Racor Ceiling-Mounted Bike Lift #PBH-1R

I bought this to make more space in the shed that we use for storage of the family's four bikes. It works, but it is not easy for the average 5th grader to use.

Application: Lift a 28 pound bike high enough to put another similar road bike underneath it. Make this easy enough that a 5th grader can do it.

Result: 5th grader can accomplish this, but it is difficult enough that both she and her mother complain about it. Thus, the 3 stars. This unit makes the job possible, but not easy.

Issues:
1. The rope in this version has been changed from a "cheap, cotton rope" as quoted from another review to a sturdy synthetic rope that doesn't seem to fray, but is hard for some of my family to grip onto. Inexplicably, this seemingly more slippery rope seems to have significant drag running through the pulleys.
2. The rope and hooks are difficult to move when there is no weight on the hooks. That is, if the hooks are accidentally pulled towards the ceiling and you want to lower them to hoist a bike off the ground, it's hard for my kids to pull the hooks down because the mechanism that holds the rope up when it has the bike on it grabs and won't let go. Getting it to let out slack requires some patience and my team doesn't have any.

That said, I can use it and get it to work every time, but it just isn't "slick" in use. In fact, since the ceiling in the shed is low enough, I don't use the hoist a a hoist, I just pick the bike up and put it on or off the hooks manually.

So, why three stars? I can get it to work (with some effort), and it is very cost effective compared to higher quality solutions.

The bike does not stay level when you pull it up or down, a little awkward.

We are very happy with the Racor Ceiling mount bike lift. It was easy to install, is strong, and easy to operate.
Very good product.

As a female I put this bike lift up myself. The only problems I had was with my stud finder on our textured ceiling in our garage. I did follow another viewer's suggestion and buy screws from Menards rather than use the ones included in the kit. I bought 5 of these and all of our ropes were fine, no frays. I would recommend measuring your ceiling to make sure your car will fit under when your bike is raised because I was surprised with our high garage ceiling how low the bike is (I can barely walk under it). The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because of the cheap quality of the screws, but heck for $17 and free shipping I can afford to buy some better screws. I LOVE MY FLOOR SPACE!!

The product does an excellent job. I have 10' ceilings in my garage and the lift works perfect for both my my Cannondale road bike and my wife's Trek Hybrid bike.

I bought these because of the generally very good reviews. One concern expressed by some was the quality of the rope supplied with the lifts. I just got mine and the quality of the rope looks good. Maybe they have responded to previous concerns.

Installation was pretty straight forward. The suggested video on the internet was helpful. I had to install some 1" x 6" boards to go perpendicular to my joists which made it a little more complicated but the directions were great.

Works like is says and build quality is solid. Instructions were of the quality of IKEA, but at least the concept is simple. Brackets, Hook, Screws, Pulleys, and Rope. Nothing more to say then it works great and I'm very happy.

the racor ceiling-mounted bike lift #pbh-1r was great. i used to lift my bike to put it on hooks. over time, the bike gets much heavier. this was the perfect solution.

After the headache of an install onto the ceiling of my garage (tall garage; drywall); these bike racks work wonders. I bought 2 after seeing a neighbor had a similar lift. Thinking it'd be good for our bikes I quickly got em and tried to install them (Note tried).

It took a little while to figure out the best way to get them onto the garage ceiling, though after the struggle in the install, I'm loving the space. They easily lift each bike smoothly and the lock mechanism is simple; just like a window blind. The rope so far has held up though is rough on the hands when sliding through your grip.

Overall, these bike lifts are great. They are well worth the hassle of installing them, and some may have an easier time with studs exposed in the garage.

This product is everything it is claimed to be. Well made, finish is great, well designed, and delivered on time. It deserves a nearly perfect score. The only problem is, there should be better instructions for the layout, AND suggestions on how to handle ceiling mounting without studs close to the desired mounting area.

Fortunately I am reasonably good at pre-visualize practical clearance issues, and did well in solid geometry. Without those skills, it would have been a very difficult install. For example, how far away from a wall would they recommend mounting this, due to handlebar clearance issues? What about double mounting for 2 bikes? I had several re-mounts because I had guessed wrong on the latter.

Like I said, a great product, but be sure to think out actual fitment BEFORE you start mounting this. Plan on a few hours of work if your garage is pretty well packed, like mine. If you have a lot of open real estate, it's a breeze.

I have not gotten this installed yet but it looks like a great gadget to get the bike up in my store room! I am pleased with the product and the time it took to get to me. I have seen these lifts in stores at a higher price so I am pleased with the amount I paid.

I thought I would just make a simple hoist myself, haha. I could make one but for twice the price. Do yourself a favor just buy this one. It works plain and simple.

We bought 2. They were super easy to install and work wonderful in our garage. Best bike mounts we have ever had.

