Cali bike attacks French height barrier

[WillSS]

Evening all,
Hoping for a Cali forum first here.
Had to kill some time waiting for the ferry back home so popped into a Decathlon store where we were confronted with a 2m high car park barrier.

A quick shout to the wife 'have we got anything on the roof?'
'No... but shall I get out?'
'No point, we've got this, definitely under the 2m level'

The gentle limbo ensued ending in a crunchy noise.

'Oh dear, I think we forgot about the bike on the rack' *
* re-worded minus potty mouth.

Lessons learned...

1. Whenever possible always get out when going under a height barrier.
2. The French like a good laugh.
3. The VW rack is very strong. No damage at all.
4. Lightweight alloy bike frames and carbon forks aren't.

Not so happy days,
Will

 

[Skylark2.0]

Evening all,
Hoping for a Cali forum first here.
Had to kill some time waiting for the ferry back home so popped into a Decathlon store where we were confronted with a 2m high car park barrier.

A quick shout to the wife 'have we got anything on the roof?'
'No... but shall I get out?'
'No point, we've got this, definitely under the 2m level'

The gentle limbo ensued ending in a crunchy noise.

'Oh dear, I think we forgot about the bike on the rack' *
* re-worded minus potty mouth.

Lessons learned...

1. Whenever possible always get out when going under a height barrier.
2. The French like a good laugh.
3. The VW rack is very strong. No damage at all.
4. Lightweight alloy bike frames and carbon forks aren't.

Not so happy days,
Will

Oh bother

 

[CannellWalker]

Gutting.

 

[Andresz]

Stupid height barrier system, typically for France.
These barriers are also common in supermarkets, open air parking lots and other places. In supermarkets I see them being smashed almost every week. So much damage to people's property with no reason at all.

 

[WelshGas]

Sorry, but + 1 for towbar bike rack.

 

[Rich]

I feel your pain, i did exactly the same only yesterday, 2.1m barrier, no prob i thought...forgot about the bikes on the back...CRUNCH!!! still kicking myself for my stupidity but, like you, experienced no damage to the bike rack although 1 of the bikes didn't fare quite as well

 

[teeboy]

Sorry, but + 1 for towbar bike rack.

The advantage of the towbar rack is that you can fit into a 2.0 or 2.1m car park.

The disadvantage is that once you get under the barrier you won't fit into the parking spaces

I am in the towbar carrier camp - but there is not a single solution that suits everyone.

I think if you are carrying bikes then you do lose some of the cali's "car like" flexibility.

 

[WelshGas]

The way some people park their "normal " cars then the fact that a towbar rack juts out a bit pales into insignificance. I've not had any problems so far.

 

[DavidofHook]

We have found that the towbar method is probably better, no crashing into height barriers, no straining to lift the bikes onto the rack. The fact that it overhangs the parking place has never been a problem so far (touches head)

 

[Sadie]

The other day in France we went in the services car bpark no probs but when we came to get out there was a 3 metre height barrier. The boss or should I say the one who thinks he should be obeyed sent me out at the mercy of the exiting services traffic to watch and guide him through with his racing bike on top.Just did it by the tiniest of spaces. To add insult to injury at the next peage he said shall I try your credit card to see if it's ok? Because of the b.....y bike it charged us at Class 3 which was 60 odd euros.
It's better to have the bike on the back! It causes less friction.