Lifting a heavy (50 pound+) wheel

[erk1024]

I'm a big 265 pound guy, and I can lift a 42 pound, five gallon jug of water with one hand--but it's heavy for sure. I'm just wondering how people manage to get these 53ish pound wheels or the Gotway monster into the back of a car. I don't know if I can lift 55 pounds with one hand, I'll have to swing by the gym and find something comparable. I can see other solution though:

1. Two hands to get the tire over the lip of the trunk / hatchback and then tip it over and slide the rest of the way.
2. Lift with one hand and assist with a knee to lift it over the threshold.
3. Get a short ramp and wheel it in there. 

In the meantime, I'm working on my collection of body armor and counting the days until my first wheel (KS18XL) shows up.

[The Fat Unicyclist]

I do it this way...

1. Fold the pedals up.
2. Lift the wheel (with your "best" arm).
3. Grab under the pedal with your other hand.
4. Twist the wheel so it is horizontal.
5. Now that it is being lifted with both arms, place it (ever so gently) on the special EUC pillow that you keep in your trunk!

[Rywokast]

kingsongs are easy they have a nice big rounded piece extending from under the pedal that you can grab along with the handle.. other brands a but more tricky but not hard just grab the handle then put your open palm on or above the pedal and lift with both hands.. just whatever you do dont ever make the mistake i did and grab the tire lol

[Mono]

6 hours ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

I do it this way...

1. Fold the pedals up.
2. Lift the wheel (with your "best" arm).
3. Grab under the pedal with your other hand.
4. Twist the wheel so it is horizontal.
5. Now that it is being lifted with both arms, place it (ever so gently) on the special EUC pillow that you keep in your trunk!

That's exactly how I do it (though I don't have any heavy EUCs). The important lesson you don't want to learn the hard way: never touch the tire for trying to lift the EUC, because the wheel will start to spin, the EUC will unpredictably tip over and some fingers may end up in the gap between shell and tire, ouch.

[erk1024]

Awesome! Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the replies!

@Mono "place it (ever so gently) on the special EUC pillow that you keep in your trunk!"   LOL!  

[Smoother]

@Marty Backe made a video.  Calling Marty's video archivist.

[Marty Backe]

38 minutes ago, Smoother said:

@Marty Backe made a video.  Calling Marty's video archivist.

 

[Olav]

2 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

 

Didn't notice it when I first saw this video, but you can see how heavy these big wheels are when the Monster actually lowers the back end of the truck! 

[erk1024]

Perfect! Just what I was looking for...

[RockyTop]

I haven't had any problems loading my wheel in the truck, yet I wondered how much trouble other people had,  Then I watched my wife toss her XL in the back of her Suburban without any trouble.   I tell people not to mess with that woman. 

[erk1024]

31 minutes ago, RockyTop said:

I tell people not to mess with that woman.

LOL!

As an experiment, yesterday I dropped by the gym and picked up at 50 pound weight with one hand. I could lift it vertically to chest level and yikes, it was heavy! Not just heavy for the bicep, but also in terms of grip strength. Then I picked up a different 50 pound barbell with TWO hands, and that was no problem at all. So the @Marty Backe method looks like a perfectly good solution for getting even a Gotway Monster into the car. Carrying a 50+ pound wheel up stairs doesn't sound like fun. But I won't need to carry mine up stairs (or at least not often).

By picking it up by both the handle and the underside of the pedal, it's going to be a lot easier on the handle as well.