I was just parking up for a ride this morning when I did that thing I always try and remind myself not to do – drove into a hight-restricted car park with my bike on the roof. The bike hit the rusty metal barrier square in the fork crown, ripping the roofrack straight off. I watched in horror as bike and roofrack sailed past in slow motion in the rear view mirror.

The good news is that the bike is relatively unscathed as far as I can tell, apart from trashed forks, some scrapes and scratches to brakes, shifters, mech etc and a knackered head badge. The car fared a bit worse, with a fashionably corrugated roof. Not looking forward to explaining that when I get to work on Monday.

My apologies to chakaping, who I was meeting. We only managed to get about a mile before the forks gave out (I'd been hopeful that the damage was only superficial), but at least the insurance is going to pay out by the looks of things, so I can console myself with a bit of fork shopping.

I'm thinking I might have won the gormless tw*t of the day award though. Unless anyone else did something even more mind numbingly stupid?

I'm thinking I might have won the gormless tw*t of the day award though

congrats, did the forks giving out end in pain?

Ouch.

The captain of the MTB club at the university I went to did that once, only with four pretty pricey members' bikes on the roof of the university-owned people-carrier-thing he was driving. Fortunately the insurance policy he'd set up for the entire club covered the damage to both bikes & motor, or he'd have been in £5-6k more debt than the average student…

Tough luck, I do hope that the bike's alright. It rather puts my mangling of a brand new, expensive stem into context! I hope that the insurance pays out smartish and you can get back to riding.

I feel your pain did the same thing and killed my Heckler and scratched and dented the roof of my car, on the upside I got a new DW 5 Spot frame & fork and lots of other bits on the insurance.

If they are late fox's can I buy the internals? Seriously can I?

If they are late fox's can I buy the internals? Seriously can I?

😆

Thankfully it was just a nasty twang followed by losing all the oil out of the bottom and all travel. I was mincing at the time, so no off. They're rockshox Mikey I'm afraid.

Good news about the insurance!

Nice to meet you, hope it didn’t spoil yr weekend.

Ouch!

That’s the reason I’d never contemplate getting a roof mounted rack.

That’s the reason I’d never contemplate getting a roof mounted rack.

You’d much rather see your bike somersaulting down the motorway after falling off a rear mounted/boot rack?

You’d much rather see your bike somersaulting down the motorway after falling off a rear mounted/boot rack?

I’d rather the passengers hung onto the roof Mumbai-style …

You’d much rather see your bike somersaulting down the motorway after falling off a rear mounted/boot rack?

Towbar mounted racks are the only way to go 🙂

same thing happened to me a couple of years back, drove straight into a height restriction barrier at a carpark, wrote my sids off, and nicely dented/ scratched the car roof 🙁
swore i’d never put a bike on the roof again.
spent nearly £200 on a tow bar mounted rack, and first time i used it …i backed straight into the garage door 😯
since then, i’ve also had to go searching (backwards) along the m6 for a bike which “just vanished officer”

maybe i should start riding to my riding 😕

Towbar mounted racks are the only way to go +1
No really it is. Less drag= better mpg, easy to get to, totally solid on the car and my thule rack doubles as a post ride seat.

But sorry about the roof rack barrier interface, thats a bummer.

Sorry to hear that, I bet the feeling is a real gut wrencher. Don’t you people have a boot?

You’d much rather see your bike somersaulting down the motorway after falling off a rear mounted/boot rack?

Errr, no.

No, vans are the only way to go !

No, vans are the only way to go !

+1

Or a decent sized estate.

Why anyone would buy a car too small to fit their bike in, so you have to dangle it on any sort of rack, is beyond me…

I just love being able to get 3 bikes, 3 people, 3 sets of weekend gear all inside my car 🙂

Gives me a nice warm fuzzy feeling……or that might be something else….

Thanks for all the sympathy guys. Not sure I deserve it.

Anotherstan – you just made me feel so much less stupid, thanks. (not suggesting you’re stupid by the way – just that it’s all so easy to do).

I will go for a rear mounted rack if the lease company will let me fit a towbar. I would have taken the bike in the boot if I wasn’t away for the weekend with wife and kids. The only option would have been to put a couple of them on the roof instead, and as it turned out that would have ended more nastily. 😀

I take off my front wheel and seat, drop the Talas forks to 110, drop 1/3 of my car back seat and pop the bike in upright, squashing the forks slightly so that it stands up independently. Still leaves room in the boot for 2 collies and and 2 adults in the back seat.

There’s no way I’d leave upwards of 4k of bike sitting outside the security of my car!

Anyway, bad luck Bol, get some cracking forks to compensate 8)

I’ve done exactly the same thing although I have an excuse.

I’d driven for 11 hours straight. It had been a hell of a drive in nasty traffic England and horrible weather in Scotland. We rolled into Oban at eleven at night, a place I’d never been to before. I was absolutely desperate for a piss so chose to drive into a supermarket car park to have a slash in the corner. I shot into the entrance and realised too late it had a height barrier. I braked but we still hit it.

The three bikes on the roof took the impact and the rack flew off the back hitting the boot on the way down. Bikes were fine but the boot of the car had a nasty dint in it.

And then the entire population of Oban turned out to point and laugh at the stupid Englishman.