UH-OH! - roof rack and garage

[Gowest]

I am embarassed to admit this as an experienced rider. I had just picked up my husbands newly tuned up racing rig and was in a hurry to meet him - drove into the garage with the bike on the roof.....ummmm good thing we are newleyweds...

Long story short - carbon frame, wheels, and most other parts intact - was able to rebuild in one week to race again. Had to buy a new fork (was able to find EXACT one for a 3 yr old bike on ebay), new handlebars, and a new computer...

whew I escaped easy on that one...

anyone else care to 'fess up??

debi

[Jiffer]

I bet that was one of the most awful feelings ever when you realized what you just did. Yucky! Glad it didn't turn out too bad.

Been there before, actually. We had my brother's mountain bike on our roof, actually doing him a favor keeping it in our garage for him for a while ... and hubby wanted to try out mountain biking, so it was supposedly great for both parties. Hubby said, "Don't let me pull into the garage with the bike on the roof." An hour later, we're pulling into the garage. Oops! That was like 5 or 6 years ago and there's still a mark in the stucco above the garage. It was fixed, but the color doesn't match and I notice it ALL the time.

I don't even remember how bad the damage to the bike was. It wasn't a super expensive one and my brother doesn't even ride much, so yay for that. On the positive side, hubby DID get way into mountain biking and races (in addition to the road biking he was already doing). Now if he ever pulled into the garage with HIS "not cheap" mountain bike? Bad news!

[Bike Chick]

That's exactly why we don't have a roof rack! It would be so easy to do!

[bmccasland]

I think cyclists need roof alarms installed on their cars instead of, or in addition to, the back-up alarms that some cars have!

[Ariadne]

My friend did the same - with a yacht on a trailer and a telephone line across the road. No mast left on the yacht and no telephone line for his village for a couple of days! He still hasn't lived it down three years later...

[kenyonchris]

I am embarassed to admit this as an experienced rider. I had just picked up my husbands newly tuned up racing rig and was in a hurry to meet him - drove into the garage with the bike on the roof.....ummmm good thing we are newleyweds...

Long story short - carbon frame, wheels, and most other parts intact - was able to rebuild in one week to race again. Had to buy a new fork (was able to find EXACT one for a 3 yr old bike on ebay), new handlebars, and a new computer...

whew I escaped easy on that one...

anyone else care to 'fess up??

debi

My ex husband drove our bikes under the awning of a hamburger place. His bike is a lot taller than mine and it got the worst of the damage. The roof also did not come out very well. My computer broke so that needed a little repair.
It scarred me for life, tho, so now when the bikes are on the roof, I am paranoid.
My DH (just married) refuses to put the bikes on my roof rack for that reason, though. We take the truck we keep for that reason. Hmmmm...doesn't trust his Madone and my Pinarello to the roof rack.....

[Tuckervill]

Congratulations on your marriage, Kris.

I just had an idea for a device that would remind you when you are driving slow that there is something on your roof. (You wouldn't need to know so much if you were going down the interstate.) Dang, I wish I had the time to invent it! lol.

Karen

[tulip]

I had a bike partially fall off of a rear trunk rack on the interstate. I had no idea, but another car pulled up beside me (at 70mph) and pointed and honked. I figured it out.

I put my bikes inside my car when I'm driving alone. When I travel with my BF, I use the roof rack, but with two of us we're less likely to forget that they are there.

It helps that I don't have a garage and don't do drive-through dining!

[MartianDestiny]

You need one of these:
http://www.purelycustom.com/c-121-sa...-dont-mix.aspx

(it hangs from the inside of the garage door, so when it opens it hangs down in your face).

I've also heard of people putting construction cones and trash cans out to block the garage.

I solve this problem by not having a car....

Sounds like you were very lucky to be able to salvage his bike!!

[Biciclista]

that's partially why i bought a Honda fit. we've driven into a drive in food joint and injured a bike (only a mirror, how lucky we were!)... i like my bike inside. Even on the back of a car, damage can happen. I watched two cars with bikes on back back into each other in a parking lot!!!

we've also had friends incur THOUSANDS of dollars of damage on expensive bikes which were sitting on top of their cars. That little sign is a good idea. hopefully you can hang it at EYE LEVEL!

[SadieKate]

As far as your garage goes, just throw your garage door opener in the back seat so you have to stop the car in the driveway.

[SheFly]

Don't worry - you are NOT alone!

Brand new car, reasonably new bike and the drive-up teller. No bike damage, but I did over $600 damage to the roof of my new car. Felt so bad (and worried about telling DH...) that I literally threw up in the parking lot of the bank.

Now - bikes on the back on a hitch rack, or IN the van.

SheFly

[maillotpois]

DH did that..... (wait for it).... TWICE. The rack isn't mechanically fastened to his car, so it popped off with no damage to bikes. We got a cone and would put that in the way for a while. He seems to have put this phase of his driving behind him as it hasn't happened again. But I will ALWAYS nag him as we are approaching when I am in the car. He loves that.

[TrekTheKaty]

I'd say, "That's why I have a hitch rack", BUT a few weeks ago I backed up while the garage door was opening and "stabbed" the door. The car won and the bike wasn't on the rack. But I also closed the door on my husband's tail gate so I don't think there's a roof rack in my future.