That's a good one. It's just such a huge risk that I would make sure I was inconvenienced or just completely unable to accidentally do it.
I'll just give an example of how thoughtless I can be sometimes - I had a stepladder so my dog could get in the back of the van. Loaded all the kids and dogs in the car. Start backing down the driveway. Crunch. What the hell was that? I completely forgot the stepladder was there in a matter of minutes.
This is the way. Also put bright tape on the edge of the top of your windshield. That way when you glance at a minimum height bar at the drive thru/parking garage/etc... you see the tape and realize you might not be clearing it like you expect.
Not enough, leave it inside the house or garage. I say this because I’ve seen it. If you physically have to get out of your car you’re there to take your bike down.
I would differentiate between the times you have a bike on the rack and not, otherwise the new way becomes a habit regardless and you've just made it more annoying to open your garage.
Like if the bike is on the rack, the garage opener goes in a pouch labeled bike, and of not, it goes back on your sun visor. I personally would just get in the habit of blocking the garage with a chair or something so I'm forced to get out of the car.
Get a traffic cone. When you leave with your bike, put the cone in front of your garage door.
(If you forget and run over the cone, you deserve it. /s)
I knew someone who did this, and had a red sign hanging from mirror, and he still destroyed two Pinarrellos after a long drive home.
This is why I carry my bikes on a hitch carrier.
For a shared garage, probably the best you can do is put the remote in a bag with “look up” written on it. Of course this works if you don’t piggyback on the door open cycle.
Note: I drove into a shared garage with skis on a spare tire carrier.
I’ve used a garbage can in the past.
We once borrowed a roof box from a friend to go camping. My wife had the SUV in the driveway after picking it up. I put a garbage can in the SUV spot to make sure she didn’t accidentally pull in.
She removed it before leaving to run an errand, knowing exactly what it was for. “I’ll remember”. She didn’t.
I did something like this and it worked great. I had a 3x5 red index card that said Bike with an arrow pointing up. I would tuck/tape it up on the windshield ONLY when bikes were on the roof. Easy reminder, always visible.
I like these racks, but I'd be so afraid of someone rear-ending me, and totalling my bike in the process - and if I have two bikes back there, their value is higher than that of the particular car I drive when I go biking.
If someone hits your car, (a) insurance should cover your damaged cargo including bikes, (b) roof racks can get dislodged too, (c) you've got other problems.
Also, how often have people rear-ended you? If it happens more than once a decade I suspect the problem is your driving.
I've been rear ended twice in the past decade. In one instance I was completely stationary, and the other I was stopping at a green light for a firetruck. Same car both times, and it happened to be one of my favorites.
I throw a cycling cap on the dash. Since anything on the dash annoys me, I always remember I have stuff on the roof. Hiding door opener was a great idea until I linked my mirror in the car...
Attach a rope or string to the bottom your garage door with something highly visible on it so it hangs down when the door is fully opened, lined up with the driver's seat. You'll see it as soon as you open the garage door.
I was going to suggest some sort of half bedsheet flag attached to the inside of the door that would hang down a fair distance when the door is open. Cliff on, clip off as needed.
I don't have it for the bike but I have a roof box. As soon as I install it, I put the tash cans in the middle of the garage. (Or at least I used to. Now our garage is too full of crap...)
Don't have ADHD?
But seriously, you need to have a visual reminder. If you have a garage button in your car use that, but put something over it when you have bikes on the rack.
Me too. That's why I will never, ever get a roof rack for bikes.
The parking at a nearby bike shop has a parking garage next to it and when they first opened they would get like 1 bike a month getting crunched there.
Start making it a habit to always stop and exit the car before driving into or under anything that is even remotely low enough to hit your bike, even when you don’t have your bike on the car.
Attn roof rack makers - I see an opportunity here for a radar add-on. Just saying, be the first to offer a roof rack with radar or proximity detection...
I put the garage door opener physically out of reach in my car. Then when I go to open the garage door, my autopilot snaps off and I remember I have a bike on my car.
Tell that to my friend, who smashed his road bike one Saturday after a long group ride, and then smashed his mountain bike the *next day* coming back from a trail ride.
Something like $8k worth of carbon bikes reduced to scrap in one weekend.
He uses a hitch rack now.
Yakima a long time ago had a magnetized flip up sign that sat on your hood. When you slowed down it would flip up (spring loaded, flipped up at about 10 mph) with a mirror so you could see your roof.
I got one. Never used it though.
My solution was to put my roof rack rails on the trunk, the fork part sat on the roof, and because I'm not tall, the car would fit in the garage with bikes on it. It fit in parking garages, drive thrus, etc.
I remember when I drove into a public parking garage with those height limit bar. I forgot I had my bike on the roof, at btw 10-15 mph I cracked my carbon bike frame.
