Three types, many names
Bike garage, bike shelter, bike box, bike canopy: in the trade, sometimes everyone means the same thing and sometimes something different. If you are putting out a tender or comparing quotes, that costs you time. So here is how we tell the types apart – and which one fits when.
Bike box: one lockable compartment per bike
A bike box takes a single bike and is locked individually. Every user has their own key, and nobody can get at the neighbour’s bike. This is the type for railway stations, underground car parks and apartment buildings where nobody wants to be responsible for a shared space. Our bike boxes are expandable – one box can become three later on – and can be ordered with an e-bike charging point on request.
Bike garage and bike shelter: a walk-in space for several bikes
For us, both words mean the same thing: an enclosed, walk-in space with a sliding door in which several bikes stand side by side. “Fahrradgarage” (bike garage) is the term customers use more often, “Fahrradhaus” (bike shelter) the one our models have historically been listed under. You will find both in the same category.
The space can be used for more than bikes. Bins, lawnmowers and garden tools stand in the same units – which is why our models also carry “Mülltonnenhaus” (bin storage) in their names.
Canopy and leaning rack: protection without a lock
An open shelter keeps off rain and snow, nothing more. Where bikes stand during the day and are taken away again in the evening, that is enough – and it costs considerably less than an enclosed structure. It is usually combined with leaning racks. With those, the bike is secured by the frame rather than by the front wheel; bent rims are no longer an issue.
Which type fits?
| Situation | Type |
|---|---|
| One bike per user, locked separately | Bike box |
| Several bikes, one shared lockable space | Bike garage / bike shelter |
| Bikes stand only during the day, weather protection is enough | Canopy with leaning rack |
| Bikes and bins in the same place | Bike garage in a suitable size |
Material: what matters after five winters
The difference does not show on delivery, but at edges and cut points. Stainless steel V2A does not rust, not even where it has been drilled or cut. Hot-dip galvanized steel is cheaper and also lasts a long time, but it reacts more sensitively to later work on site – every hole drilled through the zinc layer exposes bare steel. A powder coating is first a question of colour and only then one of protection: there still has to be a corrosion-protected substrate underneath.
And the size?
Our enclosed units come in seven sizes from 269 × 180 cm to 531 × 354 cm, each with wooden or perforated stainless steel cladding. How many bikes fit inside depends on whether they are parked from both sides and whether e-bikes with wide handlebars are involved. We clarify that during the site measurement instead of quoting a number that then turns out to be wrong in the courtyard.
If none of this fits
Then we build made to measure. The on-site measurement is free of charge, planning is done in 3D CAD, and manufacturing follows DIN EN 1090 in execution class EXC 2. For municipalities, property managers and businesses we have summarised the process on a page of its own: Bike garages for municipalities and property managers.
