Before Demerly, or anyone else for that matter, says it; don't use the bike rack, put your bike in your car. Safest place.

On top with the Yakima is the best. I have had the back mount and been crushed from the back and inside the suv it becomes a flying object in the event of an accident.

First I should have clarified, "safest place" with "for the bike." Nontheless in an accident, depending upon severity, everything becomes a projectile regardless of whether it is on the roof, the backend, or in the vehicle.

Anytime you put a bike on your vehicle, back or top, you run the risk of the damaging the bike. Rocks, road trash, accidents, etc. If it is inside the vehicle it is as protected as it can be. The original poster qualified his (I am assuming his) post with "with all that money I have invested" (or something like that) and inside the vehicle will protect the bike the best.

Certainly inside the car is the best place for the bike. Sadly, however, I can't afford a Honda Element or the like right now, so I have to stick with the Civic for a few more years, and thus the bike is going to be outside.

I have the yakima roof rack, and I have had great luck with it. I've driven from Illinois to Seattle and back 3 times with between 1 and 3 bikes on the roof, and the only problem I have had is getting bugs all over the pretty bikes (seriously, 70mph bug paste is a bitch to get off a head tube).

But I have recently become worried that the vibrations and wind sheer on the bike while it's on the roof is going to cause some problem, and that maybe getting a hitch rack would be a good idea, especially since I'm driving the 800+ miles to IM FLA this year and I really don't want to get there with a problem on the bike. I don't really want to get the hitch rack, because it would involve both a new rack and a hitch, and because I have already spent ~$400 on the roof rack.

Are other people comfortable taking their prescious race machines long distances to races on the roof? Have you had problems with things vibrating loose? Are there mechanics at IM races to do pre-race checkups?

-C

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

Have you tried spraying it with silicone (Armour All). I use that on the hood and grille of the car in love bug season in Florida, on trips across the State.

If I could not put my bikes in my car I would opt for a roof rack with the fork mount trays. I could be very wrong, but I seem to remember reading a white-paper that Thule produced suggesting that fork mount trays are more secure than the frame clamp style trays.

When I did not own a car I could fit my bikes inside I drove several thousand miles a couple of times a year with my bikes on the roof with nothing more than a few paint chips and bug spatter to deal with.