OFFICIAL - Post your bicycle workbench area

Current iteration:

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I've had a pretty nice all-things-bike man cave in my basement for years now. I've got my indoor cycling "studio" on the "finished" side (including bike storage and my Zwift setup) and my bike shop and wardrobe area on the other side.

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The finished side is pretty much what I always wanted it to be now, but in the shop area there has been one issue that I had that I've always just kind of pushed off - the lighting. It's not a great picture of the full space, but you can see how the shadows play on the left side of the work area below:

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I always just kind of lived with it because I have a light that I can roll around (you can see it in the lower right in the photo above.) This was a "good enough" solution for a while but not ideal. The problem I always thought I'd have to live with is the duct running down the middle of the room and the only light fixture is on the right side of it.

But my wife had a repair she wanted to do upstairs and asked me if I had any other work so we could make it worth the electrician's while to come out. I said I didn't really have anything pressing but I'd always kind of kicked around the idea of new lighting in my shop if it were possible. So the electrician came out to look at the various jobs and the first thing he said when he saw the basement was "oh yeah, you want more lighting here." And he had just the solution for the duct issue - two strip lights, one on either side of the duct. These things are incredible!

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I so wish I did this years ago! Of course, now I want to do ALL the crazy things I've kind of thought of in the last dozen years down there - redo the shelving, add some wheel-storage, etc. so well see how this snowballs. But, man, walking downstairs and seeing this for the first time really put a big smile on my face.
 
Mandi trying to kick me out of my side of the garage as we now have 20 2 wheeled things in the garage and 4 in our current shed. In doing so, I may be looking at a new and improved shed, 10x20 sized or so, or as big as our HOA would allow for whatever we want to spend... This would store most bikes and maybe a workbench, lawnmower crap, while the garage would serve for "on deck" bikes and the rest of my real tool things. I would run electricity and have a AC unit in that jawn, which is actually a upgrade compared to the garage with no AC.

Anyone in a shed of this size by any chance? Googling comes up with lame stuff, but need some inspiration from real people.

This was the closest thing i found, a 12x16
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Windows taking up valuable wall space but looks cool. I'd probably have the door in the middle of the longest side tho
 
this is a good analogy

or we just have too much stuff

i did 5 minutes to clean it up a tad and it looks better but still needs some more space
 
this is a good analogy

or we just have too much stuff

i did 5 minutes to clean it up a tad and it looks better but still needs some more space
I only see a few extra wheels, please re-stock and report back
 
Mandi trying to kick me out of my side of the garage as we now have 20 2 wheeled things in the garage and 4 in our current shed. In doing so, I may be looking at a new and improved shed, 10x20 sized or so, or as big as our HOA would allow for whatever we want to spend... This would store most bikes and maybe a workbench, lawnmower crap, while the garage would serve for "on deck" bikes and the rest of my real tool things. I would run electricity and have a AC unit in that jawn, which is actually a upgrade compared to the garage with no AC.

Anyone in a shed of this size by any chance? Googling comes up with lame stuff, but need some inspiration from real people.

This was the closest thing i found, a 12x16
View attachment 264334

Windows taking up valuable wall space but looks cool. I'd probably have the door in the middle of the longest side tho

What's the HOA limit? 12x16 is huge for a shed, but I think that pic is exaggerating it. I have an 8x12 which is roomier than I anticipated, but bikes in there would crowd it immediately.
 
Too many bikes and not enough space... I know that feeling.

Comments regarding the shed:

1. Having some natural light is nice, but I agree with you on taking up wall space. Consider wide and short windows up high.

2. If only one door for bikes, consider a larger than a typical door. Or at least wider than the 32" door my house has which is a bit of a PITA to get a modern mtn bike through. At least 36". A quick search on the Home Depot website indicates a number of pre-hung options.

3. If you're planning A/C, consider insulation.

4. If your house has an alarm system, maybe run an addition conduit and comm lines while burying the power feed to add the shed to the monitoring.

5. How hard would it be to run a water line out there? Mainly, for a bike-wash station outside, but also maybe a small utility sink, but it would depend on how difficult it would be to drain.

I agree 12 x 16 would be a dream. My shed (for yard equipment and car part storage) is 8 x 16 and is packed tight. Technically, I'm only allowed 100 sqr ft without a permit, but I added an additional 4' with the theory it wouldn't really be noticed.
 
I only see a few extra wheels, please re-stock and report back
I’ve done a good job of purging, you’d be proud

What's the HOA limit? 12x16 is huge for a shed, but I think that pic is exaggerating it. I have an 8x12 which is roomier than I anticipated, but bikes in there would crowd it immediately.
We just looked at a 12x20, if there’s no limit that’s the way lol

Selling our old shed will help us with the new found space…
 
I actually went a different route this time...last time I used a hot knife...which was nasty and created a mess. I saw someone put painters tape over the foam then mark it with their long nose marker then use the thin knife to cut just inside the lines. Probably the cleanest I've ever gotten it.

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looks pretty good, i throw mine on a laser cutter, it comes out super clean but you need to do full layers (no partial depth cuts)
 
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