Check your bike is fixed to the top of your car..a warning!!

Darra8
Darra8 Posts: 721
edited November 2009 in MTB general
I was out on a ride yesterday and hit the main road for a while to get back to the trail .We were approaching a t junction and a volvo estate was about to stop at the junction when his, no doubt beloved, santa cruz broke away from the bike rack and flew over the bonnet and onto the road. To make matters worse, he hit it, and pushed it in to the middle of the road. Luckily, if you can say that, there was no traffic coming the other way. Had there been, it could have been a very nasty accident and quite expensive. The guy seemed quite chilled though and was more intested in finding out if we had seen his bike flying through the air 8)
40 year old pussy who "still" hates the thought of falling off!!

Comments

  • bluehelmet
    bluehelmet Posts: 156
    Once saw a guys bike rotate slowly from vertical on the roof rack to horizontal whilst doing 70 up the A1. The whole bike / rack just rotated but was somehow still attached to the roof bars. I was directly behind him and as soon as it started to go I started braking and thinking ' this is going to be expensive'. How it stayed on I don't know.

    Imagine he got a shock looking at the side window and seeing his handlebars pointing down at the ground. :shock:

    Not put me off using my roof rack though.
  • bomberesque
    bomberesque Posts: 1,701
    my dad dropped my canoe off the top of our car driving across france ... when I was 10. I still like to remind him of it whenever he's tying a knot. I'm 40 next year.

    some memories just never age :D
    Everything in moderation ... except beer
    Beer in moderation ... is a waste of beer

    If riding an XC race bike is like touching the trail,
    then riding a rigid singlespeed is like licking it
    ... or being punched by it, depending on the day
  • Legless
    Legless Posts: 119
    Went for a ride on Sunday up at Surrey Hills, looked on in horror from the car behind as my mate drove into the car park and hit the height restriction with his lovely Meta 5! I was proper gasping! Luckily for him the restriction gave a little and he stopped so no damage done. Unluckily for him after he climbed Leith Hill he turned to go down the trail and hit some roots after 100 yards, lost it and plowed into a tree snapping the ligaments in his shoulder...

    Worst fear is my bike coming off the rack on the motorway,,,
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    Surely everyone does a proper "wobble" test before driving away?

    I check mine and check it again - there is no way it's going to fall off.

    At least bikes don't catch the air too much - surfboards are a right pain for trying to flip off your car roof.

    Glass sunroofs help - at least you can see what's happening!
  • bluechair84
    bluechair84 Posts: 4,352
    Lived with a lad who used to drive like a tit with his Whyte 46 on the roof - came home one day to exclaim that the mount had just given way and he'd arrived home to find his bike horizontal in the same manner as Bluehelmet above! He had no idea how long it had been like that. A classic "Just driving along" story...

    I asked him how fast he had been driving.
    He had very little to say in response :roll:
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  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    A friend at work was driving on holiday with 2 bikes on the roof, his wife was taking a stint and entered a French service station hitting the height restrictor to stop commercials using the 'car' park, wrote off both bikes, severely damaged the roof, back window and bootlid, emergency repairs were OK to complete the holiday, written off by insurance when he got home as the whole roof panel and soem of the sides needed replacing!

    Simon
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • MacAndCheese
    MacAndCheese Posts: 1,944
    Each year a load of us go down to LeMans to watch the 24 hour race. There was about 5 guys with us in a motor home Winnebago type thing. On the way down through France we got to a hotel with parking round the back and a low archway that lead to the car park. We got out of our car and checked that the Winnebago could get through, which it could.Just. So he parks up and we stay at the hotel. The next day the driver of the Winnebago decides to move it around to the front door of the hotel so its easier for everyone to get back on, knowing that the low arch was fine because of the night before. CRUNCH - stuck!. Turns out the only reason he got through in the evening was because there was 4 more guys and luggage weighting down on the suspension! So we all had to bundle on to lower it enough to get it free!
    Santa Cruz Chameleon
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  • VWsurfbum
    VWsurfbum Posts: 7,881
    Surf-Matt wrote:
    surfboards are a right pain for trying to flip off your car roof.
    !
    i never put mine on the roof! mine always comes inside with me!
    Kazza the Tranny
    Now for sale Fatty
  • Briggo
    Briggo Posts: 3,537
    Surf-Matt wrote:
    Surely everyone does a proper "wobble" test before driving away?

    Whats the "wobble" test then, not used my roof mounted before always had rear.
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    Not very scientific (!) - just grab the down tube and give it a shake when it's attached to the roof. Will immediately reveal any fasteners not done up (three per carrier) and/or loose roof bars.
  • scale20
    scale20 Posts: 1,300
    Always do the wobble test, Ive had it a few times where the downtube is not quite sat in the 'V' of the Thule clamp. Once the bikes clamped and strapped in it takes a lot to shift it.

    I've seen a few hit carpark barriers, mine gets under the maccy D's drive through with about 5mm to spare!
    Niner Air 9 Rigid
    Whyte 129S 29er.
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    VWSurfbum wrote:
    Surf-Matt wrote:
    surfboards are a right pain for trying to flip off your car roof.
    !
    i never put mine on the roof! mine always comes inside with me!

    Wife's boards is 8ft :cry:
    All mine are 6'3" or less :D
  • hipjazzcat
    hipjazzcat Posts: 42
    Got out of the surf, put the board on the roof rack, got changed, jumped in the car and drove off forgetting to secure the board. Looked in the rear view mirror to see my board land on the road in the entrance to the carpark, then got to watch in what felt like slow motion as a bloke reversed straight over it.
  • Surf-Matt
    Surf-Matt Posts: 5,952
    hipjazzcat wrote:
    Got out of the surf, put the board on the roof rack, got changed, jumped in the car and drove off forgetting to secure the board. Looked in the rear view mirror to see my board land on the road in the entrance to the carpark, then got to watch in what felt like slow motion as a bloke reversed straight over it.

    Ouch :cry:

    I stuck a board in the back of a Landy pick up - thought it would be fine. It wasn't - flew out and snapped. Luckily it was a PITA of a board (6'2" Baron from SA - too much tail rocker, a total git in UK waves) so got another one shaped pronto.

    I did however get out of the sea once, took ,my wetsuit half down (it was warm), dropped my car key from the key pocket into the sea and lost it - DOH DOH DOH!!!

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