I love "high" storage and this qualifies. The bike is out of the way, it takes only 30 seconds to get it down or put it away, and my head nor anyone elses head (under 6'6") will not hit the bike wheels. Not super heavy duty, but it only need to hold under 50 pounds. One small problem. the supplied screws are of such poor quality, I could not use any of the numerous sized driver bits I have to put them into the wood. Even pilot holes did not help.Each srew head stripped out. So plan on an extra dollar and a trip to the hardware store for better screws.

Strong components, flexible design and easy to install at a great price. The rope that comes with it is decent quality; the problem with fraying mentioned in other reviews is due to poorly machined plastic pulley wheels. Some fine grain sandpaper and a few minutes of time takes care of it. I definately recommend this product.

Finding right studs of garage ceiling is the only thing to consider. Included string doesn't look solid to hold in first hand but it just does enough for my 25 pound mount bike.

This is a great product and idea. The brackets seem very strong and the product worked perfectly as advertised. That said, the rope that accompanies the product is either too cheap or not the correct type for the product's design. If you only plan to lift the bike up to the ceiling once a year, then you will probably be fine with the rope that comes with the product. However, daily or even weekly use will likely burn through the rope quickly. After lifting my bike one time, I noted a fray in the rope--I believe it occurred where the "locking mechanism" locked onto the rope. I intend to find a more durable rope/cable very soon. No five-star rating because of the rope.

Shipped promptly with all the parts accounted for. Purchased two and mounted them side by side above the hood of our compact car. Well designed and made. Easy to install. Easy to operate. Priced right. Highly recommend for situations where you don't have wall space

Product does what is advertised. It was easy to set up, is reliable and for a 12 foot ceiling or higher is perfect for a bike where you can walk under it even at 6'4". 2 Bungee cords make the hooks for the handle bars and seat fail safe.

Have three and the recent special made these a steal. Works exactly as advertised and provides floorspace in the wood studio. Good for things other than bikes as well.

Installs quickly, it's easy to use, and it does a great job of keeping my bike out of the way in an already busy garage. Great value for the money. As others noted, the screws are cheap but an extra dollar at the local hardware store remedied that.

Lifts are easy to use on 12ft ceiling. Only complaint is the wall cleat is not big enough for all the rope provided, and you need all the rope provided.

After thoroughly researched all my bicycle storage options, a ceiling mounted lift seemed the best way to go. This lift was installed in less than 30 minutes in a drywall over plaster ceiling using a combination of toggle bolts and spiral anchors and the duty rating of this particular installation far exceeds the 50lb capacity of the lift. The two mounting plates have 10 holes apiece which should give plenty of flexibility when trying to locate studs. This design allows you to hang your bike without putting any stress on the wheels as all of the wall mounted storage options seem to do. If you need an inexpensive way to protect you investment and free up some floor space this is the rack for you.

It was easy to install. Just make sure that you measure out where the handles and seat are and give it a little more. I put the pulleys where it measured to and when you pull it up, it goes up on an angle seat first. I was too lazy to take it back down and do it again so it stays and works.

I bought one at Lowes for $20 and then found the exact same thing here for $15. Works great and have had no issues at all.

You see these kinds of storage solutions on the home improvement shows, but not that often in your friends garage... now my friends can't say that! This is a perfect solution for storing bikes...and I do mean perfect. You can't beat this price, and can get free shipping if you order two (which I did). I put them both up in about 30 minutes, and that was only because my cordless drill was dead...(I had to manually screw them into the ceiling joists):o ! At any rate, the work exactly as advertised, are priced right, and you can even teach your kids a little about physics when they are playing with it (if you are so inclined)! I am going to get a couple more for the kids bikes as soon as I can. Haven't regretted this purchase one bit.

I bought five of these and thought they worked so well for my families bicycles that I have used them to hang up other things in the garage as well. It works excellent for getting my Thule car top storage box off of the garage floor up and out of the way.

I purchased this bike lift for my Kayak. It will hold with no problems. Can't go wrong for the price($15).

It Really is a Space saver, very easy to install and use, I would recommend to anyone wants to save space in the garage, Great idea and works great

Able to hang and retrieve bikes in seconds. Leverage and locking systems are well thought out. This is a quality product.

Worked great for storing our bikes. Helped to save room in other places in our garage.

The bike lift was easy to install and seems pretty sturdy. One problem is all the rope you have to store when the bike is lifted. The instructions say not to cut it, but the included 2 prong hook is barely big enough to hold all the rope.

The included screws are cheap, but I was careful enough that I was able to screw them in without stripping them too much.

I read with some apprehension about the rope that comes with this unit being frayed and poor and that the ceiling mount screws were low quality. I just ordered 2 of these units, both had excellent quality nylon rope and plenty of it and the screws were top quality. I can only figure that the manufacturer decided to improve these. I installed them today, 02/02/08, easy and fast and they work flawslessly, I highly recommend this unit for ceiling mounted bikes, and I checked extensively before purchasing them.

