Originally Posted by
kevindsingleton
I bought a couple of bicycle storage systems that are pulleys with ropes that can mount to the ceiling or rafters . . .
I say all of that to indicate that the rope hoist, despite all its high-tech design and materials, doesn't improve on the simple hooks already in place.
The rope hoist can have one significant
mechanical advantage vs simple hooks - assuming you set it up as a block-and-tackle arrangement. I built my own to store our tandem at the last house. At about 45 pounds (probably more if you include the rear rack and trunk, etc., I couldn't easily lift the tandem onto hooks in the ceiling (and no way my wife could), at least partly due to the awkwardness (probably also partly due to being somewhat vertically-challenged). However, once I installed the block-and-tackle system, it was just a matter of hoisting it up, then fastening the rope to a cleat screwed into a wall stud. For single bikes, you're right, pulleys are too much hassle - I just use hooks, but they're attached to a modular rack that fastens to the wall rather than fastened to the ceiling.