Originally Posted by Philly Tandem

I have two cheap bike hoists from Harbor Freight Tools, and have hung my tandem from one of them for probably 8-10 years at this point with no issues (the second holds my single touring bike). I added short pieces of rope to the two "claws" that attach to the bike, and loop it around the frame by the headset and rear triangle as lifting points. As a back-up security measure, after hoisting the tandem up, I also run a separate piece of high-quality rope over the 2x4 that secures the hoist to the garage ceiling and back to the tandem, tying it off with a secure knot. I'll try to take a photo if I have time. When looking at the Harbor Freight hoist vs. ones from Performance Bike, etc., they look identical and my guess is come from the same factory in China or wherever. $10 right now on HF's website. Search for "Bicycle Lift." The key is to make sure it is very well secured to the ceiling. I first mounted a 2x4 across the roof joists and then secured the Bike Lift to the 2x4, drilling some extra mounting holes in the Bike Lift base to provide extra mounting points.