I'm such an idiot!

[DaSchmooze]

So I was out the front of my work and I see a guy pushing his bike up the hill on the footpath. As he approached I inquired as to what his status was and he told me he had a flat. I have roof racks on my car and as a fellow cyclist I offered to give him a lift home. He didnt live too far from work so it was no drama and was glad to help.

I strapped his bike on top of the roof and proceeded to the car park gate... conveniently forgetting the concrete beam that lies across it. As I moved forward, I hear a grinding sound coming from the roof and braked instantly remembering what I had done. I get out to find his beautiful bike twisted and wedged underneath the concrete slab and the car! I backed the car up and removed the bike from the car to see his handlebars twisted at the stem and his bar tape scratched but all in all - everything seemed to be ok. The person who wasn't ok was ME! The gent was perfectly calm about the whole incident and I can't understand why - I WOULD HAVE LOST MY !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! and he was (at least appeared to be) perfectly cool with it. I folded the rear seat down (should have done that to begin with) and we proceeded to drive to his house.

He guided me to his place and we had a perfectly pleasant conversation on the way there. When we got there, I got out, got the bike out of the boot, he put the front wheel back in and that was that.

To the owner of this bike(if you read this forum), please, if there is any further damage that you find as a result of the accident, please contact me via pm and I will pay for that. I'm gutted that I made such a stupid mistake and apologise sincerely for it - brainless!

Feeling horrible about the whole thing

[Duck!]

If you remember where the chap lives, the polite thing to do would be to drop a note or pay a visit advising of your offer to correct any damage.

[DaSchmooze]

If you remember where the chap lives, the polite thing to do would be to drop a note or pay a visit advising of your offer to correct any damage.

Yep - offered to pay for any damage and to swap details with him to do so and he didn't want to know about it. I know the street he's on but that's it, I didnt take him to his house as such.

[tcdev]

So... it turns out this guy actually stole the bike, didn't want you to know where he lived, and didn't want any further contact...

[DaSchmooze]

So... it turns out this guy actually stole the bike, didn't want you to know where he lived, and didn't want any further contact...

Ha! Well he must have also stole the matching jersey to go with it too

No he seemed like a really nice bloke. Very personable and friendly.

[AUbicycles]

Simple idea - print out a few A4 pages and post them around. Just enough so they guy can contact... and not too much info to attract romantic proposals.

If the fellow doesn't want anything - and simply appreciates that your gesture of providing a lift was a kind and selfless act, perhaps a token gesture like gift voucher for a bike shop will at least sooth your itch.

[warthog1]

We are all idiots at one point or another Scmooze.
The punter you helped prob knows you acted out of kindness and realises you are a good, dopey f'ker.
You are an honest one too

[DaSchmooze]

Simple idea - print out a few A4 pages and post them around. Just enough so they guy can contact... and not too much info to attract romantic proposals.

If the fellow doesn't want anything - and simply appreciates that your gesture of providing a lift was a kind and selfless act, perhaps a token gesture like gift voucher for a bike shop will at least sooth your itch.

A very good idea - I'll run with that.

[DaSchmooze]

We are all idiots at one point or another Scmooze.
The punter you helped prob knows you acted out of kindness and realises you are a good, dopey f'ker.
You are an honest one too

Honest, dopey, f@#$er - yes I think that title fits perfectly

[warthog1]

It must have felt terrible at the time though

[biker jk]

It was captured on video.

[RonK]

Get rid of the roof racks - they are a disaster waiting to happen, as you have discovered. This has been discussed at length and cautions advised in several previous threads about roof racks.

If it is any consolation, you are not the first and won't be the last this has happened to.

You are not an idiot, it can happen to anyone. It is just too easy to forget the bike is on top, or to be distracted. Yes, I know people have strategies to remind themselves, but incidents keep happening.

I'm aware of two local bike shop staff members who have had the same unfortunate experience while transporting customers bikes.

And I need both hands to count the number of cycling acquaintances who have done the same. Most resulting in the virtual destruction of the bike and some with damage to the vehicle.

[AUbicycles]

I am convinced that if you run a bike roof rack, you should have an extra mirror (ex bonnet mounted) within your direct vision where you permanently see the bikes as a constant reminder.

[chriso_29er]

I run an open sunroof, the whistle from the bike is enough to remind me its there.

[DavidS]

Yep, saw someone do the same in the entrance to the flats opposite me, didn't wait for the roller door to fully open and bike came off. No damage done but not good, very easy to do.

