Racor - PBH-1R, Bike Storage, Garage Pulley Lift

Great!

I bought two of these bike racks to hang bikes from the high ceiling of my garage. The racks serve their intended purpose and allow me to park my car underneath. In that regard I am pleased with the product. That being said, here are some observations on my installation and use of the racks. Hanging the racks on the ceiling of my garage was not simple. A carpenter who happened to be at my house doing other work had to help hang them. I was disappointed by the ropes that came with the racks. Out of the box the ropes exhibited signs of fraying. With just a few lifts of my bikes I can see that I will soon need to replace the ropes with something more durable. I found that it is pretty easy for the rope to slip through the pulley system. Therefore I recommend that the user tie a stopper knot on the rope so that it cannot accidentally slip through. Finally, I found that the supplied hooks would not safely hook on to the seat of one of my bikes. Therefore I had to devise a more secure method of hanging the bike.

Pretty close to perfect for the price. Installed in garage but i used my own hardware and anchors. Rope is fine, lifts my mountain bike quite nicely.

I used the Racor PBH-1R to hang my 45 pound Yakima Cargo Box from my garage ceiling (see photo). The lift works well enough for this purpose, especially for the price. (More on hanging the cargo box at the end.) However, its not a perfect system. As other reviews have noted, the screws that come with the kit are soft (I used 2 1/2 deck screws instead) and the rope doesnt appear to be of particularly high quality. Also, the two claws do not rise evenly when lifting the cargo box (maybe this works better for bikes). So in order to actually lift the cargo box to the ceiling, I either need the help of another person to keep the box level or I have to sort of walk the box up by pushing one side up, pulling the rope a bit, pushing the other side up, pulling the rope again, and on and on. Its not really difficult to do, and it doesnt take that long, but its a little bit annoying. (I have the sense that a better pulley system would rise evenly.) About using the Racor PBH-1R to hang my cargo box: I did a lot of research and read all the reviews on all the lifts available on Amazon. jts images and notes about using this lift for his cargo box got me thinking that this system might work for me as well. Fortunately, I decided to contact jt before trying to hang the box as his photos in the listing show. jt initially lifted his box without straps, by placing the hooks under the front and rear lips of the cargo box. This had the advantage of lifting the box high against the ceiling. Unfortunately, it had the disadvantage of being relatively unstable, making it difficult to lift the box up. After he dropped the box once using this method, he decided to switch to hanging the box from straps. Also, I saw that another Amazon user, Cherrie, had posted a photo of a kayak hanging from a similar mounting system (the RAD Easy Rail Mount Aluminum Bike and Ladder Lift) using straps. I contacted her and she said she was very pleased with her system. So straps are clearly the way to go. Cherrie told me about some heavy duty custom straps she ordered, but I figured Id try regular old straps before specially ordering custom ones. I bought the very affordable Master Lock 3060DAT 12-Foot-by-1-Inch Lashing Strap 2-Pack here on Amazon and they worked out great. The only downside of using straps is that the box hangs down about 18 inches off the ceiling (so the bottom of the box is about two feet from the ceiling). All in all, Im pleased with the system. Its not perfect, but it works well.

This prodcut is exactly what it shows. It came quickly from the Vendor and I saved 50% to what the local stores were selling it for.

Install was easy, and it works great. I am very happy with the product. I dont use my bike too often, so this is perfect to keep it out of the way. Lowering and raising is very simple, and takes no time at all.

Was looking for a device to hold the bike and store it conspicuously until I found this. Now my landlord will be happy saving his garage space for his stuff.

Bought two of these hoists and installed both in about 1 hour. Works just like I hoped.

I bought two of these, one for my husbands bike and one for my daughters. They are perfect for our tiny one car garage! Both bikes are safely overhead and my 7 year old can get her bike down easily!

This item does what it says. There is plenty of leverage to lift bikes with ease. I guess they beefed up the ropes from earlier versions cuz they seem plenty strong to me. I did mount the units on a 6 wide piece of pine first so I wouldnt need to worry as much about hitting studs in the roof (which is impossible to hit with every screw because the screw holes are wider than a stud.)