RAD Cycle Products Ceiling Mount Bike Hoist
by RAD Cycle Products
|
List Price: Our Price: $12.94 You Save: $42.01 (76%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $11.65 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
|---|
Tools and Hardware Reviews of RAD Cycle Products Ceiling Mount Bike Hoist
Customer Review: Piece of over complicated junk
Summary: 2 Stars
I took it down and put up a single hook. I've been able to salvage some of the parts of this contraption for other purposes, but it's just so ungainly and impractical that I'm pissed off that I spent money on it in the first place. If there was a way to engineer it so that the two pulleys always rise at the same rate, then it might have some kind of practical point, but they don't. I've got a brand new, very normal standard bike, but this thing was useless. I had to pull on the line with one hand, while keeping a half turn around the provided cleat, and at the same time use my other hand to lift the bike so that it would be straight when it got to the top.
Less efficient than just putting a single 3" hook in the wall or from a rafter and hanging the bike from the front wheel.
Also, the hooks are on pivots and as I would lift with my bike-hand, one or the other would invariable come out from under the seat. I never dropped the bike on myself, but over a long enough time frame it was going to happen either to my wife or to myself.
I did however re-use the pulleys to hang my canoe one end at a time and using standard knot-work to attach.
Customer Review: Not sure why all the bad reviews
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this item and initially I was skeptical because of all of the poor reviews. But I figured I would give it a try as it was so cheap. When I was prepared for the worst, but what I received was a good product that installed easily. The installation hardware was not the best, but it was good enough. We are holding up a single bike here, so we don't need grade 8 airplane quality bolts. The instructions were straight forward and with in about 15 minutes I had my 10 year old trek bike hanging on the ceiling. As others have mentioned the brackets that secure the bike to the hoist are not what is pictured in this page. However, what was included worked just fine and it would take a major earthquake or structural damage to my house for the bike to fall. If I were to ever become concerned with the mounting brackets, the fix would be as simple as a piece of cord wrapped around the seat and handle bars.
With this mount I was able to reclaim that space in my garage, and because of that, this product was well worth the little money I paid for it.
Customer Review: Works well
Summary: 5 Stars
Bike hoist is quite simple to install and looks quite sturdy when used within the specs
Just a couple observations during installation.
The ceiling brackets are to be mounted on a 2 by 4 or a similar width board on the ceiling first.
This is because the standard width of a ceiling joist is not wide enough to accomodate the bracket width.
Measure multiple times and only then drill holes.
Do not take short cuts...if you think that the joists are always parallel to the wall edge, you are wrong ... I tried to use the wall as reference and boy was I wrong ... (you can tell why I did not make a video review here ...;)).
.... use the stud finder for each screw for the boards.
Make sure to account for clearance in the front and back of the bicycle as well - I mounted 3 of these mounts for 3 bikes and it could have been a disaster had I not accounted for the clearance !
All in all, it is a great product and frees up valuable floor space in your garage.
Good Luck
Customer Review: works as advertised. hooks and screws not good.
Summary: 4 Stars
One reviewer commented on the quality and size of the screws included, and they were correct: much too large, and too easy to strip. I used my own screws instead.
Another reviewer commented that the hooks used to hold up the bikes were also not bent correctly (too flat, not enough curve) and I totally agree. In fact, because the front and back pulleys move up at different rates (depending on the weight balance of the bike front-to-back), the tilt angle of the bike caused it to slip off the too-flat hooks. This was terrible! My solution was to purchase 2 steel spring cargo clips for an additional $4 at home depot. I unscrewed the hooks from the bottom of the pulley and threaded in a short length (2') of rope I cut off. This makes a perfect loop for the spring clip and lets me actually clip the pulleys to the seat and handlebars. Much more secure.
I still give this product 4 stars because it was so inexpensive and I knew what I was getting myself into based on the useful comments from other reviewers.
Customer Review: Good deal for the money
Summary: 4 Stars
Short and to the point:
1) Installation was easy
2) The pulley is easy to use
3) It does what it's supposed to for a cheap price
I bought three sets and have three bikes hanging together in my garage (staggered). My only complaint is that the hooks are not really hooks. They are more like "L" brackets and as a result they don't "hook" the bike seat particularly well. I have to be very careful with my trek road bike as I'm lifting it to make sure the brackets don't slip out from underneath the seat. I actually tried to bend them to make them more like a hook but they are too solid (I guess that's a good thing).
My garage ceiling is high enough that I don't bump the bikes at all when they are lifted. If you think they will get bumped occasionally, you'll probably need to rig something to make sure the hooks stay put on the seat.
All in all, I'd say that for the price I paid it was worth it.