# Hanging bike upside down, a bad thing?



## emejay (Dec 13, 2007)

I just read in another thread that hanging a bike upside down is bad for the bike. After some thought, I can't imagine why. Perhaps a suspension MTB may be effected by the shock oil contacting or not contacting seals, but a road bike? I have hung all my bikes, road and full suspension MTB , upside down for years with no problems to my knowledge.

Am I missing somethlng? TY


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## Dinosaur (Jan 29, 2004)

About the only thing bad about hanging a bike upside down is the chance of dropping it while you are taking it down...


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## 99trek5200 (Jan 26, 2007)

You've got to be kidding. Unless you use the top tube as a chin up bar, there is no way hanging a 15-30 pound bike upside down will hurt it.


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

it's blood runs to it's head.......set


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## roadfix (Jun 20, 2006)

Hanging them upside down can hurt your rotator cuff like it did mine.


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

roadfix said:


> Hanging them upside down can hurt your rotator cuff like it did mine.



oooh, I hadn't thought of that, here I was blaming it on shoveling snow....better leave my bike in the dining room where it belongs...lol...gotta sneak one more into the house....they are all cold any lonely in the garage


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## Squeegy200 (Dec 1, 2005)

emejay said:


> I just read in another thread that hanging a bike upside down is bad for the bike. After some thought, I can't imagine why. Perhaps a suspension MTB may be effected by the shock oil contacting or not contacting seals, but a road bike? I have hung all my bikes, road and full suspension MTB , upside down for years with no problems to my knowledge.
> 
> Am I missing somethlng? TY


The only problem I've ever experienced hanging bikes upside down is with oil filled front shocks on my MTB. The oil settles underneath the top seals and eventually seeps out allowing it to evaporate. After a long winter of hanging upside down in my garage, I found that the fork had run dry when I took it out the following summer. There was oil residue on the outer shock body. 
I've experienced this condition with FOX and Manitou shocks. 

No problems with road bikes hanging upside down except when I forget to take out a full water bottle in the cage.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Squeegy200 said:


> The only problem I've ever experienced hanging bikes upside down is with oil filled front shocks on my MTB. The oil settles underneath the top seals and eventually seeps out allowing it to evaporate. After a long winter of hanging upside down in my garage, I found that the fork had run dry when I took it out the following summer. There was oil residue on the outer shock body.
> I've experienced this condition with FOX and Manitou shocks.
> 
> No problems with road bikes hanging upside down except when I forget to take out a full water bottle in the cage.


+1. The only issue I know of is mountain bike shocks. Nothing wrong with a rigid setup upside down.


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## mootinator (Apr 4, 2003)

*Spiderbike...*

spiderbike, does whatever a spiderbike wants....


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## de.abeja (Aug 27, 2006)

... can he swing from a web? No he can't 'cuz he's a bike....


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*The end is near*



emejay said:


> I just read in another thread that hanging a bike upside down is bad for the bike.


It's true It's true! You (and your bike) are doomed! We're all gonna die! Repent!


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

No. Down in Australia, everybody and everything is upside down, and they seem to get along just fine.


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## Chase15.5 (Feb 17, 2005)

Hanging a bike with hydralic disk breaks is not recommended.


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## w4ta (Aug 27, 2007)

My bike hung over my wife's Volvo sedan. A day after she waxed her car, I leaned back on her hood to pull my bike off the hooks. The moment the rims were free of the hooks, my butt began sliding down the waxed hood. Rather than dropping the bike on the car (and incurring my wife's wrath)... I pulled the bike onto my head... blood everywhere... a trip to the emergency room and eight stitches! (still, the $20 HMO co-pay was a lot less expensive then body-work on the car).


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## CoLiKe20 (Jan 30, 2006)

Touch0Gray said:


> it's blood runs to it's head.......set


I smiled.


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

w4ta said:


> My bike hung over my wife's Volvo sedan. A day after she waxed her car, I leaned back on her hood to pull my bike off the hooks. The moment the rims were free of the hooks, my butt began sliding down the waxed hood. Rather than dropping the bike on the car (and incurring my wife's wrath)... I pulled the bike onto my head... blood everywhere... a trip to the emergency room and eight stitches! (still, the $20 HMO co-pay was a lot less expensive then body-work on the car).


Two things, the problem here was your wife waxing the car , not hanging the bike....second is a question....was the bike ok?


