So, went to my mate's wedding as best man yesterday, stuck the bike on the roof in case I had too many to drive home (I don't really drink, and drove in the end... the draw of my own bed was too much ), and was thinking so much about other things I was supposed to be doing that day, that I maaaaay not have noticed the enormous brick arch that I was going under doing abotu 10-15mph!!

 

BANG!!

 

Tore the bike completely off (looked in my mirror and expected it to be dangling down the rear window but was actually wiped out completely!). Cue lots of swearing.

 

Anyway, got out to have a look expecting the roof skin to be peeled back and the paint to be fooked: the bike was back in the drive and the front of the rail was snapped about 8" back, the middle rail bit was bent up from the middle roof fixing. Ah well, such is life. Had a better look today and I was right not to let it bother me too much: the middle rail & front mount bits are shot but the back bit is fine, and it's very easy to get off so just have to get a replacement which is only £120 from the dealer and about £20 per side from most scrappies, so nothing to get stressed about. Biggest plus is the paint only had one single mark, a very wee dent like a hit from a centrepunch;  biggest bummer is my Thule 591 bike rack which took a big hit and knackered the one bit I can't replace, the lockable arm.

 

Lessons learned? Despite usually being constantly worried about having a bike on the roof and frequently looking at it throught the sunroof glass to check it's all okay, even a momentary lapse is enough to bugger your day up, and Skoda estate roof rails are EXCELLENT at snapping in the right place to protect the car when you take a hit with summat on top!! Oh, and if you ARE gonna do it, make sure you hit it at about the same speed as me so it clears the roof completely and makes a clean break in the rail!

 

 

So,... if anyone has a spare offside roof rail or a knackered Thule 591 bike carrier I can canabalise I'd be MIGHTY appreciated!!

 

Absolutely nailed the best man speech though.

This thread needs pictures! :(

P.S. Sorry about the damage.

Fair point, but it's not actually as explosive as you would have thought, and as it happens as I thought it would be before I stepped out the car.

Just a bent bar and a broken front bracket, but I'll take a pic of that bit tommorow if I remember.

This thread needs pictures! :(

 

 

 

Found one

 

 

God bless photoshop.