Velo Hinge 2.0 Review: The Best Bike Hanging Solution for Limited Space?

If you have a big bike quiver and want to keep everything organized in your garage, a spare room, or a shed, it’s hard to beat the basic screw-in utility hook. These hooks are cheap — usually a few dollars per hook — and pretty easy to install. Find a stud, drill a pilot hole, and screw it in. Orient the hook so it's parallel to the ground, and you can easily hang your bike vertically to conserve space. 

My original bike hook setup cost about $40. 

This cheap and simple method worked well in my standard 2-car garage for years. Then, I bought a second car. I wanted to keep both of my cars inside, but how would they fit with 7 bikes sticking out from the wall? The solution was the Feedback Velo Hinge. 

This nifty hinged hook allowed me to tilt all my bikes in toward the wall, freeing up valuable space. It was effective and relatively affordable, but it wasn’t quite perfect. Recently, Feedback released an updated version, fixing many of the issues I had with the original. If you’re looking to save space while hanging your bikes, this might be the ideal solution. 

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The Original Velo Hinge Was Good

My new and improved bike hook setup with Velo Hinges let me fit an extra car.

The original Feedback Velo Hinge was already a good product. At $32 per hook, it wasn’t as cheap as a basic hardware store utility hook, but it was sturdy and well-made. It was also much cheaper than similar competitors like the Topeak Swing-Up and Steadyrack Wall Rack. 

I bought 7 and mounted them to 2x6 boards drilled into studs in my wall. I did this so I could get the spacing between my bikes perfect. I was able to tilt all my bikes so that their handlebars touched the wall. This gave me enough space to park my precious new project car inside without throwing any of my beloved bikes out into the cold.

My Velo Hinges have been in service for two years now. Overall, I’m very happy with the purchase and would do it again. But I did have a few (relatively small) critiques: 

1. The Velo Hinge uses a “rear wheel bumper” to stabilize the bike when swinging it side to side. Without it, the rear wheel would slide on the wall as you open the hinge, causing your bars or pedals to smash into the wall. This “bumper” is essentially a cabinet handle screwed into the wall. It works, but my major complaint is that it’s too small and rounded and the rear wheel can pop off if you're a bit hamfisted. I have evidence of this in the form of many scratches on my wall. 
2. If you’re not paying attention when putting your wheel on the hook and don’t get it securely in the belly of the hook, the wheel/tire can slide on the baseplate of the Velo Hinge. With so many bikes all hanging close together, this can lead to a domino effect of all your bikes bumping into each other and popping their rear wheels off their bumpers. This has been a rare occurrence, but it’s happened to me a few times. 
3. The standard hook is too short to fit large mountain bike tires or deep (~60mm+) aero wheels. This meant I had to buy a longer hook ($11 each) for two of my bikes. While not a huge expense, it was annoying to have to buy a new hook for my new hook.  

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The Velo Hinge 2.0 is Better

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The details:

• Longer, angled wheel hook accommodates deep profile road wheels and wide mountain bike rims/tires. 700C X23mm - 29" X 3.0"
• Secure load capacity of 50lbs (22.7kg) when properly stud-mounted
• Mounts to any standard wall stud
• Anti-slip front plate to keep wheel in place
• Patented hinge design allows bike to pivot left or right
• Wheel retaining hook folds away when not in use
• Larger rear wheel bumper stabilizes bike to prevent swaying or slipping on wall
• Durable coated steel maintains a long-term clean finish and won’t mark rims
• $40 per hook

Long story short, Feedback fixed my major complaints with the Velo Hinge 2.0.

The rear wheel bumper is still a bit like a cabinet handle, but now it’s nearly two times bigger and it has a squared shape that holds the rear wheel much more securely. The base plate under the hook has grip tape added to prevent front wheel slippage. The hook itself is now longer and angled up so it can accommodate massive 29x3.0” wheels and tires.  

These improvements mean the price has also increased to $40 per hook. Is it worth it? I think so. 

Here’s what I’ll say. If I had to build my garage setup all over again, I’d choose the Velo Hinge 2.0 without hesitation. It’s what I recommend to others looking to set their garages (or rooms or sheds) up in a similar way to mine.

Since I already have my current setup already built out though, I’m not going to spend the money to update the hooks to the newest version. I did, however, put up a few new Velo Hinge 2.0 hooks in the office for holding bikes after commutes and lunch rides: 

There’s not much else to say about it. In my mind, the Velo Hinge is the benchmark for convenient and compact bike storage. It’s simple, sturdy, low profile, relatively affordable, and it just works. 

But What About the Steadyrack? 

The Velo Hinge 2.0 is the best-selling bike storage solution at TPC, but there’s another one I’ve mentioned that’s actually not far behind: The Steadyrack Wall Rack. 

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Compared the the Velo Hinge, the Steadyrack option costs over twice as much, but you do get a fancier product. Instead of a basic hook, you get a foldable rack that cradles your front wheel. This offers a few advantages:

1. The weight of your bike is placed on the tire rather than the inside of the front rim. Hanging a bike by the rim is usually safe, but it could lead to scratches if you're not careful. 
2. You don’t need to lift your bike up life you have to when placing it on a hook. The Steadyrack can be positioned to allow you to easily roll the front wheel into the rack. It’s just as easy to roll bikes off. This is especially nice for heavy bikes.
3. The rear wheel “bumper” is much fancier. It secures the rear wheel from both directions and it doesn’t look like a cabinet handle. 
4. It has a higher weight limit of 77 pounds. Not that many bikes get that heavy, but it’s worth noting. 

The Steadyrack is a bit more refined, and that’s why people choose it. If I’m honest, the Steadyrack would be my pick for my dream garage. Unfortunately, I can’t afford my dream garage, so the Velo Hinge is what I use. 

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