April 29, 2009
Rack Attack Team
Your going to drag out the Mt. Bike today finally, tired of being on the skinny tire rain bike all winter - the sun's shining and it feels warm on the skin. You call some of your fellow riders from P.U.M.P to join you up in Forest Park, load up and back the car out of the garage, put some air in your fat tires, load the bike, and your OFF.
You spend all day riding and remember how good it feels to be on your bike when it's warm and not in the gray Portland drizzle. On the way home you stop for a bite to eat then home...................AND INTO THE GARAGE WITH THE BIKE ON!!!!!!!! Your neighbor with the hose on his rose bush stands gawking at the terrible noise and your loud cursing..............
Does this story sound familiar? In all the years of installing here at Rack Attack, when the sun comes out we get an average of about a person a week, all summer long that forget and drive their bike UNDER something. Tree branches, fast food drivethrough, hotels parking garages, carports, hospitals, etc, etc..... Everybody knows someone that's done it, and it's not a good experience whether the bike was worth $200 or $2000++
These are the things we hear all the time -
1. Can't you just jimmy it back on?
Answer: Yakima and Thule have specific fit requirements for roof racks and any deviation in the tolerances (things being BENT, say) prevent the equipment from fitting the way it should. Even if it looks OK it may not be.
2. Can't I just spend $10 for the little part that broke, do you really need to inspect the whole thing?
Tell you what- you can do what ever you want and I'm going to put a big bumper sticker on your car that says "Do not drive behind me". The best thing a customer ever said to us was "If your uncomfortable with it, I'm uncomfortable with it - you guys deal with this all the time" . We just want to do what's right to keep you, your passengers, and the people around you on the freeway safe. Damaged product rarely fails in your driveway sitting still, it FAILS ON THE FREEWAY AT 65mph!
After the wise customer does the correct fix and replaces all their damaged equipment we also encourage having the bike checked out too. The Rack Attack Experts know how to spot damaged rack equipment and your local Bike Shop Experts can spot frame damage on your bike. Sometimes hairline cracks - that will also fail under extreme use, like bombing down some sweet single track...........
The bike transfers the brunt of the hit to the rack and the rack transfers it to the car. Depending on how severe the damage is to the car - the rack may or may not be able to be re-installed until the vehicle has been professionally repaired by a body shop.
A small dimple in the roof may not seem like much, but it does upset how tight the rack would be on your vehicle.
Fortunately the Older Volkswagens have two positions to attach to in the roof, and we were able to move everything to the second position safely. The customer spent more than he wanted to, to fix everything correctly, but will be better off in the long run.
If you have any question, or are in need of Parts for your Garage or Tree Branch Snaffffooooooo Call the Experts at Rack Attack - 1-888-399-7225 or Email Us. We deal with this stuff all the time and would be happy to help get you back on the road. Thanks