This is a simple device for getting those bikes off the floor -- provided you have good ceiling joists and a half hour or so to put it up. All the parts are there, and the tools needed are basic. I added my weight to the bike and it held fine, so the capacity of the pulleys and rope are good.

The bike lift cord appeared fine until it was used a few times - and it became frayed. Both of the lifts I purchased had mildly frayed cords within a few uses. Nothing that causes it to fail, but it was surprising how quickly it occurred.

The lift was easy to install, but the instructions left a lot to be desired. It has the installer meausure the bike's distance between seat and handlebars, but it doesn't say if the measurement, which gets 'transferred to the ceiling' is the distance between pulleys, or does it become the distance between end of one pulley plate to the end of the other? It's hard to measure pulley distance due to the width of the plate, but being 'close enough' appears acceptible because there's a lot of forgiveness in installation width, as the bike is simply 'suspended', accuracy isn't that important, except to be sure your screws are hitting studs.

Also, be sure to rub the screws on a bar of soap before screwing into your 1/8" drilled pilot holes to allow the screws to sink completely into wood stud.

Better quality screws (whose phillips heads are stripped easily), better quality cord and better instructions would warrant five stars, but for the price and quailty I received, it gets a solid 4.

Product is just as described in literature. Only problem is that bike must hung over a clear floor area, not over a table or work bench, bike must be lowered vertically only, not over to the side or else the locking mechanism doesn't work as designed.

I was thinking about designing, purchasing and assembling the individual parts, but decided to try this one. Good decision.

Like others have experienced, the cords fall apart. A better solution is to buy two large hooks that screw into the ceiling studs, and hang the bike upside down by the rims. There are hooks that have rubber covers and do a better job than the Racor lift.

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.

I have used a pair of these lifts for about four years and just purchased more for my son. They have served well and are adequately constructed. I have raised and lowered the one that holds the bicycle I use most often several hundred times. I have paid from fifteen to twenty dollars for these lifts, and that seems to me a reasonable price. The fifty dollars asked by some bicycle retailers is not.

I mounted this bike rack in the garage. It was easy after finding the stud and using the supplied bolts. Someone complained that the rope frayed easily and I found out why. The metal steel is punched out to make the hole that the rope is pulled through. This is the last part the rope goes through, then it held by hand to raise the bike. This punched out hole has sharp burs that snag the rope and will rip it up unless you file them off. The first time I pulled the bike up I knew it would be a problem so I deburred the hole and it works fine now.

This was perfect for hanging my bike from the ceiling of my garage. The instructions were clear and the product quality is very good. It works as described and I think it's definitely worth the money.

Excellent price for value. Installation is a bit time consuming (30-40 minutes) but it's a good deal overall.

After reading other reviews on this unit I decided not to rely on the included Screws and went down to Home Depot for some others.
The hardest part was deciding where to install this - even with the bike pulled up to the ceiling it's not completely out of the way.

Installation was pretty easy tho and the bike stays up and secure!

Buy your own screws & you're good to go...! :)

I needed to find a piece of wood to attach the rack to and attach that to my ceiling. Then I had to hammer the hooks so that the seat would not fall off half way to the roof. Since it was hairy getting the darned thing up I haven't had the guts to take it down. My poor bike has cobwebs! I wouldn't recommend this product.

Everything was great. Easy instructions, I just mounted the brackets to a piece of wood and then the wood to the ceiling beams. Now my 10yo daughter can easily put her own bike up and down.

The kit worked as advertised and does hold up to 50 lbs. easily. I used it to hang my cartop carrier upside down using a pair of dowels and it has been holding strong for about a month now. I've lowered and raised it a couple of times and have not had any problems with the hardare. I would definitely recommend it if you need to store something up and out of the way and don't want to spend a lot of money.

This is a great solution to today's small garage woes. We have just enought room in our garage for two vehicles and very little else. I purchased 4 of these lifts to hoist our 2 bikes as well as 2 ladders.

Installation was a snap and the hoist workes exceptionally for bicycles. I did not have any of the frayed rope problems I have seen in other posts. This system is not ideal for ladders, however. Although the hoist works fine, it is not quite as easy to use for ladders. You have to kind of help the ladders along as you are pulling them up. Other than this, the product worked great - and it's pretty hard to beat the $20 price tag!

This really works pretty well.
If I could change the design, I would make the cord somehow retractable so that when I pull the bike to the ceiling, I'm not left with 20 feet of cord to wind up.

Also, the nylon rope that comes with it will fray slightly if you are not careful with it. Otherwise, I think it works very well. I did have to bend the hooks a little bit to get it to hook the seat properly.

We bought 2 of these for the 2 adult bikes in the garage. With a family of 5, the garage tends to get crowded, and these do a fantastic job of clearing some floor space. We love them.