Storage of an electric mountain bike can be tricky if you don’t have a lot of space. In this article, I will go over how I hang my electric bike up and how you can do the same.
Yes, you can hang an electric mountain bike up on a hook, parallel to the wall, as long as the hook is secure and you can lift your ebike up. I have hung mine up every night for the last 2 years.
If you live in a small apartment or studio and don’t have a lot of room but want to store your electric bike safely, hanging it on a hook can be an easy solution.
I have had to hang my ebike up inside my apartment for a while and even now, as I write this, my electric mountain bike is hanging up out in my small storage area.
The trick is to get the right hook and mount it the right way!
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What Is The Best Hook For Hanging an Electric Mountain Bike?
The best hook for hanging your bike is the Portland Design Works (PDW) Hooptie Hook.
I don’t recommend using just a basic bike hook for hanging your ebike. The basic hooks are the ones that just screw directly into the wall or 2×4 so you can hang your front wheel by it.
These types of hooks are only meant for lighter-weight regular bikes and even then, sometimes they fail.
There are far better bike hangers these days! This is the one I use –
My electric mountain bike weighs about 65lbs and I hang it up every night. At my last place, I had to hang it up inside my tiny apartment right by the front door.
Someday I’ll have a garage, but I can’t afford a place with one yet. But, I’ve gotten really good at hanging my bike!
How to Hang Your Electric Mountain Bike
The PDW hook pictured above is by far the best wall mount hook I have found. Just know that this hook is designed for tires up to 3” wide or smaller. Not for fat tires!
Be sure when you are mounting it that you find the stud in the wall.
Using a modern stud finder makes this very easy. Also, go to the hardware store and find longer wood screws than the ones that come with the hanger.
Using longer screws will ensure that your hanger will stay mounted to the wall securely. I also use some larger washers on the longer screws to be double sure. 🙂
First tip your bike up on its end, with the front wheel pointing up, and try to find the spot on the wall where you can place the hanger so that when the bike is hung up, your back wheel will only be about an inch or 2 above the ground.
You don’t want to mount the hanger too high and have to lift your bike way up or too low and have to redo it.
Once you have your spot picked out, use a stud finder and screw that thing in. You will know you are drilling into the stud when you feel resistance and really have to push on the drill. This is a good sign!
If the screw goes in easily and keeps spinning then you missed the stud and will have to try again. It happens, just try a little to the left or the right of where you just tried.
Once you know the hanger is mounted securely, just tip up your bike’s front wheel and lift your bike onto the hook. To help with this, I use my knee behind the saddle and push up from there.
- Yeah, your bike is hanging!
Is it Safe To Hang an Electric Mountain Bike?
Yes, I have been hanging my bikes up for decades. If you follow the directions above and use the PDW wall hook, you’re good to go.
What I do to help keep my front wheel from getting scratches is wrap the end of the hook with some bar tape. Any padded tape will do, but me being a bike mechanic, I tend to have some old handlebar tape laying around. 🙂
My Emtb (electric mountain bike) hangs up out in my little storage area year-round.
Full Disclosure – I have a Bosch bike with a Bosch battery and Bosch is simply the best in the game. I have never had an issue with the battery being outside even on days that get below 0 Fahrenheit. I also leave it charging every night so it’s good to go the next day.
As long as your hook is mounted well and your bike is not going to get stolen, you won’t have any problems hanging it up every night.
Is It OK To Hang an Electric Mountain Bike With Hydraulic Brakes?
It should be fine and won’t damage your brakes, but depending on which brakes you have, hanging your bike from the front wheel can cause some issues.
Now, this is a question I get all the time and some brakes can misbehave after being hung up.
My ebike has the TRP G-Spec brakes on it and I’ve never had an issue with them hanging. Last week I had my bike hanging up for the whole week because the roads were really icy and I did notice it took about 20 minutes until they were fully gripping again.
The TRP G-Spec brakes use mineral oil, as do Shimano, Magura, and Tektro. These are common hydraulic disc brakes found on most mountain bikes.
What can happen if your bike is hanging for a long time is, that if any air is trapped in your hydraulic lines it can slowly travel all the way up to your brake levers and cause them to feel squishy when you take the bike down.
If your bike is never hanging up for more than a few days, you won’t even notice this. If you have one of the brake brands listed above that uses mineral oil and your brakes pull all the way back to your grips after your bike has been hanging for a while, you may need to get them bled.
Most of the time you just need to let your bike sit for a few minutes and your brakes should feel fine. If they don’t, then it means that there is a lot of trapped air in there. Take them in for a brake bleed. Properly bled, mineral oil brakes, should not have issues when hanging up.
Now, what about the other brakes? This would be your Sram and Avid brakes. These use DOT fluid and can have issues when being hung up.
The problem with DOT fluid, (and there are many) but one problem is that DOT fluid creates gas. This gas has a much easier time traveling up your brake lines and getting into your brake lever hydraulic chamber.
Once this gas is in there, it does not always want to go away.
I am not a big fan of DOT fluid brakes like Sram and don’t use them on my bikes. If your bike has these brakes and you have to hang your bike up, you may want to upgrade your brakes to mineral oil ones.
I now use the new TRP mountain bike brakes, and they are easily my favorite. I would highly recommend them to anyone. If you want the best brake being made right now check out the TRP G-Spec, TRP Quadiem, and TRP Trail EVO brakes. They Rock!
Will Hanging My Electric Mountain Bike Damage My Fork?
No, hanging your mountain bike up will not damage your fork. Just be sure your front wheel’s axle is tight in the fork and it will easily be able to support the weight of your bike.
If after hanging your bike for a while you notice any fluid coming from your fork, you need to get the seals and fluid changed out.
Oil leaking from your fork means that your fork seals are bad and need to be replaced. It is not caused by hanging your bike.
This can, however, be a good way to check your fork seals to see if they need to be replaced. Another way to check is to simply ask yourself if you’ve had your fork serviced in the last year. If the answer is no then you need to.
Most mountain bike shops will offer a discount for this if you go in the Winter. I know here in Bend, OR the best time to have this done is in February. You can usually get up to 50% off if you bring in your bike during winter, just call around.
At the End of the Day
Hanging your electric mountain bike can be a great option for storage. I know it has been my only option for years now and I don’t mind.
Just make sure that –
- Your wall hook is mounted securely
- You can actually lift your bike safely without hurting yourself
- The spot you picked is also secure (no one’s going to steal it)
Having your bike mounted up on the wall can save you a ton of space and it’s a great way to store your bike if you have no other options.
I do it all the time and you shouldn’t worry about hanging up yours!
“Keep it secret, keep it safe!” – Gandolph