Inside My Gear Shed: How I Organize Bikepacking Gear In a Small Space

As bikepacking season comes to a close for many of us, I thought it would be fun to share how I store and organize my bikes and bikepacking gear in a small space.

Two years ago my husband and I moved into our dream house on a beautiful rural property. Only one problem: no garage! Not even any obvious place to build one on the steep forested land.

No problem, the cars can live outside. But what about our precious bikes and gear?

Between the two of us we’ve amassed a very respectable collection of outdoorsy toys. So the first thing we did was get a 9′ x 12′ shed installed in a corner of the driveway, and set about consolidating the contents of our previous 2-car garage (minus the cars) into the tiny space.

I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. Though I do wish for a bigger space, the constraint will keep us honest about what we actually use and what we ought to sell to make more room when needed.

So let me take you on a tour of my little gear shed. The pictures aren’t beautiful and I haven’t taken the time to make everything perfect and Instagram-worthy, but it’s definitely real and authentic and I hope it gives you some helpful ideas for how to organize your own gear.

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The Bikes

Between the two of us we have seven bikes. They are not all fancy, but we still didn’t want to store them outside. Honestly we ought to sell a couple, especially the old ones my husband doesn’t use any more (definitely not any of mine!). Someday we’ll get around to it.

In the meantime, we store the bikes vertically on the back wall of the shed using these simple and cheap wall hangers from Amazon, one on each stud 16″ apart. You could DIY something even simpler with standalone hooks, or choose a more elaborate rack, but I find these to be a great happy medium.

I strategically alternated drop bar and flat bar bikes, and big and small bikes, in order to fit them close together. I chose the height of each hanger so the bottom wheel rests on the ground. This makes the bikes a lot easier to rack — just tip onto the rear wheel and roll toward the wall — and takes pressure off the mounting setup and the bike.

The seventh bike is currently missing its fork (I’m borrowing it on a different bike), and it’s hanging comfortably from the ceiling using two of these big hooks. I also have a few similar hooks holding wheels not currently in use.

Above the bikes I hung a deep flat shelf, a custom contraption using this wire grid display panel with some brackets and heavy-duty steel picture hanging wire. It holds bulky, short, lightweight things like spare tires, racks, and handlebars.

The Bags

Thanks to my circuitous journey through different bikepacking setups over the years, plus the occasional opportunity to test gear samples, I’ve amassed quite a few bikepacking bags. They’re messy and floppy and don’t stack well, but I’m pleased with my cheap and functional solution: these large zipper tote bags.

Currently I have things sorted into two tote bags: one for back-of-bike bags (seat bags, panniers) and one for front-of-bike-bags (fork bags, handlebar harnesses, stem bags, etc). If the collection grows much more I may need to add a third. They are quick and easy to rummage through when it’s time to load up, and also easy to throw into our ambulance camper when taking a road trip with bikepacking mixed in.

Cargo cages and Voile straps get their own medium-size plastic bin. I also have a large plastic bin full of bottles and water bladders, though these could easily go in a flexible tote bag as well.

Bike Repair and Parts

I’ve always tried to do as much of my own bike maintenance as possible, so that I know my way around my bike when something breaks in the middle of nowhere. I’ve accumulated a bunch of tools and parts, some I use regularly and some I keep around “just in case.”

The large parts I store in plastic bins, loosely organized by theme (tubes and tires, cables and housing, lights and safety, etc) or in some cases by bike. The small parts live in this small parts organizer with labeled drawers. These are also the supplies I dip into when building my repair kit for a bikepacking trip.

This being California (and having no garage) I do all my bike work out in the driveway. I have a bike stand that lives in the shed, and a small wheeled cart with the tools and supplies I use most often. During the rainiest parts of winter I have to plan my work around the weather, otherwise this setup works nicely.

Camping Gear

Most of our camping gear does double-duty for bikepacking and backpacking. The smaller items are sorted into themed plastic bins (kitchen, water, hygiene, safety, etc). I find the 20-ish quart size works well for most categories, though a taller 30-ish quart size is helpful for bulkier items like stoves and pots.

Larger items like tents and sleeping bags are stored on garage-style shelving. Sleeping pads and tarps live in a hanging closet organizer.

Miscellaneous

I’ve tried to find easily accessible spots for the gear we use regularly on day rides. Helmets and gloves live in the hanging closet organizer by the door. Hydration packs, occasionally necessary for mountain biking or bikepack racing, hang on hooks on the shed door alongside our hiking packs.

My bike shoes are in a hanging shoe organizer along with a bunch of other small items, though this only works if you have small feet (my husband’s shoes don’t fit).

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of my messy and beloved little gear shed! Whether you have the luxury of a garage or cram your gear into an apartment closet, I hope I’ve sparked a new idea or two for cheap space-efficient storage.

Do you have your own ingenious gear storage systems? Please share in the comments below!