Vertical Bike Storage for Urban Centers {AWESOME}

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OK, if you don’t know by now, I’m a bike lover. I’m not a “cycling” enthusiast who follows the sport or has any cycling clothes or bikes, but I love bicycling because it is such a nice transportation option — pleasant, fast, easy, cheap — and bicycling for transportation purposes is one of the greenest things you can do.

Anyway, that was all a preface to this awesome vertical bike storage design I ran across this weekend and an explanation for why I wrote “AWESOME” in the title (in case you didn’t get that). Above are some images from Manifesto Architecture via The City Fix.

How This Bike Storage System, Bike Hanger, Works

Manifesto Architecture, based in New York, is the firm developing this system, for Seoul and London to start. It has titled the system “Bike Hanger.” And, of course, if you didn’t catch it in the images above, this bike hanger would be bicycle powered! Cool. It calls the stationary bike for rotating the hanger the “human generator.” Once you’ve pedalled your bike to the bottom on the human generator, you just pull the retractable hanger, get your bicycle, and ride off. Getting your bike on the rack follows a similar procedure.

The system eliminates the need for heavy bike locks or carrying your bike seat or wheel around with you, something some people feel they have to do to prevent master thieves from stealing their rides or pieces of it.

Bike Hanger is Super Green, Too

Beyond being for bikes and being bike-powered, Bike Hanger is super green in some other ways as well.

“Manifesto Architecture intends to build the structure out of all recycled materials, including recycled plastic bottles, stainless steel, and carbon frames, in order to make it an all-around sustainable city addition,” The City Fix reports, making the system even that much greener.

Annual maintenance cost of this baby: $15 — for lubrication and calibration. Nice.

More Bike Stories on Planetsave:

  1. Green Your Transport! (Going Green Tip #4)
  2. 10 Cool Bike Stories
  3. 10 More Cool Bike Stories [& VIDEOS]
  4. Latest News Weekend Roundup: 3 Bike Stories
  5. So, How’s About a Bicycle? (Going Green Tip #5)


Zachary Shahan (1961 Posts)

I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on some of your favorite social networks, go to zacharyshahan.com or click on some of the links below.


  • http://Web Jeff

    It’s Japan. You could leave your bike parked on this for a hundred years and no one would touch it. Their most common alternative is a bevy of bike racks at train stations where they are just as safe.

  • http://Web Nicole

    This is a great idea, but the article says that users can place and remove their bikes. How does it prevent thieves from stealing bikes or seats? Or the whole bike? I love the idea, even without additional security features, it is a step up from rows of bike racks. I really don’t see it being more secure, but I have no problem bringing my own lock.

    • http://importantmedia.org/members/zshahan/ Zachary Shahan

      I’m not really sure, sorry. That’s what I’ve read, but not clear on how exactly that is the case either

  • http://Web Teyo lee

    Great idea ! What will the bike thieves do now ?

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  • http://twitter.com/michaelrad michaelrad

    love it.. any ideas on how it might allow only the owner owner to ride off with their bike?

    otherwise, how come their skipping nyc?! :-)

    • http://importantmedia.org/members/zshahan/ Zachary Shahan

      yeah, i’m wondering the same. there must be something to do so, but it’s not obvious. maybe you will have to lock your bike to it (but doesn’t seem to be the case) or put in a pin number (but doesn’t seem to be the case either). have to have some way to do so, tho

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