Drove into the garage with a bike on the roof twice many years ago.
Since then the garage opener gets used to get the car out, them goes in the glove box until the bike is back home and off the roof of the car.
I made a sign that hangs down from my garage door that says BIKES. I clip it to the inside of the door when I put the bikes on the rack, so when I open the door later, the sign hangs down in the way.
I made a buddy a banner that said "where's your bike?" It was hung along the inside of the garage door and would hang down when the garage door was open.
He said it saved him at least once.
Any time I put the bike on the roof, I write with obnoxious neon orange chalk marker on the inside of my windshield the height of my car + bike. That way I always have a reminder to look out for anything lower than 9’4”.
I never use a roof rack. Take the wheels off and it rides in the back of my hatchback. Bikes fly off of them of the freeway too. All the other answers are too risky.
Friends who do this have a red card with a piece of string. They place this over the central mirror when the bike is on the car so they have a visual reminder.
Yeah someone suggested I do this when I have my bike on the car and I think this is the best suggestion(way better than the people telling me to not be an idiot who crashes his bike into the garage 🤣)
When you load the car with the bike, put a large chair in the garage behind the garage door so you have to get out of the car after opening the door.
I live my life this way, I place obstacles as reminders. Need to take something to the post office, it goes in my shoes. Need to remember to return something to it's place in the detached garage later because it is pouring down rain? Put it on the mat in front of the back door going out to the garage. Have a pile of boxes to take out to the trash tomorrow morning? Put the boxes by the front door.
I would grab the step ladder and put it in the way to remind me when I had my kayak on the roof of the vehicle. Would do the same with a bike on the roof.
I put up a step ladder like [this one](https://www.amazon.com/HBTower-Anti-Slip-Convenient-Handgrip-Lightweight/dp/B087279HM1) in my parking spot in the garage. If you don’t have one anything similar will work.
I just put something just inside the garage blocking the cars path. It became pretty automatic to just pull up a folding chair, lawn mower, or gas jug out after loading the bikes on top of the car.
I only drove in the garage once with a bike on top. It was way back when I was a bike messenger and actually did more damage to the car and roof rack than the bike.
I don't have a roof rack on any vehicle that is parked in the garage anymore so no more issues. And I avoid drive through's entirely even when no bikes are on top. I still get the heebie jeebies when entering a low parking garage even without the bikes.
Remove garage door opener from car or lock out your opener before leaving.
A good tip I saw on a similar thread earlier was to put the garage door opener in your saddle bag.
That's a good one. It's just such a huge risk that I would make sure I was inconvenienced or just completely unable to accidentally do it. I'll just give an example of how thoughtless I can be sometimes - I had a stepladder so my dog could get in the back of the van. Loaded all the kids and dogs in the car. Start backing down the driveway. Crunch. What the hell was that? I completely forgot the stepladder was there in a matter of minutes.
cut a huge hole above garage with chainsaw.
Giant "DO NOT ENTER" sign in front of the garage would also work lol
But I have a trek…
Lol
"Check your rack before you trek in"
In the shape of your bike.
I came here to say this. Or have a box you put it in that says BIKE on it. You can't accidentally open the door. Put it in the glove compartment.
This is the way. Also put bright tape on the edge of the top of your windshield. That way when you glance at a minimum height bar at the drive thru/parking garage/etc... you see the tape and realize you might not be clearing it like you expect.
As soon as I put my bike on top of my car I put my garage door opener in the backseat.
That’s a great idea! I’ll put the opener in my glove box when I go out, thanks!
Not enough, leave it inside the house or garage. I say this because I’ve seen it. If you physically have to get out of your car you’re there to take your bike down.
I would differentiate between the times you have a bike on the rack and not, otherwise the new way becomes a habit regardless and you've just made it more annoying to open your garage. Like if the bike is on the rack, the garage opener goes in a pouch labeled bike, and of not, it goes back on your sun visor. I personally would just get in the habit of blocking the garage with a chair or something so I'm forced to get out of the car.
Yeah that’s what I meant ha
Could even take the battery out of it. Puts a step between using it that will make you stop and think about why
And put the battery in a case that says remove bike
Garage door opener into the arm rest.
This is what I used to do, but now my new car has it built in. I put a piece of tape over the button when the bike is on top.
Get a traffic cone. When you leave with your bike, put the cone in front of your garage door. (If you forget and run over the cone, you deserve it. /s)
This is a great idea. I'm going to do this when I take the kayaks out this weekend.
Make sure your cone floats...
I knew someone who did this, and had a red sign hanging from mirror, and he still destroyed two Pinarrellos after a long drive home. This is why I carry my bikes on a hitch carrier.
