The bike rack at left is similar to one I built on Home and Garden Television's In The Workshop, with one major change; the one here is made of Trex recycled decking boards. On television I made it out of spruce. In reality, you can build it out of any material. This project is what I call 'a must': you must get the kids to help with it, since they're probably why you need one in the first place. How many times have you pulled into the driveway after a long day of work and fighting traffic, only to find a roadblock of bicycles blocking your path? It isn't enough that you have to pay for the bikes, but now you have to plough your way through them—and buy replacements—just to get to the dinner table. Getting your kids to help build the bike rack will give them a stake in its use.
The size and number of bikes a rack can hold is only limited by the fact standard lumber comes in 16' planks. Whatever length you choose, take some advice from an experienced father: You'll need more bike space than you think. The version shown here will hold three bikes.
Regardless of size, construction remains similar—2 x 4s for the horizontal stringers, with 2 x 6s for the upright wheel holders. Fasten all parts with #12 x 4" wood screws'not nails -- for two reasons: Screws hold better and can be removed if parts need to be replaced or adjusted.
Cut a supply of upright wheel holders to length, then angle their top corners, as shown in the plans. Use a router with a 1/2" roundover bit to ease all edges that will remain sharp and exposed after assembly. (Note that Trex comes with rounded edges.) Next, fasten a wheel holder at each end of the stringers, with the stringer's bottom edges 3/4" off the ground. This minimizes ground-to-wood contact, making rot less of an issue.
Once the two outside uprights are in place, it's time to build custom-tailored parking spaces for the different tire widths in your fleet. Put a bike wheel tight against an end upright. Then fit a stringer flush against the other side of the wheel and screw it in place parallel to the first. Simple enough, isn't it? Just be sure the tire is fully inflated, otherwise the wheel slot will be too narrow.
For smaller bikes, start out with the same prescrewed wheel upright, butting the smaller wheel next to it, as with the big one. Position the second upright tight to the other side of the wheel, but secure it at only one end. Next, lift the wheel out, then angle the loose end of the upright in towards the first one. The two uprights should be 1/4" narrower at one end. This lets you drop in smaller wheels in the wide end, then lock them tight with a shove forward into the narrower end. When the younster graduates to a full-size bike, unscrew the narrow end of the pair of uprights and make them parallel.
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