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Has anyone used a tray style carrier before? I thought this might be a good way to go over a top bar clamping style to prevent damaging cables. Also with a slanted top bar on my bike and my wifes bike it seems to be a better fit.
Here’s one I’m looking at getting: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 3DWatching
Any thoughts?
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That one looks a little cheesy, but my friend has this one in the 4-bike config and we regularly strap $20,000+ worth of bikes onto it and drive around the Colorado countryside. It is solid and has never done damage to any of our bikes.
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Between craigslist and ebay I got a complete Thule roof rack setup, two Thule Bigmouth upright carriers, one Rocky Mounts fork mount carrier and a set of ski racks all for about $225 total.
In my opinion, the value of my bike(s) and the liability of a flying bike damaging another car while motoring down the interstate at 80 mph is worth a couple hundred bucks for a solid setup.
That being said, when I happen to work at the main office on bike ride day, I have to deal with a parking garage so I too just toss it into the back of the station wagon.
Anyway, the point is, pass on that ebay one and look for the xPort one, either new or maybe used on ebay or craigslist.
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"maddslacker" wrote
That one looks a little cheesy, but my friend has this one in the 4-bike config and we regularly strap $20,000+ worth of bikes onto it and drive around the Colorado countryside. It is solid and has never done damage to any of our bikes.
I was afraid someone would say that.
The Xport looks nice. If I can fine it for less than $180 I’d get it. -
What about frame adapter bars? Are they any good?
The hanging style racks are much more common and there are plenty on craigslist, unline the flatbed style. -
I don’t trust the adapter bars, BUT i have a 16" Giant Trance that is not conducive to frame carriers. I get it to work by putting one frame holder inside the the frame near the seat post, and the other one under the downtube near the fork.
I learned this trick from carrying my daughter’s bike on the Thule spare-tire mount I used to have on my Jeep.
See below for the bike carrier contact points I’m describing.
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I was on a group ride last fall and a girl racer had her custom built Lenzsport about a week when she got rear-ended. Allstate paid for it and Devin Lenz, the owner, brought her the replacement that day for the ride.
Talk about customer service!
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"ChiliPepper" wrote
Nice bikes, and she was definitely treated very well. The old man (snow bird) that hit me was turning into the parking spot next to me, but turned out too far and hit the rear wheel of one bike and the front wheel of the other (bikes were cris crossed on the rack) along with my right corner bumper of my station wagon. Low and behold the wheels were taco-ed pretty good. I was just getting ready to put the car in reverse to back out after my wife got the ice and goodies for the day trip, and then bam, a real hard jolt. I looked back to see him backing away from our rear end, and the only thing I thought was….."THE BIKES!!!"
Make a long story short, the guy (a snowbird) was a pain until the police showed up. He then offered us $200 up front in cash and he would pay for the rest when we got a quote, and more if it cost even more. He did live up to his side of the bargain, but I think it was due to him scared they were going to take his driving privileges away. He had a long record of crashes he caused. The sort of funny thing about it was, a week prior to that, a friend of mine got rear ended with his pricey bike on his rear carrier.
Anyways, sorry PMC for hijacking your thread here bro!
Thats why I’m glad I drive a fullsize pickup, just toss them in the back secure them some how or with my bike being so old I just lay it down in the back its safe, I normally throw something very light or a blanket to cover up that it is a Fisher
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"IATyler" wrote
I normally throw something very light or a blanket to cover up that it is a Fisher
Yeah, I’d be embarrassed about the fisher logo too…I mean…great bike! awesome! 😆
Just kidding! 😉
I keep mine on the roof or inside, and lock the racks if I’ll be out of site.
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what about the style carriers that use the fork clamps on the front forks? Are they secure? Any chance of wobble or damage to the forks?
It seems like these are very simple. I could probably buy the clamp and weld something up pretty easily.
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yes, those are decent, and yes they sell just the fork mount that is weldable or can be attached with a big u-bolt.
Another friend uses that setup with three of them bolted to a 2×6 laying in the back of his Suburban.
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"maddslacker" wrote
yes, those are decent, and yes they sell just the fork mount that is weldable or can be attached with a big u-bolt.
Another friend uses that setup with three of them bolted to a 2×6 laying in the back of his Suburban.
Yeah I see them all the time on the roof racks but I didn’t know if it made a difference with the bike mounted perpendicular to the travel of the vehicle. Just didn’t know if the starting/stopping would make the bike wobble and damage the forks. Hmmm
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If it’s well clamped it should be fine. The forces should be no worse than you flexing your mad skillz on the trails! 😃
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"maddslacker" wrote
If it’s well clamped it should be fine. The forces should be no worse than you flexing your mad skillz on the trails! 😃
good point.. 😳
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"ChiliPepper" wrote
Even with the lock system with the roof rack, I still use a slide cable lock on the bikes themselves.
Yeah, but you live in Florida…
Here in CO everyone has a nice mountain bike so there the motivation to steal is much lower.
😆
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I dont even use a bike rack,I keep my mtn bike in my ford explorer and when I ride to work I take it inside and hide it AND lock it up.Just the other day my boss was like,where are you keeping that thing at????hahahahaaha,I told him if I tell you,I will have to kill you,hahahahahaaha.But seriously,one day I will need a bike rack to carry 2 or more bikes to help car pool when traveling to out of town trails.
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I decided to build my own rack.
On a multiple bike rack, how far apart are the bikes typically spaced? If someone cound give me a dimension I’d appreciate it.
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Not sure if this will help but I found a site with plans to build your own bike rack/pickup truck carrier. I plan on building it myself this weekend.
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"PMC" wrote
I decided to build my own rack.
On a multiple bike rack, how far apart are the bikes typically spaced? If someone could give me a dimension I’d appreciate it.
I addressed the same issue with my roof rack.
I used trial and error, by which I mean I put bikes on them and slid the middle one out as far as I could and left a little wiggle room.
The good news is that by using 2 tray mounts and 2 fork mounts I have room for 4 bikes on my roof, 4 adults comfortably in the car and luggage in the back (station wagon)
Oh,and it get’s 30MPG loaded.
Moab anyone? 😃
Anyway, for building, turn the bikes upside down on the garage floor and position them with what looks like comfortable spacing between the handlebars and then measure across your wheels from there. Pad that a little bit more and you should be good.
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