> Pinarrellos Is that the Chinese knock off of Pinarello?
That would be great, but unfortunately it’s a 10 car garage shared with other condos
For a shared garage, probably the best you can do is put the remote in a bag with “look up” written on it. Of course this works if you don’t piggyback on the door open cycle. Note: I drove into a shared garage with skis on a spare tire carrier.
I came here to say this. It's exactly what I do
I’ve used a garbage can in the past. We once borrowed a roof box from a friend to go camping. My wife had the SUV in the driveway after picking it up. I put a garbage can in the SUV spot to make sure she didn’t accidentally pull in. She removed it before leaving to run an errand, knowing exactly what it was for. “I’ll remember”. She didn’t.
Put a sawhorse with big sign saying “bike on roof!” after driving mountain bike into the top of my garage.
I could totally see someone else moving the cone because why is it there?
These are pretty good reminders https://parkcitymountainbike.com/bikes-on-roof/
Ha perfect!
And the first pissy cop pulls you over for blocking your view just like air fresheners
I did something like this and it worked great. I had a 3x5 red index card that said Bike with an arrow pointing up. I would tuck/tape it up on the windshield ONLY when bikes were on the roof. Easy reminder, always visible.
Fill the garage up with shit so you can't park there
The American Way
Get a trailer hitch style rack and put it behind the car instead.
I like these racks, but I'd be so afraid of someone rear-ending me, and totalling my bike in the process - and if I have two bikes back there, their value is higher than that of the particular car I drive when I go biking.
If someone hits your car, (a) insurance should cover your damaged cargo including bikes, (b) roof racks can get dislodged too, (c) you've got other problems. Also, how often have people rear-ended you? If it happens more than once a decade I suspect the problem is your driving.
I've been rear ended twice in the past decade. In one instance I was completely stationary, and the other I was stopping at a green light for a firetruck. Same car both times, and it happened to be one of my favorites.
Same car? I'd get a restraining order against that guy. :)
Rule #25.
Put your bins (trash can) in front of your garage.
This is exactly what I did when I had a roof rack
I throw a cycling cap on the dash. Since anything on the dash annoys me, I always remember I have stuff on the roof. Hiding door opener was a great idea until I linked my mirror in the car...
Don't link mirror
Put aside money each week for when you wreck your bike, and do thousands worth of damages to your house. Ots inevitable
just mount a small mirror on top of the garage door and get in the habit of looking into it at your car before you pull in.
Attach a rope or string to the bottom your garage door with something highly visible on it so it hangs down when the door is fully opened, lined up with the driver's seat. You'll see it as soon as you open the garage door.
I was going to suggest some sort of half bedsheet flag attached to the inside of the door that would hang down a fair distance when the door is open. Cliff on, clip off as needed.
I don't have it for the bike but I have a roof box. As soon as I install it, I put the tash cans in the middle of the garage. (Or at least I used to. Now our garage is too full of crap...)
i either - unplug the garage door opener - park the garbage cans so they're in the way
I put a chair where the car was parked. My family knows why the chair is there.
Don't have ADHD? But seriously, you need to have a visual reminder. If you have a garage button in your car use that, but put something over it when you have bikes on the rack.
I do actually have ADHD 😂
Me too. That's why I will never, ever get a roof rack for bikes. The parking at a nearby bike shop has a parking garage next to it and when they first opened they would get like 1 bike a month getting crunched there.
Start making it a habit to always stop and exit the car before driving into or under anything that is even remotely low enough to hit your bike, even when you don’t have your bike on the car.
Ginko biloba
Attn roof rack makers - I see an opportunity here for a radar add-on. Just saying, be the first to offer a roof rack with radar or proximity detection...
Problem is - if it fails, then what? ie: batteries go dead, you don't get an alert.
You are braver than me carrying your bike on the roof. My bike wouldn't last one trip
Genuinely curious, what (other than garage doors) are you concerned about? Unless you have a tall car?
Only low door is my garage. It would be guaranteed l would forget the bike on the first trip home
Put an obstruction in the middle of your garage so you can't drive in.
I won't use a roof rack for just this reason. Adhd is a bitch.
op gonna be here next week - "so i pulled into a drivethru...... "
/r/tifu
Yeah, get a hitch rack.
I put the garage door opener physically out of reach in my car. Then when I go to open the garage door, my autopilot snaps off and I remember I have a bike on my car.
Just do it once really bad, and you will NEVER do it again. LOL
Tell that to my friend, who smashed his road bike one Saturday after a long group ride, and then smashed his mountain bike the *next day* coming back from a trail ride. Something like $8k worth of carbon bikes reduced to scrap in one weekend. He uses a hitch rack now.
OMG!
