Tortec Universal Storage Hook

The Tortec Universal Storage Hook is a very sturdy bike storage option for road or mountain bike, holding skinny and fat tyres equally well. The hook rim protection could be thicker though.

The first impression of the hook is solidity. This is one weighty bit of metal, welded in a manner that says your bike is safe with it. The hook is steel, and is compatible with wheels from 12-inch up to mountain bike 29ers. The weight limit is listed as 18kg, so you won't be hanging that 850W full-supension German e-mountain bike off of it.

The hook mounts on to any kind of wall, but it's up to you to fix it firmly. Included are standard 8mm brick/concrete plastic wall plugs and two hefty, long self-tapping Philips-head screws. If you have different needs - e.g. into wood, or a hollow or metal wall - these should do the job with the appropriate kind of plug. Tortec advise not to use the hook "on any kind of drywall, panelling or plasterboard".

Tortec recommend you mount the hook with the bike attached and 10cm of space under the rear wheel - you will need a friend for this. Holding the bike upright, judging the distance, keeping the front wheel straight and the hook attached to the wheel in the right alignment and then marking the holes will be beyond anyone with fewer than five arms.

Once it's fixed to the wall, putting the bike into place is very simple: lift with the wheel to the right of the hook, align with a gap in the spokes, shift the wheel left to put the hook over the rim and let the bike drop down. The tyre seats between the angled guides and is held firmly, regardless of size. A 23mm road tyre will sink deep enough to just sit proud of the wall plate; a 2.1in mountain bike tyre sat a little further out but was still gripped firmly.

The angle of the guides means there is a little sideways movement if required, i.e. if you have a line of bikes up on a wall you should be able to move them to one side to facilitate handlebar clearance while removing or mounting. The geometry of the hook and guides means the bike naturally returns to centre if moved.

The only concern with the hook is the thickness of the plastic powdercoating on the metal hook itself. This is there to save any scraping of the rim, but at just under 1mm thick is not overly generous. A rim with angled corners or ham-fisted mounting could see this cut through and subsequently might result in the rim being marked. It would have been nice to see Tortec use some sort of high-impact ABS plastic sleeve in place of a thin powdercoat. Wrapping/zip-tying a few layers of old inner tube around the hook should guarantee your pride and joy is totally safe from the risk of scratching.

Overall a quality product that can hang any bike, so long as it's under the recommended 18kg.

Verdict

Very sturdy bike storage option for road or MTB; the hook rim protection could be thicker