We first tested Cycloc’s original bike storage product back in 2009, describing it as “elegant, simple, expensive bike storage that's more penthouse than outhouse,” and rather than rest on its laurels, the British company has been turning out a raft of new products.
The latest is the Super Hero. Where the original product stored the bike by the top tube, the new Super Hero holds the bike in place by the pedal, with two small wheel rests to prevent damage or scuffing to the wall.
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Its main attraction appears to be that the minimal design and taking up less space than Cycloc’s original storage solution. Bikes can also be tiered if you’ve got more than one steed that you want to store indoors.
The bike can be hung vertically or horizontally and is compatible with most clipless pedals like Look, Shimano, SPD and Speedplay. However, it does advise against using with CrankBrothers Eggbeater pedals.
The Cycloc Super Hero costs £44.95 and is available in three colours.
The Super Hero was first unveiled at the world’s biggest bike show, Eurobike, last autumn, and a successful Kickstarter campaign has seen the new product go into production and is now available to buy.
It’s impressed the CEO of Speedplay, Richard Bryne. “When I first saw your product I was struck by its simple elegance and its wonderful functionality!“ he said.
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17 comments
I use the Mottez Bike Pedal Wall Mount from Halfords (£6.99) for my heavy hybrid. The wall is bricks but I imagine it would work on other types of wall.
It works exactly the same way but for a fraction of the price. The angle means that I can walk under the bike without the pedals sticking out (mind you I am quite short).
Thanks for the heads-up on those, seems like there's a few types - completely missed all of them last time I looked, i'll grab a couple and play. Cheers
Not sure the wheel supports are actually necessary, more - as the article mentioned - to stop scuffing up the wall. Weight and leverage wise, the fixing should be good for a number of walling types. For the same effect i'd be tempted to just cut a couple of slices off the end of a bit of foam pipe insulation, and pop them over the bottom of the wheels when popped the bike up. Assuming I had bought one anyway. Which I wouldn't for £ 45. As Geraint said, if they were significantly cheaper i'd actually buy a couple - something that's useful at the moment - for the asking price, i'd buy none. Hoping they come down in price in the market place soon.....
Edit : Just playing around, looks like not having the wheel supports seems to naturally work best with the bike vertical (ish) .... In hindsight, perhaps I shouldn't have been too surprised about that.
The wheel supports are essential because without them, the bike will rotate around the pedal axle and fall off the wall.
You only need one to stop the rotation, which can be quite wide and so suit many bike sizes, and i'd put a small bet on that you can get away with none (or with a foam bumper on the wheel as mentioned earlier) - with the Speedplay one at least - without pulling off the wall. My bike just hangs happily upside-down if I suspend it by one pedal.
The speedplay version looks fairly secure. If there were inserts for other pedals types I'd have a lot more confidence. As others have pointed out, the placement of wheel supports is too bike specific for this to be useful for people with lots of bikes really.
Is it just me or does that top photo look (badly) photoshopped? Was it to much to take an actual photograph of the products in real use?
I have a couple of these and I don't use them. I do, however, use the proper "bucket" cycloc on a couple of bikes in another room, because they work excellently.
The mounts above are problematic for a few reasons. One, the layout of the three pieces of plastic has to be tailored to a specific bicycle. That means you have to fix the plastic pieces to the wall based purely on the design of that bike. If you put another bike in the same mount, it might not fit because the bottom bracket and crank arm might be a different size and in a different position - so the wheels then won't rest where they should on the wheel mounts. The pedal shape doesn't lend confidence either - the old Look style pedals (which I have on one bike) have a rounded back end and don't look very secure in the mount. But also, if your tyres deflate, that lowers the whole bike a few millimetres and tends to pull the pedal a little further out. And if you accidentally knock the bike, you risk it falling off the wall - and it'll fall sideways, into the room and onto your head. Trust me, it looks nice in the picture but imagine being the lady in that photograph and looking above you to see 25lb of bicycle and sharp pointy bits above your head, being held in place by a single piece of rather flimsy plastic, itself held on the wall by a few small rawlplugs. That is the main reason mine aren't used - it is scary to sit under them.
The proper cycloc bucket mount is much better. The bucket can be easily rotated to accommodate different bikes. It keeps the majority of the bike's weight below the mount, which means it can only fall downward. But it won't fall off anyway, because the design prevents it. You can remove wheels if you're working on them and it'll still stay in the bucket (although removing the rear wheel may cause the frame to pivot clockwise). And you can store stuff in the back of the bucket, like gloves. The only downside is that flat bars might not fit as they may be too wide.
In my opinion this design is pretty poor and a waste of money. Stick to something that holds the bike via the top tube.
Nice idea, ridiculous price. If they cost a tenner each, I'd probably buy a dozen of them. At £45 each, I will buy... None.
How does the lady in the pic get the top one down? A handy step ladder, sounds like a health and safety issue to me.
Well, since you think she's a lady, I'm sure that the servants will arrange that.
Do you think that ladders are too complicated for a woman to use?
I bought something smilar on amazon for £15, hook over any pedal and they work great. Yes, when you consider the forces and load a crank/pedal takes, hanging off a wall isn't going to do any harm.
Yes, £15....these are £45.....right....but i did have to spend a bit more for some wood and screws to create some wheel rests, plus the electricity for the drill, and wear on the drill head....so £15.71.....not £45.
It looks to me like most of the weight will be on the wheel supports, the pedal holder is just holding it against the wall.
Seems like they're doing something for the sake of doing something...if you get what I mean
Err.. no; unless that something is designing a neat, unobtrusive wall support for your bike.
I don't know- I guess bikes are so light, and the pedals/ cranks/ BB so strong, that is ok, but from an engineering perspective it seems all wrong to suspend all the weight for a point which is as far away from the lateral CoG as you can get.
From a purist engineering point-of-view I agree - but when you think about the forces and torques that a pedal and chainset have to put with, it's pretty small potatoes.