The OakRak Floor-to-Ceiling bike rack (we've previously reviewed the freestanding version) consists of a series of vertical wooden members, held together by threaded rods, with end caps acting as nuts. A decent-sized padded top plate pushes against the ceiling while another rectangle of timber acts as a base.
Vinyl-coated metal arms hold two bikes at heights of your choosing (extra arms are available for four-bike middle-of-the-room setups), and can be positioned independently of one another. The stand has a pleasant, understated look to it, and it’s available in two shades, of which this is the darker.
Swedish flat-pack aficionados will have no difficulty assembling the OakRak, a process which involves small Allen keys and a bit of patience. The two halves of the stand need to be arranged so the total height is slightly less than that of the ceiling.
The final adjustment is carried out using the two metal feet threaded into the bottom of the upright, which sit on a wooden plate. Fine-tuning the position of the arms is quite time-consuming because the long screws need to be removed each time you move one.
Once set up, the OakRak is very stable. It would take Herculean clumsiness to bring it down, although the construction does permit slight twisting.
Claimed capacity is a ridiculous sounding 90kg – suffice to say, you won’t have any problem with a couple of road bikes.
This article was originally published in Cycling Plus magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.
