Tandem Cycling - Roof Rack + Garage = Sadness

Well, it happened. We forgot the tandem was on the roof rack and tried to pull into the garage.

The tandem mount slid back 6 inches on its mounts, the Thule mounts slid back 4 inches on the factory rack slot, but it wasn't enough, the factory rack slot ripped off the roof (pretty duct tape is covering the holes where the screws literally pulled right through the sheet metal) and the tandem mount slammed into the roof of the van.

The tandem you ask, fork looks like one of those custom choppers now. Don't know any other damage. We are sad (much more than sad actually, but distraught seems only a little bit too strong).

We just started tandeming a month and half ago, just topped the 100 mile mark, just had the mysterious noise fixed. We just had to share our misfortune with a group of sympathetic souls.

We had to leave the bike up at my wife's mother's house as that was whose garage it was. The rack was solid enough to still put the kids two bikes back up on it for the 150 mile trip, but...

Any words of wisdom? Any help before we can get it to the LBS as to whether the fork is likely to be the only casualty or are we likely looking at other bent or twisted members.

Thank you in advance for helping us through this sad time and pray we only have a fork to replace, and a van to repair, and a roof rack to repair. Oh dear...

First off that sucks. Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I feel your pain as a buddy of mine did the same and trashed a mountian bike.

Advice....

1. Look at the head tube area of the bike. I have no idea how or what made contact with the garage but if your fork and possibly your handle bars hit you may have hair line cracks in the welds that hold the tubes to the head tube. I doubt this is the case but you don't want to discover this while on the bike.

2. I have not seen it in a long time but there is a hang tag you can buy for your review view mirror that says "Toys on Top". That way you can remember you have your goods up top. When you take the toys off, you take the hang tag off.

3. Where black for several days to morn the loss. (Thats what I would do plus drink lots fo beer)

4. If the bike is fine and you want a nicer fork then this is a good opportuinity to upgrade. Carbon fork?

Good luck and I hate to hear stories like this. Get that bike fixed as it sounds like you and your stoker are (were) haveing fun.

Sorry to hear of your incident,.

I know it is too late to help you now, but I keep a couple of very bright signs I made which say "Bike on Top!" which are displayed on my dash anytime there is a bike mounted on the rack. It does help.

Doc

Any words of wisdom? Any help before we can get it to the LBS as to whether the fork is likely to be the only casualty or are we likely looking at other bent or twisted members

Without seeing a photo of the bike and the garage I'm not sure I can hazard a guess on what else may have been stressed. As before, I'd get it into your bike shop for either a going-over or a referral to a frame shop. I'm imaging that the handlebars and head tube are what impacted the garage and that the fork merely collapsed under the force exherted on the upper part of the bike, i.e., the weakest link. However, that means the forces had to move through the handlebars, stem and headtube which would now need to be inspected.

As for any words of wisdom; you weren't the first to do this and won't be the last. I've even seen at least one cycling team car drive a rooftop full of team bikes into a hotel entrance overhang. Aside from putting something on your dash to remind you of your rooftop load, don't know how else to preclude the accidents away from home.

Fingers crossed that the damage was limited to the fork.

One suggestion...if possible...put the garage door opener in the back seat when you put the bike on top...you should remember the bike when you reach for the GDO where you normally keep it...

One suggestion...if possible...put the garage door opener in the back seat when you put the bike on top...you should remember the bike when you reach for the GDO where you normally keep it...

Good advise when you're operating from home base. However, when you are on the road the GDO trick or signs that hang down from your garage door when open won't help you to remember your overhead cargo when you encounter drive-through restaurant / bank overhangs, hotel porticos, or the garage door at any home you may be visiting.

Sorry to hear of your accident.

I've heard of this accident being covered by home-owners insurance. Certainly worth checking out!

Would definitely check the homeowners insurance clause . . .
Aside from 'lowrider' fork, headtube and top/lateral/downtube/handlebars could suffer from the stress/impact. Get a framebuilder to check out the tandem.
Sorry for your problems, but bet you won't do that again!

Ouch, sorry to hear this! I did something similar about 8yrs ago with my brand spanking new Carbon Road bike on top. Luckily, I was going slow enough and noticed my misfortune soon enough that I didn't do much damage to the bike, no damage to the bike rack ... but, the siding on the section just above the garage opening was dented. I was lucky.

Just understand that this is going to happen .. even to the best of us. Chalk it up to the learning curve! ;)

Ouch.
Just bought a new rack for my Tandem today, praying I don't do the same.

My sister has driven into her garage with bikes uptop three different times with different cars and bikes. Sometimes you don't learn.

Thanks for all the sympathy and ideas on how to not let it happen again. (At least some techniques to try.)

