Saris recently introduced the Fat Bike Trac Parking System (FBTPS) and since my wife & I, our 2 dogs (Cecil & Cowboy) and our rather copious, collection of toys recently moved, all of our bikes needed to find parking spots at the new treehouse. Down in the basement I’ve been working on getting the bike shop appointed correctly and on the other side of the Furnace, in the new shop, is a perfectly sized little cubby, to hold a couple of fat bikes. The walls are unfinished studs and there’s a drain directly below, to collect any slushy drippings after wet winter spins.
When you have limited space and lots of bikes to store, hanging them vertically is the way to go. The FBTPS can be mounted to just about any wall that can support the weight of both the bike trac and the bike. These trays also integrate into the Saris Verticle Rack with storage options that will hold 3 to 8 bikes. Saris utilized input from their employees that commute to their Wisconsin facility when they developed their parking system. Real world, four season, bike commuters helped design the FBTPS and we think that shows in the functionality and sturdiness of the pieces that we’re testing. These products are made in the USA and the two trays that I received are extremely solid. The FBTPS is heavy duty. I perceive these trays as commercial grade fixtures that will last a lifetime. (They come with a one year warranty) Saris is a solid, family owned, company that supports cycling advocacy, right where I live, so we’re stoked to share something from a company that gives back to the cycling community!
The FBTPS comes in either a locking (w/cable) or non-locking version and our samples include one of each. The instructions are pretty straight forward and if you need more information, the Saris web-site has drawings to download along with layout and spacing specifications. I took some photos of my installation. To get the best fit, I needed to screw some cross braces to the vertical studs. The first thing, that I did was to determine the height that the tray needed to be. I used a drill and an impact driver to pre-drill & screw the cross braces into place and test fit the tray with the fat-bike that was going to be assigned that parking spot.
I used deck screws with washers to mount the trays to the cross braces. I mounted the tray for the smaller fatty (right) flush to the stud and the Larger/taller fatty on top of the stud for bar clearance. The Trays are set 21″ apart and the two bikes fit together like peas and carrots.
Otis & Dom L’Orange Hang’n Out in the basement listening to Pink Floyd
I know that I could have just used a hook that screws directly into the stud (or cross brace), which would be less expensive, but for painted plaster walls, the full tray would protect the wall from getting dirty from the tires. Besides, I think Otis deserves a nice parking slot. The MSRP on the Fat Bike Trac Parking System is $90 (non-locking)/$120 (locking) per tray. If you were looking for a gift for the “Fat-Bike Enthusiast that has Everything, this might be an option.
For more information about Saris Parking Systems visit – https://www.sarisparking.com/
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