Does anyone share this opinion or see the irony in this:
A person buys a nice bike. They already own an SUV or pickup or wagon. They buy what amounts to a Three Stooges plumbing project to bolt to the roof and then attach their precious new $2500+/- bike to it. Then they put $200 worth of clothing in a duffle bag and throw it in the back of the SUV. Why do people do this? Sorry, the argument that you “Have too much to fit inside the car” doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Buy a “Rocketbox” or similar cartop carrier and put your duffel bags, luggage, etc in that thing on the roof and, for goodness sake, put that beautiful bike I just spent hours slaving over and went to the trouble to put a coat of wax on and put $15 a can lube on your pristinely clean chain- put that magnificaent bike inside your vehicle. That’s why you bought it. Someone bought a beautiful P2K from us and drove away with it dangling precariously from a $60 car rack. Hey, I know it’s their bike, but sometimes its hard to let go… am I the only one that sees the irony in this? We don’t even sell car racks here anymore I’m so fanatical about carrying your bike in your car. OK, I’m done- lemme have it…
I agree 110%!!!
Jim
I dis-agree. I drive a car. Putting the dog and kids on the roof or in the trunk is just not an option. I can buy marine grade grease cheap and I know how to use it and use it often I do. I love my bikes and they love the veiw from up there. Got over that SUV thing years ago!
BTW - I figured out the USA energy policy: use everyone elses first!
Well, OK, I knew someone would make the “kids/dog” argument. That’s why I have no life outside the store and two cats who don’t like to travel.
I do agree - buy a decen rack. The money will be well spent.
My rant - in the spring when the college boys come out to the trail head with no shirt and no helmet. 50 grand to put education in that head and you won’t spend $50 to keep it off of the trail. I don’t want to spend my ride time cleaning that mess up (I would of course).
One word solution to bike racks … minivan!
My friends wonder why I drive a minivan (and suggest it must be because I have 2 kids). Hell no! My wife and two kids will fit nicely in a Mazda Protege… the minivan transports family and bike safely. I think I’d drive a minivan if I were single. As an additional benefit, I can put my race wheels the day before and ride the bike to make any adjustments so that on race day I just pull it out of the van, pump up the tires, put gatorade in the bottles and race!
You see… My man Allan knows what’s up…
Went thru a divorce and a mid life crisis a few years back. Went out and bought myself a nifty little sports car without thinking about where I would put my bike, scuba gear, dog or my kids when they were with me. The sports car was nice but buying it in my situation was a really dumb ass thing to do. I’m back to driving a mini-van. And yes, I carry my bike inside the van.
MS.kansan’s comment on people not wearing helmets reminds me: To the people that don’t wear a helmet: you don’t need a helmet if you don’t have anything valuable to protect! But, at least do your fellow human being a favor: sign an Organ Donor card…maybe somebody has a need for some of the body parts that you may not need anymore!
<< But, at least do your fellow human being a favor: sign an Organ Donor card…maybe somebody has a need for some of the body parts that you may not need anymore!
KT,
great reply, I think I will use that next time I have a discussion with one of those helmetless riders. I see them all the time around here. There are a handful of Pro’s here that I see all the time riding without a helmet. Saturn pro, Trent Klasna lives around the corner and I don’t think I have ever seen him riding with a helmet on except in races! The really sad thing is I saw him out riding with his wife one day and she wasn’t wearing one either. I know these guys are pro’s and have exceptional riding skills, but they have no control of the skills or lack of, of the local motorist or other guys riding around them. Sorry for preaching to the choir.
I live in Ontario. Up here we have a law that all minors under 16 have to wear helmuts when riding a bicycle. Personally I’d pass the same law for adults, but then you’d run into all kinds of individual rights arguements that would make the lawyers wealthier. However, we do have a term for people who ride bikes without head protection - they’re called organ donors.
A year ago I might have agreed with you guys, then I read this: http://www.greengas.u-net.com/HelmetsByHillman.html
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Yep, SUV is the answer… back when the Ford Expeditions first came out, I was riding my bike by a dealer. I stopped…looked at the vehicle. A salesman came out and asked me if I wanted to drive it. I said, “not yet”. But I would like to see if my bike will fit standing up in the back. He gave me a strange look and said, O.K. - Yep, it fitted. So, I asked how much. He said some outrages price. Rode my bike home, called another dealer. Told him exactly what I wanted… he quoted a good price and bingo… proud new pappa of an Expedition. It’s been a bit more than five yrs. and I guess it’s time to go ride my bike past car dealerships again.
Joe Moya
- four wheel drive is a man thing…(most) women wouldn’t understand.
While I do agree with some of what the article has to say, I take issue with this point (in bold):
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Moreover, the argument in favour of helmets would have validity if there were proof that behaviour does not change in response to perceived risk. But there is no such proof. Safety devices encourage higher levels of risk-taking. As a result, cyclists are likely to ride less cautiously when wearing a helmet owing to their feeling of increased security.