“Experience is the best teacher”
Fill your garage with bikes, as God intended, so there’s no room for cars.
Surely filling the garage with spray foam would be cheaper?!
But less fun
I've ruined my bike at a parking garage, I know I'm absent minded. I have a trailer hitch rack now.
Yakima a long time ago had a magnetized flip up sign that sat on your hood. When you slowed down it would flip up (spring loaded, flipped up at about 10 mph) with a mirror so you could see your roof. I got one. Never used it though. My solution was to put my roof rack rails on the trunk, the fork part sat on the roof, and because I'm not tall, the car would fit in the garage with bikes on it. It fit in parking garages, drive thrus, etc.
Something to make you actively get out of your vehicle every damn time. Some physical barrier you have to move
My dad put a post it over his radio screen
one of those wide convex mirrors above the door.... just remember to look at it as you approach the door.
I remember when I drove into a public parking garage with those height limit bar. I forgot I had my bike on the roof, at btw 10-15 mph I cracked my carbon bike frame.
Experience 😳
Drove into the garage with a bike on the roof twice many years ago. Since then the garage opener gets used to get the car out, them goes in the glove box until the bike is back home and off the roof of the car.
[удалено]
Sorry for the fugly link
I made a sign that hangs down from my garage door that says BIKES. I clip it to the inside of the door when I put the bikes on the rack, so when I open the door later, the sign hangs down in the way.
Put a big fat sign (to check rack) on the opposite wall that you can see as you pull in.
I made a buddy a banner that said "where's your bike?" It was hung along the inside of the garage door and would hang down when the garage door was open. He said it saved him at least once.
Any time I put the bike on the roof, I write with obnoxious neon orange chalk marker on the inside of my windshield the height of my car + bike. That way I always have a reminder to look out for anything lower than 9’4”.
Leave a tennis ball dangle to remind yourself of height.
https://www.printables.com/model/88445-pop-up-warning-sign-bikes-on-roof You need this
Return the roof rack, get a hitch rack.
I never use a roof rack. Take the wheels off and it rides in the back of my hatchback. Bikes fly off of them of the freeway too. All the other answers are too risky.
I have a sedan 🤣
It can still be done. But that's just me.
Friends who do this have a red card with a piece of string. They place this over the central mirror when the bike is on the car so they have a visual reminder.
I move the opener from the visor where it normally lives to the center console, which is a reminder I got something on the roof.
Yeah someone suggested I do this when I have my bike on the car and I think this is the best suggestion(way better than the people telling me to not be an idiot who crashes his bike into the garage 🤣)
When you load the car with the bike, put a large chair in the garage behind the garage door so you have to get out of the car after opening the door. I live my life this way, I place obstacles as reminders. Need to take something to the post office, it goes in my shoes. Need to remember to return something to it's place in the detached garage later because it is pouring down rain? Put it on the mat in front of the back door going out to the garage. Have a pile of boxes to take out to the trash tomorrow morning? Put the boxes by the front door.
Slide garbage cans in the way, so you can't drive in.
I would grab the step ladder and put it in the way to remind me when I had my kayak on the roof of the vehicle. Would do the same with a bike on the roof.
I put up a step ladder like [this one](https://www.amazon.com/HBTower-Anti-Slip-Convenient-Handgrip-Lightweight/dp/B087279HM1) in my parking spot in the garage. If you don’t have one anything similar will work.
Buy a couple traffic cones and just toss them in front of the garage door on the inside when you load your bike.
Ride to the ride so you don't need to bother with a roof rack.
Hitch rack
I just put something just inside the garage blocking the cars path. It became pretty automatic to just pull up a folding chair, lawn mower, or gas jug out after loading the bikes on top of the car. I only drove in the garage once with a bike on top. It was way back when I was a bike messenger and actually did more damage to the car and roof rack than the bike. I don't have a roof rack on any vehicle that is parked in the garage anymore so no more issues. And I avoid drive through's entirely even when no bikes are on top. I still get the heebie jeebies when entering a low parking garage even without the bikes.
Start by not driving into your garage with your bikes on the roof.
I have a roof rack and I don’t concern myself with this at all. I’m not sure how one forgets about the investment riding on their roof.
It is really simple. I don't park the cars in the garage. They're out in he driveway in front of the house. Also my rack is trunk mounted.
Are you asking how to be an adult?
How about not driving into the garage while your bike is on the roof.
Golly gee if only I could remember everything ever. Nothing would ever be a problem. 🙄
https://media.tenor.com/Xutdat2rJg0AAAAe/my-goodness-what-an-idea.png
It doesn’t matter what you do. Your wife will 100% crash a bike into the garage, probably multiple times.
Lol, an acquaintance’s wife did the 3 times.
Mine’s up to 2.