travkat

How many of you have done something bad to your bikes while they were attached to your vehicle?

Dick Rhee

I had a close call that smacked my seatpost about 1/2" into the frame, but I somehow managed to escape with no actual damage other than some scuffing on the top of the saddle. Even the carbon saddle rails were still structurally sound.

I purchased a nice trunk rack a few weeks later.

knowledgdropper

A friend of mine did the reverse of this. He was rear-ended with his road bike on a trunk rack. Then, about a month later he bought a roof rack- and proceeded to "clothesline" his mt. bike on a McDonald's drive-thru "vertical clearance" sign.

Dick Rhee

haha, that poor guy just couldn't win.

Nickshu

My insurance company has paid out 2 times for repairs related to roof-rack incidents. The worst/best one was done by my wife who was backed under a low overhang which caught the seat, ripped the gutters off the car...the bike landed on the hood and made some nice dents, and the pedal went thru the windsheild.

BarryJo

How bad did you mess up your bike(s)?

The 2nd time using mine I drove into a parking garage, the alarms sounded but neither my wife or I could understand why - fortunately the security guard stopped us with only minimal damage to my seat.

jrobe

My brothers wife decided to take his car to the corner store one day and destroyed his CAAD9 on the way home pulling into the garage.

TCR

https://dictionary.reference.com/

JohnDThompson 

Forgot I had a bike on the roof rack and pulled into an 8' clearance parking ramp. Fortunately, I was going slowly, but the rack cross arm was bent right down to the car roof (leaving a substantial dent). The front wheel of the bike took the impact (this was one of those upright roof racks), but it and the bike were completely unscathed.

d2create

Pulled into my garage (or attempted to) forgetting my Allez Comp was up there. Snapped the steel frame in half. Oh well... that was just an excuse to build up a new bike!

travkat

so I am totally bone headed. I took the time to take the bike off of the rack in order to get into our parking area which has a low overhang and then a gate to clear. In the interest of time and to not leave my son in my car while I brought the bike up, I laid the bike on its side on the roof with what I thought was plenty of room to clear both obstacles. Ended up just catching the handlebars on the overhang and snapped my brifters. An expensive mistake.

ted ward

Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong, will

For me, it would be sooner rather than later so I went through the hassle of adding a hitch receiver just for a hitch rack.

SlimAgainSoon

My bike fits in the trunk of the wife's car, if I take off the wheels (an easy task).

And it fits in my Suburban with room to spare!

I don't like hitch racks, and roof racks ... they really make me nervous.

What I don't understand is a rack on the back or the top of an SUV. I mean, why bother?

unterhausen

my bike was injured in a bumper rack accident

rob!

I pulled into a parking garage with two BMX bikes on my roof, and managed to only scuff up a grip and brake lever thanks to the angle I came in at. I had to take them down as soon as we got in (and figured out how idiotic i was!). If it was a mountain or road bike it would have been wrecked for sure.

Almost pulled into a garage with the very same BMX bike the very first day I got my roof racks.

elader

had an enflite rack hanging off the minivan with two mountain bikes on it. Ripped the rack off when I hit the garage. Bent a couple of pairs of handlebars and bent the hooks on the rack.

thefatguy

Driving down the interstate at 90mph, hear a loud boom, look in the mirror to see my bike bouncing down the highway.

Slam on the brakes, go back to check it out.

Covered in blood and feathers.

I hit a bird, a HUGE flipping bird.

andr0id

I'd love to get my bikes inside the car, but I typically drive vehicles that are too small. Smaller frames will fit in a lot of cars, but a 59cm with another 15cm of seatpost showing just doesn't make it.

Weighing pros and cons of roof vs. rear. I go with roof. Main reason being the secure contact points at the fork dropouts and wheel and that the bikes never touch. I'm starting to see some pretty cool rear racks though that isolate bikes from each other much better though.

Anyway, yes, I forgot to strap a wheel strap once and my wife's bike bounce out of the tray and it bent the fork and put a ding in the car. It didn't fall off though. Those Yakima steelheads hold on pretty tight. I violated rule #4 while on vacation. I returned fried from a ride and was distracted while loading the car.

Here's my "Rules for Successfully Carrying Your Bike on a Roof Rack"

1) Your automatic garage door opener goes in your saddle bag, trunk or bike bag ALWAYS. Never reachable from the drivers seat when you get home at 2:30am. If you have a fancy car with the door opener built in, you can afford to ram your bikes into the garage, so don't worry about this.

2) When you take the front wheel off, it leans against the driver door until it is in the vehicle. Diversion from this rule will lead to disaster. (or a long drive back to wherever you left your wheel)

3) Don't leave computers on, water bottles and saddle packs are OK for short trips. I take them off for cross country.

4) Check the fork QR and other attachment points twice, no make that three times! Never put the bike half way on the rack. It is either on and locked or off. Just do it all at once so you don't get distracted and have a routine.

5) Know how tall you are. I know I can make it under 9' with room to spare in case the sign is off by an inch or two. It's not that hard. Truck drivers, RV drivers, delivery drivers and all kind of drivers that you are sure you're "much smarter than" are able to figure this out.

6) Wash the bugs off as soon as possible. The longer they stay, the better they stick.

7) Go ahead and check the QR and attachment points one more time.

8) For cross country where there might be rain, I take off the chains and bag them. I always use quick links. You'll then need to zip tie the cranks to keep them from spinning like crazy. Get a plastic seat cover for the saddle.

That mostly covers it. You might check the QRs and other attachments one more time though...

bike4life2

I've had it happen twice. On both occasions, my wife was driving but I was in the car and didn't see it coming either.
1) Drove into friend's driveway with bike on roof rack. Bars hit over hanging basketball hoop. Probably no damage on the way in. She panicked and reversed. Bars hooked rim and broke on the way out. Minor damage to rack and top of car;
2) Drove into garage with mountain bike on roof rack. Broke seatpost and saddle. No significant damage to car or rack.
Does this make me a Fred or a Posseur?

travkat

I am glad I am not alone in the world of boneheaded lapses. You have all had some great posts. Keep em coming.

knowledgdropper

This thread has jinxed me! This morning, I loaded up my road bike (roof) & mounted the front wheel in the (new) wheel fork. Backed out of the driveway and went about 5 feet when I heard a loud THUD. Luckily, I had only forgotten to tighten the wheel fork to the crossbar. It had slipped- sending my front wheel arcing into the junction of my roof & rear window. No damage, but it scared the CRAP out of me for sure!

AssosMan

Man.... These stories would make me clear away from roof racks..... The potential of smashing my own bikes into oblivion isn't good.... Rear racks; no bugs, less wind, no worries about garages, no worries about losing your front wheel, easier to manage (since it's ground level) and IF your bikes get smashed it's most likely not your fault......