Conference noted::bicycle

    Mike,
    	
    	Buy a van or get rid of the garage : )  I bought the van.
    
    						Norm
    
    

>    	Buy a van or get rid of the garage : )  I bought the van.
    
The clue to this idea is putting the bike INSIDE the van. I only mention 
this 'cuz a few years back I had a van, put my bike on the roof rack, 
and did essentially the same thing, except that I crashed whilst parking 
at a drive-in restaraunt. Having the van in this case didn't seem to 
help :-). Also, as might be noted, putting sawhorses in front of your 
garage won't help you at the local drive-in, or anywhere else out in 
public! If you plan to keep driving a roof rack, you just gotta watch 
whatcher doin'!

Currently, my preferred mode is to lay the bike in the back of my 
hatchback. Gives weather and crash protection. If that's not practical, 
I use a bumper rack, but those have their own set of problems; rear-end 
collisions, steep driveways (OUCH!) and exhaust/tire interaction, to 
mention a few. Hatchbacks/inside van are definitely my favorite 
options....
                              ken

    Mike,
    	
	I know of a person that this happened twice. He had an upright carrier
the kind you leave both wheels on the bike. Well the front wheel was the first
point of contact and it would fold up like a potato chip. He now has the second
damaged wheel hanging from the ceiling of the garage in clear view, to remind
him not to do it again. 

	On another note. Be sure to check the alignment of the frame and forks.
If you don't have the money to get it done at a shop,(there are a couple of
shops that have *real* frame alignment tools, not a piece of string and a
ruler.), then try riding the bike no hands at a slow speed and see how it
tracks. If it tracks straight then take it down a steep hill and see if there
is any shimmy in its ride. There may be no visible signs of damage, yet the
frame/fork might have been 'tweeked'. I don't think anodized aluminum shows
the damage like a painted steel frame does.

Tom    
    

    Don't feel bad Mike.  I too did the same thing.  My Thule rack and my
    Subaru fared pretty well, but I bent the frame of my bike.  It's now my
    #2 bike and it doesn't track well at all when you ride no hands.
    Ironically, I was returning from the bike shop with my newly repaired
    bike; I had crashed it in my first road race.
    
    Phil

    Buy a dozen bikes so the garage is too full to be used for a mere car.
    
    :-)
    
    ed

    
    The hatchback is a very good solution.  Its only limitation is
    that there is then only room for 2 passengers (so more than 2 bikes
    is superfluous).
    
    -john

    This is exactly what happenned to my cycling partner, her Shogun Team
    Bike was on her Yakima carrier on a Camry when she went through the
    garage.  Only scuffed brake hoods, broken Cateye mount and ripped
    handlebar tape.  The carrier broke loose and did a good scratch job to
    the Camry (oh, what a feeling!!).  No damage to the garage.
    
    On the other hand, a friend who always carried his Colnago on a carrier
    drove into a strip mall that had a height limit cross bar (we still are
    trying to figure why since there is no garage, etc) at the entrance.
    Damage: 1 destroyed Colnago (some Nuevo Record components were
    salvalged), 1 scratched up Subaru wagon, 1 grown man in tears.
    
    I, personally, am proud to say that I don't own a carrier.  #1 criteria
    in the selection of a vehicule is: can I easily put a bicycle in it.  I
    can even put a tandem (sans front wheel) in my wagon.
    
    Eric_too_cheap_to_buy_a_carrier

    Try putting the garage door opener in a bag mounted under your bicycle
    seat. This will force you to get out of the car to open the garage
    door.

    Thanks for the ideas and condolences.  The good news is that I tried
    the slow speed no-hands riding and no problems (I frequently ride
    no-hands for 5-10 minutes at a time so I need a good tracking bike).
    I also tried the high speed down hill with no shimmy!!!!  I was very
    lucky this time.  I think I will put the opener in the trunk.
    
    Thanks
    
    Mike
    

     re: VITUS wins
      The bike always wins: Many of my freinds have done this, i have done
      the put your bike through the garage door test myself. The order of things
       going bad has always been, small impact kiss off the rain gutters,
       bigger impact Yakima cross bar d bends, roof gets dented, big dents
       in the house. Mondo major impact, requires two bikes for the best
       action, rack with two bikes rips off roof rails, dents car roof,breaks
       rear window, dents the trunk for good measure, and lands upright in
         driveway with both bike still attached, no damage to bikes. Possible
       Solutions. We have 9 ft. tall garage doors on our garage, bikes fit
       easily in garage with door open. Buy a car too tall for you to reach
       the top of the car, ie like a suburban, carry bikes inside the car,
       added feature bikes stay clean and dry.. Practical solution maybe?
       well only maybe, place an obstacle that is movable, but noticable at
       a height that is the same as the clearance of your garage 15 to 20
       feet in front of it.  Something artistic like a fake lamp pole with this
       silly looking cross arm at 7ft sticking out across your driveway.
       Judgeing from your experiences, a styrofoam piece might be the answer,
         hate to have the warning device smash the old car. One other
       possibility is to tie a rope across your driveway and hook it to
       something that makes a loud noise when you pull on it.

       Or just always ride the bike, and forget about those car things
         <:*)=     ray

    Re:-1
    
    My MTB    LOST  big time!  Oh yea, so did the rack and the car. :-(
    
    Front fork was bent, top tube bent, stem bent, and the thumb shifters 
    were smashed.
    
    Rack: Cross bar bent, fork mounting clamp smahed,  bike V-rail bent, and
    door mounting hardware bent.
    
    Car damage:  Roof bent, and a major gouge the full length of car.
    
    John

    Having had this ugly experience myself, I have decided on the following
    solution.
    
    Secure a discarded, diamond shaped road sign, big chunk of cardboard,
    etc. Mount to appropriate framing material. Paint sign with high
    visibility neon yellow or orange paint. Inscribe following message on
    sign "CAUTION - BIKES ON ROOF". When you depart for your ride, pull
    sign into middle of the space normally occupied by your automobile.
    
    Glad to hear your bike was OK!
    
    IMPORTANT: Don't leave the sign in sight of your daily use of the
    garage. If you don't have enough space to secure it out of sight, drape
    a covering over it. Idea is to make sure this puppy gets your attention
    as soon as the door is half way up. 
    

    Ah, what we need is a hookup between the garage door opener, the sign
    and the forkmounts on the roof, then when you activate the garage door
    opener, the Yakima M6A1 in the forkmount is activated because it's in
    the clmaped position and the sign drops from it's position either
    secured on the ceiling of the garage or mounted to the last panel of
    the garage door.
    
    Rube Goldberg would be proud of this.
    
    How about just a trip wire at a height of 7 feet in the driveway.  Wire
    activates alarm without damaging bikes.
    
    O heck, just buy a van, it's easier.  Better yet, give up on the
    gashogs and bike-commute.
    
    ed