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A new way to lean – Bike storage solutions from Motomat and Cyclogical

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Most of us have been there before. Whether it’s your house, at a race, or at the trail head, you lean your bike against something for just a second. Turn your back, and the bike mysteriously starts moving scratching your car’s paint or damaging the wall in the process. To address that very problem, two companies an ocean apart have some unique solutions.

Started by a local ripper on both bicycles and dirt bikes, Motomat is all about protecting the finish on your vehicle. The simple idea is as cheap as it is effective, which is to say it works pretty well for not a lot of money…

No stranger to traveling the country with a dirt bike, mountain bike, or cross bike in his van, founder Chris Douglas thought it would be handy to have something he could slap on his vehicle to protect the paint. Granted, there are a lot of different ways to park your bike at an event, but we see bikes leaned up against cars all the time though it apparently even more common with motos. The Motomat is a large 5 x 7″ magnet on one side, while the other side is covered in 4mm of very slow rebound EVA foam.

Simply slap it on your car, rest the handlebar against it, and the foam deforms around it doing a surprisingly good job of holding it in place. For added security you can rest the rear bike tire against the car tire like above, and the bike isn’t going anywhere.

If you get creative, you could use the Motomat for road bikes as well, though you will likely need two of them to cover all of the contact points. The bonus though is that if you have two Motomats, they attract to each other for easy storage which helps keep the magnet surface clean. Note that Motomat recommends cleaning the paint surface before applying the magnet which is why my salt lick of a car above has one clean spot. Available in black or white, a single Motomat sells for $9.99 and can be purchased directly through Motospec Inc.

motospecinc.com

Across the pond, Cyclogical is onto a similar idea with a different approach. When we first saw their product at the Eurobike Scottish development booth, it was called the Stumpy. Along with the name change, the Gripster now features a small magnet in the center to expand its use.

For drop bars or flat bars, the Gripster provides a grippy connection between the end of the bar and whatever surface it’s leaning against. That could be an interior painted wall for protection of the wall, an exterior concrete wall for protection of the bike, or like the Motomat, the side of a car to protect the paint. I will say though that since the Gripster uses a small, hard magnet, it did leave more of a mark on the side of the car than the Motomat did.

Funded through Kickstarter, the simple rubbery device fits almost every bike and sells for £9 (about $14.50).

bycyclogical.com

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28 Comments
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Susan Bilger
Susan Bilger
7 years ago

What a simple but awesome idea

Lemond Rider
Lemond Rider
7 years ago

Now I have seen it all …..

kbark
kbark
7 years ago

Really? I hope this is about protecting the finish on your wall or car because if you are that crazy about scratching a mountain/fat bike you might as well just hang it on the wall as “art”.

ericcheever
7 years ago
Reply to  kbark

Obviously you failed to read the article. “founder Chris Douglas thought it would be handy to have something he could slap on his vehicle to protect the paint.”

Gillis
Gillis
7 years ago
Reply to  kbark

The intent is clearly stated: “founder Chris Douglas thought it would be handy to have something he could slap on his vehicle to protect the paint.”

Try reading next time.

kbark
kbark
7 years ago
Reply to  Gillis

Sorry for your investment loss.

AC
AC
6 years ago
Reply to  kbark

sorry to see that your ego will not allow you to take back a clearly mistaken comment.

the biz
the biz
7 years ago

from the skymall collection

Nostuff
Nostuff
7 years ago
Reply to  the biz

Seriously… Just need it “Lord of the rings” themed with a Coldplay jingle for effect

Nir Tiger
Nir Tiger
7 years ago

April 1st again!!

Jake
Jake
7 years ago

Is the rebound of the foam adjustable? If so, are there both high and low speed adjustments?

Matt S
Matt S
7 years ago
Reply to  Jake

I’m going to wait for the Ohlins or PUSH hop up kit to really control the rebound and dampening.

GoneRiding
GoneRiding
7 years ago

Ive always found the best way to park a bike is to lean rear tyre against something, problem solved. At your car, tyre against tyre

slackers
slackers
7 years ago

lean your bike using the rear tire first, not the handle bar,
this will sell well in Colo’brado

sam
sam
7 years ago
Reply to  slackers

Or the saddle. That already has foam

Allan
Allan
7 years ago
Reply to  slackers

exactly! If you don’t know how to lean your bike on something with the rear tire, you’re doing it wrong.

Evanstonian
Evanstonian
7 years ago

Nice idea for leaning your bike against walls you don’t want to get dirty (e.g home entryway, living room!).

Todd
Todd
7 years ago

“We’re gonna be MILLIONAIRES!!!!”

Stefanolo
Stefanolo
7 years ago

But is this also working with my eduro bike?

Me
Me
7 years ago

Hahaha. Is it April 1 already?

Allan
Allan
7 years ago

I seriously can’t believe this. People are trying way to hard to come up with something new to sell to bike riders. Literally, the very first time you take your bike somewhere in your car, you figure out how to lean it up against it without scratching anything. Leaning a MTB up against just the tip of the bar is a bad idea too. Won’t take much jarring, rummaging around the car to shake the bike off balance, which could cause it to fall against the car, where all the pointy metal bits are going to do a lot more damage than just leaning it by the saddle/rear tire.

Hey, props to the inventor, if he makes a million bucks selling this, good for him, but I just smh at all the useless junk (usually KS stuff) that comes out of this hobby.

VeloFreak
VeloFreak
7 years ago

love all the april fools days when it’s not april 1, this industry is alive and kicking.

Flux
Flux
7 years ago

I wonder if some of these articles are just sneaky trolling by BR, haha!

igni
igni
7 years ago

Is this serious ?

chris
chris
7 years ago

I’m going for the permanent solution and gluing mouse pads to my truck!!! 🙂

ginsu
ginsu
7 years ago

How hard would it be to glue a piece of foam to a magnet?

mac
mac
7 years ago

How am I supposed to attach that gripster thing to my fiberglass corvette or my carbon McLaren?

thebman
thebman
7 years ago

I’m in agreement with you guys. Who needs to buy this stuff when it doesn’t take long to figure out the art of the lean. I have been known to use a small thick rubber band as a parking brake when needed. Leave it on your bike and stretch it around the grip and brake lever when parking on inclines or whatever. Simple, effective, lightweight, and practically free!

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