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I can’t believe that simply by donning a helmet, your average cyclist becomes more willing to take risks and ride with less caution (downhillers exempt - those dudes are nuts!). A helmet is simply one level more of protection from anything hard that might make contact with my head - be it the side of a Chevy Astrovan, a beer bottle thrown by some punk-ass kid/redneck, or the concrete/ashphalt which enables me to ride at high speeds in the first place. It certainly isn’t a miracle preventative, but it’s better than nothing.
Many years ago I was knocked down (by a driver who was kind enough to open his door to aid my fall) and hit my head on the curb - crushing my helmet. I had a sore neck, and was pretty pissed off - but otherwise uninjured. I’d hate to imagine what could have happenned had I not been wearing a lid.
I few years ago I had a motorcycle accident and went down. I didn’t even know my head touched the ground until I removed my helmet and saw a big gouge out of the front temple. Again, the helmet (a motorcycle helmet, not a bicycle helmet) saved my life.
I don’t wear helmets because the law tells me to. I wear them because I value what’s inside my head and would like to keep it in good shape. Traumatic impacts are not my preferred way of killing brain cells. I do not believe that wearing a helmet in any way offers me a level of invincibility, but I’ll take whatever I can get. There is of course a level of tradeoff involved, as the Giro “Lance Edition” helmet obviously doesn’t offer the same level of protection as does my trusty M-rated Shoei, but wearing a motorcycle helmet is impractical for cycling applications.
I don’t feel that mandatory helmet legislation is the right solution, although I do not oppose it for minors. Adults however, ought to be able to make decisions for themselves, and if they want to ride without it’s not my responsibility to protect them. I do however, take issue with parents who go riding without a helmet while their children wear them (it sets a bad example), and with parents who let their kids go out with improperly fastened helmets - or worse yet, the helmet slung from their handlebars (which could actually cause an accident!). Children should wear helmets and wear them properly. And it is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that they do so.
im not quite sure how this went from bike racks to helmets but first my rack opinion—if you got a really nice SUV and a really nice tri bike its all wasted you put it on a Rhode Gear strap on bike rack. You gotta get the Yakima Viper bike mounts and drop $500 on the rack along with the bike bra to keep the paint clean from bugs and rocks jumping up.
As far as helmets, currently I’m living in New Zealand, born and raised in California. And its the law over here that everyone has to wear helmets adults or children. I’m all for it.
Hey, you ever get busted by that asshole cop (up North) who likes to ticket cyclists without a bell? I’ve never had the misfortune, but know a handful of cyclists who’ve gotten $80 tickets for not having a bell.
It’s sick…
I managed to fit my bike into my car once… after removing both wheels, slamming the passenger seat all the way forward, and fighting with it for 20min (and that was w/o aerobars!). After that I went out and bought a roof rack (Yakima w/ 2 Vipers), and have been incredibly happy ever since.
When I eventually get my Cheetah, I’ll stow it safely in the back of a Toyota Matrix XRS. A blend of an old Civic CRX and a cube van, it’s the perfect race vehicle as far as I’m concerned. http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadtests/firstdrive/49772/article.html
I had a nice Yakima fork mounted rack system for a year and then on a 1,500 mile trip this fall to FL the towers started migrating. Three bike shops could not make a rack work without me being able to grad a tower and move it by hand. With >$6k of bikes riding on the top… Sold the rack, the car, and now use a minivan.
Just wondering if anyone else had similar experience. I think the problem was not so much with the rack but the roof line of the car (99 Accord EX). LBS’s wondered if ANY Q Tower could be budged with a strong enough pull. I had too close a call to keep the rack… I would have been forever looking through the moonroof to check on the bikes.
Mine is a raingutter model, to which I’ve added rubber “gription plates” that I made from cutting up an old inner tube. I drape the rubber pieces over the clamp/raingutter interface, and tighten down the screw like hell. No shifting to date, although the longest trip I’ve made with a bike up top was from San Francisco to Vancouver. I had a lot of other weird crap strapped to the rack too however, so it was getting buffeted around a lot. Solid as a rock.
Any bike that’s worth a lot of money however, really ought to be inside the vehicle. I just don’t have either right now (a nice bike, nor a vehicle that can take one).
When I was single, I never needed a rack. Inside the back of my Subaru 4WD wagon was all I needed.
Now, however, I can’t carry 5 people and luggage, and still keep all 5 bikes inside the vehicle, even though I am driving a Suburban.
So my compromise is a hitch-mounted rack attached to my trailer hitch receiver. It is solid – my truck can pull over 7000 pounds with that trailer hitch receiver, so a few bikes aren’t going anywhere. It also keeps the bikes behind the truck and out of the wind. No bugs and better gas mileage (although my mileage sure ain’t great).
I’ve seen and heard too many horror stories about people putting their bikes on their roof. All it takes is a single brain-fart moment, and they’ve driven into their garage, or under a the drive-through lane at a fast food joint. Bam!!! There goes some sweet bikes.
Now, before someone starts pointing out that I can still get rear-ended on the highway, there is a crucial difference. If I drive into a garage and ruin the bikes on a roof rack, it is my fault and I am paying to replace those bikes.
Some asshole rear-ends me on the freeway, and he (or his insurance) is buying me new bikes. Big difference!
Of course, I could back into something and ruin the bikes, but I could also back into something and damage my car. Some risks just have to be managed.