Now that things are slowing down, I’m finally getting back to my home improvement projects and I’m thinking there’s GOT to be a better way to organize all the tri paraphernalia than piling on every available surface. Between my wife (also a triathlete) and I, the house looks like a shop exploded with helmets, shoes, nutrition/supplement cannisters, goggles, tools, spare parts, etc all over the place.
So does anyone have any cool storage systems or tips on keeping stuff organized and accessible? Pics would be even better!
“there’s GOT to be a better way to organize all the tri paraphernalia than piling on every available surface”
Yup. It’s called more available surface. Shelves and drawers. I’ve gotten some of the cheap wire shelving cubes from Target, and they can be made into many different configurations. Works well.
Shucks! I was kinda hoping everyone else was more organized than me and had some super nifty wall rack or custom bin solution that I didn’t know about…
I ahve all my bikes hung up in the basement (four total for the wife and I) from the hooks that you can screw into the rafters. It works great and keeps them safe inside. it also takes up supriingly little room. I also have the rest of the gear hanging with the bikes.
I have giant canvas bags hanging from nails on the wall.
One bag for swim stuff.
One for bike stuff.
One for run stuff.
A fourth for brick workouts or races. (Tri tops, race belt, etc.)
A shoe organizer (set of narrow shelves) above the canvas bags has all my athletic shoes. On a shelf next to that is all my nutrition, and training books.
Next to that is a place to hang wet swim stuff to dry.
The canvas bags just have the stuff I am most likely to need for an everyday workout. Spare bike parts, etc. are hidden away in a separate box.
I doubt that the “type of container” is important. It’s how you want to categorize stuff, and how easily you can therefore find it when you need it.
i was expecting more from the ‘type a’ crowd as well…
one thing i do is keep separate drawers for
bars/gus
energy/recovery mixes
water bottles
swim stuff in one drawer (suits, goggles, caps)
bike stuff in separate drawers (like cold weather gear separate from regular jerseys)
Makes it really easy to grab what you need on your way out without digging around much.
I also keep a separate “bike box” that I can throw in the car if driving to a race or ride, stocked with extra gels/bars/drink mixes, water bottles, bike pump, extra tubes, tools, that kind of thing.
I live by myself in a 1100sqft home so I have ~2200sqft of space to fill with gear. Given that I don’t have much furniture, I could pretty much put everything I own 1 layer deep in the house and still have room left over. I haven’t done that … yet.
I’m a big fan of Rubbermaid bins. Picked that trick up from a slightly schizophrenic ex-boyfriend who could have been classified as a hoarder if he wasn’t so frickin’ well organized. The guy had a 2 car garage, a shed and a sea container filled with crap he’d picked up from the classified, other people’s dumpsters and who knows where else. In spite of having all sorts of random things, he always seemed able to find the tool or broken-down piece of crap he was looking for. It had to have been all the Rubbermaid bins.
I picked up a few of the really big ones of my own to store bike clothes & bike repair stuff. I’ve also got a spare dresser and closet used to store equipment. It seems to work well. The place is neat and I can quickly find what I’m looking for. My philosophy wrt to filing is that it has to be a simple enough system such that things get put where they belong but enough to allow you to find what you need quickly.
Bikes go in the basement. I’m going to pick up some hooks so that I can hang them when it’s out of season.
I have a shelf for tri books, magazines, and training logs.
Race numbers serve as wall decorations!
Swimsuits and towels hang on various places around my room
Another shelf with running shoes, gels, water bottles
When I get the road bike, it will live in my dorm room with me, right beside the bed! One, that’s the only space I have for it (I can’t let it sleep in the car!) and two, then I can be close to it all the time
Woo! Now we’re talking! Thanks for the great ideas everyone! Looks like I’m going to start with getting some kind of labelmaker and bins…lots and lots of bins.
For those of you blessed with an abundance of space, do you have a room dedicated to all your tri stuff?
I’m a bin/tub person too - though to clarify I HIGHLY recommend the clear containers so that you can tell what bin has your swim fins and what bin has your bike shoes. They stack really well, come in all sorts of sizes and if they are see-through then you can tell whats in them very very easily.
Otherwise we’ve got a closet full of gear and more shelves in the basement for gear, and space for trainers/rollers and bike storage (also from the rafters).
I have a milk crate that holds all the bike stuff that goes on at the last minute or ought to be in the car when i drive to a bike start (helmet, gloves, shoes, spare tubes, etc. Plus a small (12-pack sized) cooler for icing down beverages.
The bike itself live in the office on the trainer. I keep my shoes tucked under it, and my small bike toolbox next to it as well.
Clothing go in a a drawer in my dresser, but not very organized-like. Running shoes and at least one running outfit basically live in my small duffel bag. Swim trunks hang from a rack above the washer/dryer unless they’re in the duffel.
The other bike is hanging high on a rack in the garage, along with another milk crate full of spare parts and such.
So basically I have a “go bag” for run/swim, a crate for the bike stuff, a drawer for “extra” clothing, and the bike on the trainer.
It’s not hard to stay organized when you don’t have much stuff…
I store most of my fitness paraphanelia in rubber tubs in the basement sorted by sport. (In addition to tri gear, I have karate gear, yoga gear, and aerobics gear.) Sports drinks/gels live in the kitchen cupboard because they’re food. Clean workout clothes live in a tub in my closet.
I have gone to putting the bikes and all related tri gear in my card room. Its not huge but i needed to spice it up anyhow. Bikes on hook on the wall, gear in a built in storage bin in the closet, bikestand and tools in the corner, all clothes and gu’s, water bottles etc…in a seperate storage container across from the pokertable
my bikes share a room a with the kitty litter. Its still a disorganized mess. But I guess my mistake was opaque rubbermaids - I open them and dig through them to find stuff.
for the rest of you - don’t the shoes really stink if you put them into tupperware? I like to air things out but my cat attacks any kind of dangling straps and shoelaces. (Oh yeah and he loves the smell of my insoles, and pulls them out of shoes - he put a huge hole in one of my orthotics damnit!)
my bikes share a room a with the kitty litter. Its still a disorganized mess. But I guess my mistake was opaque rubbermaids - I open them and dig through them to find stuff.
for the rest of you - don’t the shoes really stink if you put them into tupperware? I like to air things out but my cat attacks any kind of dangling straps and shoelaces. (Oh yeah and he loves the smell of my insoles, and pulls them out of shoes - he put a huge hole in one of my orthotics damnit!)
The solution to the “opaque rubbermaids” problem is a heavy-duty permanent marker. It doesn’t look as nice as a printed label, but it does the job.
As for the problem with your cat, I have a suggestion: Go to the pet store. Get a wire cage like one uses for a small dog or cat Put your shoes in the cage and shut its door.
damnit!)