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## capt_phun (Jun 14, 2004)

Chase15.5 said:


> Hanging a bike with hydrolic disk breaks is not recommended.


+1 Mountain bikes with open reservoir system discs brakes should not be hung upside down as it lets air into the system. Not a good thing when bombing down a mountain. 

A road bike is fine, & helps drain any liquids out of the frame, especially after a rain ride.


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## dbo (Dec 29, 2007)

And if you for some strange reason happen to have hydraulic brakes...


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## dir-t (Oct 14, 2005)

I don't think the hydro brake concern mentioned above is completely accurate. 

Specifically, I don't believe doing so allows air to enter the system. As I understand it, if your brakes ALREADY have air in them, hanging upside down allows that air to collect into one big bubble right inside your brake caliper. That somehow makes your brakes more squishy than if that air was distributed as little bubbles throughout the system. I know that doesn't quite make sense as the fluid should compress all the air anyway once you squeeze the lever but...

I've hung my hydro equiped bikes vertically by the back wheel for about 10 years now with absolutely no problems. 

I also thought it was good for oil filled shocks to hang upside down as it keeps the seals hydrated. Again, I've had no problems,


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## Ricko (Jan 22, 2004)

Dinosaur said:


> About the only thing bad about hanging a bike upside down is the chance of dropping it while you are taking it down...


LOL, or getting popped in the eye by the handlebar end when walking through a dark garage. That happened to me a few years back and I had a nice shiner to prove it.

BTW, I still hang my bikes in the garage like that...I'm just more careful when walking around in the dark now.


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

Ricko said:


> LOL, or getting popped in the eye by the handlebar end when walking through a dark garage. That happened to me a few years back and I had a nice shiner to prove it.
> 
> BTW, I still hang my bikes in the garage like that...I'm just more careful when walking around in the dark now.



that's what you get for being too tall.......................


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## Alx (Mar 22, 2007)

Just don't try to ride it while it hangs and you'll be ok.


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## w4ta (Aug 27, 2007)

Yes, bad move on my part... hanging the bike over the wife's car. Car was unblemished! Bike, too, was fine... only damage was to my head. 

Making it even more amusing, I started a new job the following day... and I showed up with a little bald patch on my head... stitches poking out and a bit of blood oozing out of the wound. They must have been thinking, "Well, he seemed like a reasonable person during the interview..." but I was worried they thought I was a brawler or a drunk who fell down a flight of stairs. Fortunately, I've been in position three years... and that was my only freakish accident... so I think I'm OK with them.


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

w4ta said:


> Yes, bad move on my part... hanging the bike over the wife's car. Car was unblemished! Bike, too, was fine... only damage was to my head.
> 
> Making it even more amusing, I started a new job the following day... and I showed up with a little bald patch on my head... stitches poking out and a bit of blood oozing out of the wound. They must have been thinking, "Well, he seemed like a reasonable person during the interview..." but I was worried they thought I was a brawler or a drunk who fell down a flight of stairs. Fortunately, I've been in position three years... and that was my only freakish accident... so I think I'm OK with them.



as long as the bike was ok.....lol
The bikes hang over MY truck in the winter, in summer, vehicles don't live in the garage.
I pull in till the antenna touches the bar on the right (upside down) side of the stem....perfect, 6 inches from the O2 and Acetylene bottles, pressure washer and the door shuts!


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## Forrest Root (Dec 22, 2006)

Be aware that hanging your bikes upside down will cause all the electrons in the bike to fall to one side, causing a large magnetic field to setup around the bike. This may interfere with wireless computers and pacemakers.


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

Actually, it is not recommended to hang a road bike upside down.

If you only do it once in a while it is no big deal. 

But prolonged hanging a bike upside down will raise the center of gravity over time. Anywhere from 4 to 8 cm change over a two year period according to Noel Schitt of Trek's engineering department. Steel is worse than carbon for migrating cg phenomena.


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## 99trek5200 (Jan 26, 2007)

bigrider said:


> Actually, it is not recommended to hang a road bike upside down.
> 
> If you only do it once in a while it is no big deal.
> 
> But prolonged hanging a bike upside down will raise the center of gravity over time. Anywhere from 4 to 8 cm change over a two year period according to Noel Schitt of Trek's engineering department. Steel is worse than carbon for migrating cg phenomena.


Sure, but utilizing a bike bra will minimize the sagging effect.

With regard to Trek's report, other engineers participated too but in the end everyone agreed the report was just full of Schitt.


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