If you ride bikes for long enough, eventually you’ll have a story about your bike falling off the rack. My buddy’s bike fell off my rack once and we were lucky that all it did was grind a little off his seat. My mom grabbed my car once years ago and tried to park it in the garage. With bikes on the roof. The rack ripped right off the car, but my homemade bike rack (hose clamps around the grips and rack crossbar) held fast. Another friend had his brand new bike bounce off his trailer, then he dragged it for about ten kilometers withought realizing it. His handlebars ground down beyond the rear brake and a good chunk of his forks disappeared gone.
It’s an expensive mistake. And whenever I’m driving with bikes on the rack, I’m constantly watching my rear view mirror. Why do hitch-mounted racks wiggle so much!? It’s stressful. It’s something I have recurring nightmares about.
Consider the driver in this video; not realizing your bike is falling off your rack for 30 secounds would never happen to me. In my mind it’s pretty negligent. Especially on a four lane highway. The bike hangs on for an incedibly long time by just the handlebar. Then it finally falls off.
Who knows if someone eventually drove over it. Or if the bike on the road resulted in a rear-end collision somewhere down the line.
Bonus points if you notice the padlock that somehow stays on the rack right until the very end of the video. Buddy must have been in a hurry when he loaded everything up.
Or consider the poor dude driving into his garage. What a bummer. Not only do you wreck your bike, but also scratch your car, ruin your bike rack and probably damage your garage door. Another expensive mistake.
Consider this your reminder; double check your bike is attached properly!
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…