General Cycling Discussion - Racks that hold the bike by the front wheel

At work the bike racks hold the bike by the front wheel, similar to this:
http://blog.taiwan-guide.org/wp-content/uploads/bike-rack-xinyi-district.jpg
but they hold the wheel from the front as opposed to from the bottom.

I was wondering if the bike isn't perfectly straight in them and leans slightly to one side is this enough to cause the front wheel to go out of true?

I try to always make sure that the bike is perfectly straight or at least isn't being held up by the rack - am I wasting my time?

Thanks

Daven

I hate those racks. I've always wondered the same. My thought is that while the weight of the bike itself probably isn't enough to untrue the wheel, if the bike fell or was knocked over, that probably would tweak the wheel pretty good.

Difficult to securely lock up a bike in those racks.
The bike in the pic could be removed by cutting a few spokes.

I always put my bike in rear wheel first if it fits w/o hitting the rear derailleur. The bike sits stable since the rear wheel doesn't pivot. You'll either need a cable lock or two U locks - one for rear wheel/bike frame/bike rack and the other for front wheel (locked to downtube).

Or, you can put it in rear wheel first, take off the front wheel and place it along side the rear wheel. Then, put a lock through both wheels, the frame and the rack. Easy and quick if you have quick release on front wheel. Much more stable too.

Looking at the photo linked, the lock is almost worthless used in that manner. I guess it will prevent the bike from being ridden away, but it's totally easy to remove the bike from the front wheel.

thanks, locking isn't an issue the rack is in a private car park so I don't even bother. can't really do rear wheel first as I have a trunk bag to get off.
I wouldn't have thought there was enough force to untrue the wheel but wanted to be sure.

thanks

One guy in our club used a ladder-type bike rack and ruined his front wheel that way. He had a heavily-loaded trunk bag and when the front wheel pivoted the bike tried to fall over. Put a huge "S" curve in his front rim. But a rack as shown will keep the steering from pivoting, so it should be safe.