Logistics of owning Mountain/Road bikes in the city (San Francisco: apartments, rentals)

[seattleman80]

My questions are about the logistics of owning multiple bikes and a car in the city.
I am planning to move to San Francisco this fall/winter. I visited for 4 days in February and got a feel for some of the neighborhoods I like & can afford, like Mission and Inner Sunset. I would probably get a 1br apartment. I’m an active mountain biker and road biker, I get out 2-3 times per week. After-work rides and bigger trips on the weekends. Compared to where I live now (Seattle) I could add a few months onto my riding season because of alightly warmer temps, more light, and slightly less rain. That’s a big part of my desire to move.

Right now I have an apartment with an assigned parking spot in an outdoor lot. I also have a locked storage cage in the basement, it fits 3 bikes and more junk above on a big shelf. There is a free space in the lot where I can set up my bike stand for doing repairs, and a hose nearby for washing the bikes after muddy rides. I have a roof rack on my Subaru and it’s real easy to move the bikes out of the storage unit and onto the rack. I have a deck too if I want to work on my bike there. I like this setup.

in San Francisco I would rent a 1br apartment in the city and use street parking. Would it be safe to leave my old dingy Yakima roof rack on, is theft a problem? It locks to the roof rails but anyone with a Torx driver could lift the whole thing off. And where do people store their bikes? Looking at apartments it seems storage space is not common. What about hosing off muddy bikes?

Basically I want to maintain my biking lifestyle while living in the city. That includes a space for me to work on my bikes, hose a muddy bike off, easily get the bikes on the car to take them to the mountains for an after-work ride. Road bikes are easier because they don’t get as dirty and I can just start my ride from my front foor.
Curious how people make it work in the city without owning a house, garage, etc. Thanks in advance.

[llowllevellowll]

Most people hang their bikes in their apartments. Sometimes the bikes get to take up just as much space as the tenant themselves. At Target, you can find a stackable (2) bike rack for storage that doesn't take up much space for $35-50 (might have to order it online) and I'd venture to guess that that's the best way (certainly how my smarter friends do it).

Some of the newer-stock apartments and condos have dedicated storage for tenants, but it also comes at a price.

As for your bike rack, I would certainly think many thieves would have little use for it and probably not realize its value, but I'm sure there are some that might. I've seen cars get broken into for what seems to me to be the pettiest of items. Bike theft is huge in SF, but a bike rack? The immediate use factor is certainly not there. I'm not really sure. Sorry.

[mayorhaggar]

I wouldn't really worry about the bike rack. Lots of people here have ski racks and so on. Maybe see a bike shop and see if they have any ideas how to make it more theft proof, they can be pretty ingenious.

As for storing a bike, it really depends on the apartment. Many buildings have some sort of garage or storage place in the basement, like a big laundry room or a small parking garage where one or two bastard tenants (who either pays extra or are buddies with the landlord) park their cars and everyone else can store their bikes. But lock up the bike even there, you never know when someone will leave it open or unlocked and some crackhead zips in and out with your bike. If an apartment doesn't have any shared storage area then you'd have to store the bike in your apartment. Best thing would probably be to install a hook in the wall and store it vertically--if the landlord will allow it. If the hallways are big enough the LL might let you keep the bike in the hall, but again lock it even there just to be safe.

As for hosing off, that depends on if the apartment has any kind of a backyard or rear area with a faucet.

[seattleman80]

Thanks everyone. I also got some good responses over on the MTBR.com forums:
Logistics of owning Mountain/Road bikes in the city - Mountain Bike Forums

[mayorhaggar]

Also just so you know, in nice parts of Oakland apartments can be $400 less than in SF, street parking is waaaaay easier, and you're more likely to have a shared backyard and a basement or shared garage. My apartment building in Rockridge has a big basement where everyone keeps their bikes and a yard around the back and side, you'd rarely see a building like this in SF. And Rockridge is 20 minutes from downtown SF on BART. It depends on where you need to commute to. Maybe you are really set on SF but it's just something to consider if you end up running into a wall looking for rentals in SF.

[jade408]

My building near Piedmont Ave (and most in the area) has deeded below grade garage spaces, above parking spot storage and there is also a secure stairwell/alley area that would work out well. (The secondary open air staircase is between buildings, and each side of the fence requires a key to get in. It also isn't visible from the street. My neighboring building is the same. Pretty much every building on my street has a similar layout.