DS

[antigee]

....do feel for you on this - not done it...mrs antigee has...normally run a tow bar rack ever since

double the error....saw a guy with bikes on roof of an RV try to pull under the canopy of a service station...the canopy had boards hanging on chains as some sort of warning - the bikes hit the board - rather than get out and look the guy just hit reverse...the board and chains had become entangled in one of the bikes and it got ripped off the rack - first mistake easy, 2nd dumb

[Bentnose]

I've had 2 incidents, hit my roller door and ripped the roof rails off, steel mtb was fine, just riveted the roof rails back on.

Second time I was reversing into a new house, so distracted by moving house, wife's bike hit the carport roof, bending the Thule bike carrier and destroying it in the process, bike was okay.

I use roof racks across the top of my ute tray which is about the same height as some cars, I think it's better from now on to just put it in the tray of the ute and secure it from moving around. Wish I had a tow bar, a tow bar install and a good carbon friendly bike rack for is quite pricey. I'm about to get a rather pricey carbon MTB so wouldn't to want risk wiping it out, it's just too easy to do so with the roof mounted carriers.

[RonK]

I run an open sunroof, the whistle from the bike is enough to remind me its there.

It'll rain one day on your way home. Read other members posts, and learn from their experiences.

[trailgumby]

Towball mounted racks are not risk free.

If you carry multiple bikes they are a pain in the butt to mount so that they don;t knock each other and take off paint (or worse if carbon).

Frequently - and definitely with mountain bikes - you will need to skew bars and move or remove seatposts. If you have spent a small fortune getting your bike fit just so, this is a real serious pain point , and I'm not talking just about the hassle of getting everything back to the correct position.

My experience of a few months with towball mounted racks and bikes rubbing and banging into each other was enough to convince me to go roof mounted.

[BenGr]

Towball mounted racks are not risk free.

If you carry multiple bikes they are a pain in the butt to mount so that they don;t knock each other and take off paint (or worse if carbon).

Frequently - and definitely with mountain bikes - you will need to skew bars and move or remove seatposts. If you have spent a small fortune getting your bike fit just so, this is a real serious pain point , and I'm not talking just about the hassle of getting everything back to the correct position.

My experience of a few months with towball mounted racks and bikes rubbing and banging into each other was enough to convince me to go roof mounted.

That's more of an issue with the type of racks. I was impressed with how common bike racks where in the more bike freindly parts of the States, all generally with a platform and arm holding the frame.

More surprising was racks mounted to the front! Not quite so practical on the average size car in Aus though. (These are presumably for those with trucks wanting to be able to keep full use of the tray)

[trailgumby]

It's also a function of the law. They aren't allowed to extend back past a certain distance behind the back axle. If you have a 3-bike rack, squeezing them all on is going to be a mission because spacing them on the rack so they don't interfere with each other puts you over the limit, especially if you have flatbars or a mountain bike, on which handlebars are getting ever wider.

[NASHIE]

My experience of a few months with towball mounted racks and bikes rubbing and banging into each other was enough to convince me to go roof mounted.

+1 .....carry 4 bikes on the roof rack mounts when MTBing and thats on top of 4WD. Did pull into a small servo in the country and wondered why the concerned looks at my roof. It was close (200-300mm) but most servos are high enough to allow light trucks etc.

There is a guy building x5 towball racks in wa that line the bikes up like a wall wheel mount system that looks good and may consider, but other towball mounts for more than 3 bikes just wreck your bikes.

[trailgumby]

My experience of a few months with towball mounted racks and bikes rubbing and banging into each other was enough to convince me to go roof mounted.

+1 .....carry 4 bikes on the roof rack mounts when MTBing and thats on top of 4WD. Did pull into a small servo in the country and wondered why the concerned looks at my roof. It was close (200-300mm) but most servos are high enough to allow light trucks etc.

There is a guy building x5 towball racks in wa that line the bikes up like a wall wheel mount system that looks good and may consider, but other towball mounts for more than 3 bikes just wreck your bikes.

My 4WD sn't quite as tall as yours

[NASHIE]

My 4WD sn't quite as tall as yours

Pft...thats not a 4WD . If yours is the same spec at least you have a roof mount viewing window to watch bike hit object. Im sure there has been plenty of roof top bike carnage on Grand tours etc with all the chase vehicles pulling into overnight stops.

[10speedsemiracer]

Could have been worse :

https://i.imgur.com/c4TEFYU.jpg