Today’s QT comes to us from long-time RBR product reviewer Paul Smith (with an addendum from Tech Editor Jim Langley).
I put out the clarion call last week asking for some fresh Quick Tips from the RBR Crew, and Paul’s tip about protecting your bike when carrying it on a roof rack had particular resonance. It turns out that Sheri Rosenbaum is among the cyclists (we all probably know one, right!) who have suffered the fate of driving into the garage, bikes atop car, and doing damage to some combination of their bike, their car, their garage.
Here’s what Paul wrote:
Save a bike. And possibly a car. And a garage.
A friend of mine told me this recently. It was one of those ideas that I thought was genius.
When you have a roof rack and drive away from your house with expensive bikes on top, first take a bucket and place it in the entrance to the garage. (Something similarly clunky would work just as well.)
When you arrive home and start to pull into the garage, you will wonder why you have a bucket there, and then you will remember the very expensive bike(s) mounted on top of the probably less expensive car.
The mental jolt will get you out of the car to take the bikes off, and move that bucket out of the way, before you drive in.
Jim Langley added this:
Another version of this is to put the garage door remote inside your cycling glove so that you see the glove and realize your bike’s on the roof rack.
If you have an idea for a QT, fire away. We’re always looking for good info we can share with fellow roadies. We would love to hear from you with any suggestions you have. Contact us by clicking Quick Tips Ideas.
—John Marsh & The RBR Team
And what if you forget to put the bucket there . . . ?
Tirerack.com ran this ad below. The subtext seems to be cycling is stupid. The woman laughing at the poor guy cradling his destroyed and expensive bike is just nasty mean. I wrote a similar note in their website and, apparently, other did as well as I haven’t seen that spot since. Even their ads during Le Tour weren’t all that bike friendly.
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/A2t5/tirerack-com-bike-rack-mistake
I have an appalling memory. And I invariably notice if something’s visually wrong on a bike.
So when I have a bike in my workshop stand and I remove the wheels, when I later refit the wheels I leave the QR levers sticking out at an angle. When I later take the bike off the stand, those levers will remind me to undo each QR, give the bike a wiggle, and do it up again. That ensures that the wheels are seated correctly in the dropouts.
Buy a hitch rack!
My first century, years ago. I was sitting on top of the world, driving home. And I pulled this boner move. Now when I put the bike on the roof rack I take the garage door remote off of my sun visor and throw it in my glove compartment as I’m driving away.
Even leaving a bucket in the garage at home or removing the remote does not save expensive bikes from Motel overhangs, multi level hotel garages with low clearance or drive thrus.That’s how I inflicted $1000 worth of damage to car and bike. My husband purchased this gadget online after that incident that attaches to the hood with a magnet and lies flat when driving over 25 mph. Under 25 mph the sign flips up alerting the driver of the roof top load. During his research, he found other devices, including wireless sound alerts when anything gets close to the bike.
Or, my wife comes along and says “What idiot left this bucket lying around” and puts it away
That’s what I used to do, too. I figured that it would be unlikely for me to go to the trouble to retrieve the remote out of the glovebox without remembering why I put it in there. My present car is too tall for a roof rack, so that has proved to be the ultimate solution 🙂
Buy a car that allows you to put your bike inside. Even my Prius falls into that category.
People are more paranoid about their bikes getting wrecked on a rear-mount rack. But I have never heard an anecdote of this happening. Roof rack anecdotes, though, are a dime a dozen.
Having easily shoved five or six tandems, plus considerable luggage, into my Honda minivan, I’m a minivan advocate. But I do have a roof rack for when the mission involves four people and two tandems.