Sorry to hear about the garage.
When I used to mount the bikes on the roof rack, I followed this Golden Rule:

Always Put the Garage Door Opener in the Trunk - or LOCK IT in the Glove Box!

Hope it helps in the furure.

Sorry to hear. Hey, I yanked our Trek T100 right off the roof and dropped it behind the truck on a passenger cars only toll gate. Thank God the rack mounts were soft and cheap, and the bike much stronger and it only need truing of the rear wheel.

There are lots of low clearances around not just the garage and some of them you can take at much higher speeds than driving into your garage, with potentially much worst outcomes. The safest answer lies in putting the bike inside the car rather than on top, most hatchbacks will accomodate.

I did it a few years ago with our brand new van with a kid trailer on top. Didn't really hurt the trailer but it broke the crossbar off of the roof rack. The best thing I would recommend is to hang something from your sun visor when you have the bike on top that hangs down just enough to always see it. Like maybe a little toy bike. We have a motorhome and a common problem is driving out of campgrounds with the folding antenna up. I now hang my ignition key on the crank for the antenna when it is up. I have gotten in the drivers seat more than once and wondered where my keys were then remembered the antenna was up. Good luck with your repairs.

Feel your pain -- I've done it twice in the past with single bikes, to the tune of about $4500 in damages to the car, the house, the bikes, and the racks. Insurance will pay, minus the deductibles, but they will get you back. The only real solution is to get the bikes off the top of the car. If you can't put them inside the car (recommended), then consider:

http://www.rackandroll.com

http://www.sportsrig.com

Another suggestion I have seen on this forum to avoid this problem (works only at home):

When you put the bike on the rack, place a lawn chair or trash can in the garage bay where you park the car. When you return the obstacle will remind you & force you to get out of the car to move it.

Another suggestion I have seen on this forum to avoid this problem (works only at home):

When you put the bike on the rack, place a lawn chair or trash can in the garage bay where you park the car. When you return the obstacle will remind you & force you to get out of the car to move it.

Why not just get rid of the automatic garage door opener ?

This looks like a 20th Century problem - I don't recall seeing too many horses being ridden into closed barn doors, although it probably has happened.

Why not just get rid of the automatic garage door opener ?

This looks like a 20th Century problem - I don't recall seeing too many horses being ridden into closed barn doors, although it probably has happened.

This thread is 2 years old!!

It is not a problem of the door being closed but of the garage opening not being tall enough. But I think your point was more that not having an opener would force you to get out of the vehicle. If the spouses are like mine, it might be cheaper to sacrifice the bike than to get rid of the opener ;).

I trashed a bike and recently a cargo box while talking on my cell phone and forgetting about what was on top of the car. We are all human and $#&^ happens. For an easy fix to this problem, go to www.saveyourbike.com (http://www.saveyourbike.com). It is a warning sign is on duty 24/7 and works as a last second reminder to stop before entering your garage.

This thread is 2 years old!!

OK... now its 5 1/2 years old...

Bike Damages first post, reviving a 5 YO topic, and oddly, when you check his homepage, he sells signs you put on your garage.

Got to love the internet...I believe the word is spam, but then again, if he sells 10 signs and saves 10 bikes it's not all bad.

PK

Although we have never done this, Ive seen firsthand the damages while working in the auto business. Our solution...10 foot garage doors, plenty of clearance.
R&J

There's already a patent application on file for what is essentially the same thing
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20050000132.pdf

It's a good idea, just not original nor anything that someone couldn't fabricate themselves for about $5 and 15 minutes of effort.

Of course, and as mentioned in my somewhat dated replies to the original thread, if you're car topping and decide to swing through In-N-Out for a burger or do that drive-through dry cleaning pick-up.... the sign at home won't do much for you or your bike. But, for those long drives that can make you forget about what's on top of the car, the sign on the garage door really is a good idea. I routinely knock off my CB antenna when we make a long road trip since those are infrequent and that's the only time I'll put my mag-mount antenna on the roof. Having a bike on top for a long trip would likely yield a similar result.

Nice sign. I think that a convex mirror mounted to the garage roof would be more informative. If the tandem rack overhangs the windshield a bit, then simply hanging a tennis ball on a string could remind the driver of overhead.

The gas mileage penalty keeps me from putting bikes/cargo boxes on top of the roof versus off the back of the vehicle. I installed a Hidden hitch to accommodate a hitch mount bike rack.

.

Yakima or Thule used to make a nifty little sign that magnetically attached to your car. When driving at more than a set speed (say, 10 mph), the sign flattened itself closed using the airflow. When you slowed down and the airflow stopped, it would pop up with a "toys on top" saying or something similar.