Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read all the other very helpful reviews and was ready with installation screws with (slightly) thinner heads. The unit does everything it's supposed to. And I gave it a good rating because of that. If I were one of the first pioneering folks to purchase, install, and review this item, I might have given it a lower score. If you follow some of the additional tips for getting the most out of the unit, you can't go wrong. The biggest benefit this unit offered vs the two-piece units out there is that you only have one thing to hang. It really offers alot of flexibility and probably saves time. Now that my bikes are hanging comfortably in my garage, and since most other reviewers already did a great job capturing the nuances of a real installation, I thought I'd cover a few additional tips you may find helpful. I'll start with tips on operating the unit them back up to installation tips... Usage Tip 1 - Smooth Out the Operation! Problem: When operating, I initially noticed the locking cam mechanism would "scrape" against the rope and nothing really sounded smooth. Metal on somewhat cheap rope is a bad combination. Solution: By standing closer to the middle of the unit (vs at the end the rope comes down) as you raise and lower the bike, this forces the rope a little inward and that smooths out the operation dramatically. Everything is much quieter and just sounds healthier! Usage Tip 2 - Set a Maximum Lower Position Problem: If you lower a bike too far, you'll have to A) hold the bike, B) detach the hooks, and C) keep the hooks from flying away (which is what at least one of them tends to once the pressure of the bike is released). It gets pretty frustrating juggling all that. Solution: Tie a knot in the rope so when you LOWER the bike, once it gets to the "perfect" position, the knot hits the locking cam mechanism and the hooks can't travel any lower. This keeps the perfect amount of tension on the hooks which helps keep your bike from falling. Then, as you remove the hooks, they don't fly away! This is also helpful because the hooks are still in the perfect position when you come back to remount the bike. My preferred "maximum lowest height" for the hooks is when both bike wheels are on the ground, but the bike is still upright. That keeps just a bit of tension on the hooks. So when you go to hang the bike again, you are "hanging" it and are not fumbling with loose hooks, trying to hold them under your bike while also keeping your bike from falling AND trying to pull the rope to start the bike upward. Additional Installation Tips The end caps don't go on well once the unit is fully secured to the ceiling. So by the time I got to installing my second one, here's the best sequence I found.... 1. Get one screw through the unit and nearly all the way screwed into the joist. Just enough so the unit is still a little loose. 2. Put one end cap in (should go in easily). 3. Slide all stops, pulleys, etc into the unit in the proper order into the other end. 4. Put other end cap in. 5. Then complete the other screws and tighten all hardware. Again, when you take in all the great tips, this is really a space-saving, convenient, and kinda cool way to help organize your garage.