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Hi - I recently purchased a set of Zipp 606s which have a 404 up front and an 808 in the rear. My question...Is there any issue with mounting the bike on my roof rack using the rear wheel straps to secure the rear wheel, given the depth of the 808s rim? Is there any risk to damage here? Has anyone come up with a good work-around? (Another option is to simply put a different rear wheel on for travel and then swap out upon arrival but that becomes a pain in the a$$ especially with multiple riders in the car....)
Thanks in advance for your help.
<insert clever motivational thing here>
The strap on some racks isn't long enough for a super deep rim like the 808. You can just use some velcro strapping or bungies to secure the rear wheel. They both would get tight enough to keep the bike from bouncing around. As long as you down tighten them too excessively they shouldn't damage the wheel one bit.
Man, the risk of damage is substantial. If a passing truck ejected a rock or other projectile fro its tire tread that missile could do do serious damage to your bike or wheel.
My best advice is to put the entire bike inside your vehicle. Roof mount rack specifically, and all external car racks, are really tough on performance bicycles. They are OK for a $300 mountain bike, but a nice racing machine is too delicate in certain ways (and incredibly durable in others) to be subjected to all the dirt, water, road film, vibration, wind load and twisting forces from a roof rack.
Now, if you have to use n external rack- and some people have no alternative- put your nice race wheels inside the car and carry your bike inside of one of those form-fitting covers with the training wheels on it on the roof rack.
It just breaks my heart to see bikes transported on external racks.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
For those who have more than just themselves in the car, and hence need the bike(s) on the outside, here's an easy solution for your problem (or similar)
Bungee cord. Hook it together down by the rack part, so that only soft stretchy bungee cord material is in contact w/ your beloved Zipps.
The strap is not really a load-bearing thing per se, it's just there to keep yer bike from flipping up and over using the front fork dropouts as a fulcrum if you were to decelerate very suddenly. So, all's ya need to do is make the rear wheel stay down.
Zip ties laced together (to make them longer) work fine too.
Keep it simple.
float , hammer , and jog
I have a Thule rack. They sell an extra long strap just for that purpose. Check with your rack manufacturer. Regards.
Do NOT, repeat, DO NOT under any circumstance use bungee cords to secure any load on any vehicle. Their failure rate is absolutely unacceptable to any rational person not to mention the risk of injury.
Invest in a camlocking or slider locking webbing strap.
I sold, installed, and have used car racks for years and cannot tell you how many horror stories involved bungee cords. If you are a road cyclist with any miles under your butt you will know what I mean.
BUNGEE CORDS = DEATH!
Mr. Uncaptured External Costs
Fossil carbon is planetary poison.
Tim,
My bike made it all the way to Timberman and back (by way of Maine), secured by not only bungee cords, but those teeny-tiny little ones. (I did use 2 however). That's like 15+ hrs of high speed highway driving, no worries. Zipp 404's.
I guess I'm just incredibly lucky. I should buy a lottery ticket.
I guess the fact that they really aren't bearing all that much load might be a factor, since I've actually had cases where I drove my bike to a destination, only to find to my shock and horror that I hadn't attached the rear wheel holder clip on the Thule rack at all. D'OH!!!! And amazingly, the bike was still there on top of my car.
I'm not suggesting securing suitcases or something to the roof, or anything actually, SOLELY w/ bungee cords, that'd be silly. But for a bike, w/ a secure fork mount, the rear wheel attachment is of only incidental importance.
float , hammer , and jog