Gladiator GarageWorks GACUXXCAVK Claw Advanced Bike Storage, v1.0, Aluminum
by Gladiator Garage Works
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List Price: Our Price: $29.72 You Save: $30.27 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Gladiator GarageWorks GACUXXCAVK Claw Advanced Bike Storage, v1.0, Aluminum
Customer Review: I Really Like This Idea
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The only complaint I have with the "Gladiator GarageWorks GACUXXCAVK Claw Advanced Bike Storage v1.0" is that it needs a shorter name.
Seriously, this roof mounted storage clamp fulfills all three of my basic criteria for cool new gadgets.
1. it's simple to use.
Just one look at the thing tells you everything you need to know about how it works. (push up-jaws open, push up-jaws close).
2. It's a new take on an old idea.
I have used different bike "hooks" over the years and this is totally new in my experience.
3. It can be used for other stuff.
Anything you'd like to hang from the ceiling of the garage (under 50 pounds) that has something to hook onto will work fine in this.
The ceiling of my garage is slanted at a 45-degree angle. So I mounted the "Claw" on a cross beam. I marked then drilled pilot holes, and attached the unit with the supplied hardware.
Tip* leave the jaws in the open position before you get down, or you'll be looking for a broom or rake.
The jaws worked flawlessly every time I tried them. I confess I tested them a little more than necessary (it's pretty cool watching them open and close).
This is a pricey unit, but it comes from a company that specializes in pricey "upscale" garage storage solutions. It is designed for those who spend a-lot of time (and money) in their garages. It does the job it is designed for very well, looks way cool and has a lifetime warranty.
Customer Review: It works.....for those who are strong enough
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This device works very simply. A push on the orange disk upward closes the "claws" and another push upwards opens the claw. You get only one hanger, intended to hold a bike by a single wheel. This means you must be strong enough to hoist your bike over your head and maneuver one bike wheel up against, and depress the orange disk. If you have a ceiling that is more than 8 feet high, this device may not be for you unless you are strong enough and have a stool. Two of these devices are necessary if you wish to hang your bike horizontally. Do NOT try to hang your bike horizontally with only one of these devices....it may slip to one side or the other and hit someone, or worse - break loose.
Remember, if you hang your bike by one wheel with the device 8 feet overhead, the bike will hang down to within a few feet of the floor....so this device will NOT allow you to park your car under your bike unless you get two of these and hang the bike horizontally upside down.
Two #8 wood screws are provide to attach this device to an overhead joist in the garage. If your garage ceiling is dry-walled, you MUST make sure that you get the screws through the drywall and hit the joist. If you do not, your bike will probably fall down the first few times you hang it. The weight rating for the device is 50 pounds per Claw. I am an engineer, and I think that the strength of the unit itself is much stronger than the mounting using the two wood screws. So once again - MAKE SURE YOU MOUNT IT PROPERLY
Customer Review: A very expensive hook with a cool factor
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This hook does pretty much exactly what it's advertised to do - it holds a bike up securely and with some rubberized protection for the bike. It's very lightweight, which is nice, but overall, there really isn't much here that can't already be done less expensively and more simply.
Except there is a "button" in the middle. To hang your bike, you put the wheel where the Claw is, and, pressing the button with the tire, makes the Claw clamp down. Likewise, when you want your bike, you push up on the bike to make the tire hit the button, and the Claw opens. (This is all done mechanically - the button rotates a piece of plastic that determines whether the Claw should open or close - nothing electric here, thank goodness.)
A problem I can foresee happening, is, with it's intended purpose and most likely area of use of the garage, there is likely to be pretty large temperature ranges. The "button" and the surrounding material is made of plastic, and over time, the heat/cold and pressing of the button may eventually lead to cracking of the plastic casing, and possibly having the Claw stuck open or shut. (The "claw" itself and the mounting top are made of lightweight metal - feels like aluminum.)
Overall - it does it's intended job, and if it holds up to the continual button pressing and temperature extremes (which is yet to be determined)...then it's just an average hook, with the coolness factor a small plus, but the price/value a huge negative.
Customer Review: "WoW,Basically a 'click pen' but with mandibles instead of a cartridge!"
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
That's what my cyclist son said when I presented him with this latest "Vine" choice. I choose the Gladiator bike-storage gadget because I knew that my son would help me to write a helpful review, particularly for other cyclists like himself. He was really "psyched" about it! (srry)---a simple concept well-executed in a light yet sturdy bike-hanger-hook.
He saw how you install it on a joist with the screws provided (there are extra holes so that you use the ones that work for you); then simply lift your bike up front wheel first...it opens up easily with pressure on the "button", then the hook closes, and your bike hangs down vertically from the top wheel.
Why is this better than those big cheap plastic-coated hooks? Well, mainly because it is secure and so easy to use. It can be tricky to have to reach over and lift your bikes up over the hook and around other stuff that might be on the floor, etc. For someone who uses his bike a lot this is a real bonus. For someone who has a lot of (expensive!) different bikes that s/he uses on a regular basis the "Claw" is great. It would be sweet to install a whole row of them so that there is room for the fixie, the road bike, the cross bike, mountain bike, commuters, racers..
So it's a great gadget, esp for people who use their bikes a lot, but, he thinks that it is overpriced. THat's what he said. Yes, he's right, but when you consider all the money that those bikes cost....
Customer Review: Beautiful design and function and you'll pay for it
Summary: 1 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I have to rate this as a 1 because as a *VINE* reviewer, I installed this next to my existing "J" hook that was probably $1.80 from the hardware store and I think it holds 80lbs and has a rubber coating.
Well, I'm a regular Joe on Main St. guy with a regular garage with no fancy stainless-steel cabinets or anything like that. In fact, my garage walls aren't even finished and the drywall tape hangs from the seams.
That being said, wow, this is one extremely expensive "J" hook, but I am quite the pragmatist. My "Joe" hook screws into a wall joist and...installation done. I pick up my 35lb mountain bike and I hang it and I'm done. I can bump my head into it as much as I want, I can hit it with my shoulder everytime I go to retrieve the toilet plunger and nope, it won't fall off.
Now the Gladiator GarageWorks Claw Advanced Bike Storage sure is pretty, but it gives me no better function than a $1.80 "J" hook. My road bike only weighs 17lbs and it hangs just as well on the Claw grabbers as it would on a heavy-duty "J" hook.
Now if I lived in a mansion and had substantial tax cuts, I probably would have stainless-steel cabinets and this absolutely beautiful futuristic-looking Claw Advanced Bike Storage and a pretty 25-year old wife and a Jaguar, but alas, my average "Joe" hook, plastic shelving, and Toyota serve my purposes 100%. I could still use the pretty 25-year old wife though...