The joy of owning a bike comes from riding it. From flying to and from the office avoiding traffic jams and public transport. From spending all Sunday exploring the countryside with friends.
The joy absolutely does not come from figuring out where to store your bike if you don’t have a shed or garage.
However, it’s an essential question for many bike owners, especially those who live in flats, perhaps with roommates who aren’t delighted by the idea of squeezing past a bike in the hallway every time they come home.
Often the only option is to store your bike outside, which means you need a bike cover. Unless you fancy having to continually repair the damage done by the elements.
Naturally you want your bike cover to be waterproof, or at least water resistant, and also to block out UV rays, which can damage your bike over time too. Openings that allow you to lock your bike are also useful if you’re planning on leaving it in a front garden.
You can also get covers for bikes stored indoors, which don’t need to be waterproof, but will stop the bike getting scratched or smearing grease on anyone who passes by too close to it. The good news is that there are plenty of affordable options for £35 or under.
The Best Bike Covers
BikeParka URBAN
The large cross on the side of this cover is an opening with Velcro fastenings that allows you to lock your back wheel and frame up with the cover on. The cover is waterproof and packs away into a stuff sack – you can even shove the cover into the sack wet and take it with you, because it won’t get damaged by being stored while damp. For those looking for extra security, there’s a camouflage design of the URBAN cover available, because you can’t steal what you can’t see, can you?
FWE Storage Cover
This basic cover will fit all bikes up to a handlebar width of 680mm and has a drawstring at the bottom that you can use to fully encase your bike and tighten up the cover, giving the wind less chance to get hold of it.
Buy from Evans Cycles | £26.99
B’TWIN Protective Bike Cover
A good bargain pick, the B’TWIN cover comes in under £15 and is large enough to cover pretty much any bike even if you have a pannier rack and basket attached. It’s only suitable for protection from light rain though, but that should be enough if you’re storing a bike in a sheltered area like a balcony. If your bike will be more exposed to deluges then it’s better to go for a more waterproof option.
Buy from Decathlon | £14.99
BEEWAY Bike Cover
You can get this waterproof nylon cover to fit one or two bikes, and it has holes on the side that let you slip a lock through the front wheel(s) at the bottom. Both versions are large enough to cover most bikes and have a bottom strap that can tighten the material so it’s less likely to be blown free during storms. We bought one of these in 2017 and it’s still going strong, although we had to repair the strap after a particularly bad winter storm.
