good quality kickstand is a necessary investment, because working on the upside-down bike is very uncomfortable. The ideal is a folding kickstand that occupies very little space once stored in its pocket.
Equip the walls
With the smallest space available, the best solution for storing all your tools is to equip the walls with panels, shelves, hooks.
Organise the equipment and spare parts
All bicycle equipment must therefore be arranged in an organized way on the walls (wrench, screwdrivers, clippers and whatnot). Among the components you’re dealing with, be careful to the many small objects (screws, bolts, nuts, etc.) which may be lost. The best thing is to reserve some labeled drawers or boxes according to the contents. The same system can be used for spare parts: you can use those large plastic chests that are found in DIY stores.
Provide for lighting
Usually the basements and garages don’t have a very efficient lighting system. To enhance it you can use painter’s spotlights or mechanic’s lamps.
Having a workbench
Would make repairs much simpler. Having a supporting plane is always very useful, but of course you have to evaluate the available space.