Tonight I was having a conversation with friends and the subject of car transportation of carbon bicycles via bike racks, and the potential damage that could happen.
The specific bikes are a P2C (Mine) and my friends SLC (hers) and a P3C (his). I have a hitch mounted bike rack with 3 bike attachments 2 on the Top tube and 1 on the seat tube. The attachments are Rubber stretch bands.
What are your thoughts and experiences, and if you are lurking Gerard your input would be great!
Not a big fan of rear racks. Bikes seem to fall off and if you get rear ended even lightly, your bikes are destroyed and you’re fighting with somebody elses insurance explaining to them they need to replace $10K worth of bikes. Yeah, they’ll probably eventually pay, but you’re without bikes for a few months.
I put my all my bikes include a P2C on the roof in a Yakima Steelhead mount. It QR clamps the front fork and retains the rear wheel in a tray. If you’ve filed off the lawyer lips, bike goes on securely in under 30 seconds and can be locked in. With lawyer lips you have to do the loosen/tighten QR dance, but it doesn’t take much longer.
I have a roof rack and love it, but I have older style frame clamps on it. I need to get a fork mount now to get my P2C on there. sucks.
I agree about the rear racks… too much potential for damage to occur. However, I have heard a LOT of stories about people driving into their garage with a bike on their roof.
No matter how careful you are using that rack is going to beat up your bikes and I am not a big fan of hanging my carbon bike on them. As stated getting run into is a big problem as well.
I have 2 of the 3 you mention and won’t put them on that type of rack.
I use the Thule Peloton which is fork mount and know that they are safe and secure.
The only draw back is you have to keep in mind they are there when going into parking garages, though I will only made that mistake once
I agree about the rear racks… too much potential for damage to occur. However, I have heard a LOT of stories about people driving into their garage with a bike on their roof.
I have heard tons of stories about this too…ranging from driving into the garage, bank teller clearances, fast food awnings…the list goes on. Personally, I don’t want the added pressure of remembering.
I have a rear hitch mount that the bikes sit on. They have NEVER fallen off. Sure I occasionally worry about some rear ending my car and the bikes, but that is a constant worry even without the bikes. Plus if it happens, the damage is there and will be in the police report. But more important, it is someone ELSE’s fault…not mine.
I feel like ST has an article on this matter somewhere. I think the conclusion was the behind the car was the safest for the bike.
I use Yakima fork mount roof racks, and RockyMounts for my P2C and my R3. I feel like they are both very secure, but I like the locking mechanism of the Yakima better. I also use neoprene bike “bra’s” when traveling on the freeway. They keep rocks, and bugs off great.
I too have heard of too many people getting rear ended with carbon bikes on the hitch racks. IMO, the roof mounts look cooler anyway!
Unfortunately, I have heard of probably the same number of people who smash their bikes into a garage. Personally, when I have my very expensive (to me) bikes up on top, I pay extra attention to the garage!
If you are still having a hard time deciding, go watch Breaking Away again, and check out Dennis Quaid’s old car with the bikes on it! Badass!
I have the 07 QR Seduza and a hitch rack. Yakama makes an adapter that hooks onto your stem and seat tube so the rack never touches the frame. The things that actually touch the stem and seat tube are well protected and won’t scratch. That’s the only way I would ever transport my bike. I would never use a roof rack.
The rack holds the bikes by the tires and not the frame. Bikes can go on and off in 10 seconds, and don’t have to worry about driving into the garage with it on (yes I have done that with a roof rack - ugh!). The only disadvantages I see is that you need a hitch (I got one from some Internet place and installed it myself; wasn’t very expensive) and locking the rack I have requires looping a cable around the bikes.
I have a Yakima rear hitch mount and hang my carbon fiber Orbea Onix on it. Originally, I was gonna put a hand towel between the rubber straps and the frame but my LBS said that was unnecessary and he was right. I have used it at least 50 times with no marks from the rubber. And, I have not been rearended! (In fact, I have not been rearended since 1976 when I was first driving and stopped too quickly, so I question how common it really is to be rearended while your bike happened to be on the hitch.
Yep, I had the same worry. Thule T2 is the answer. For theft prevention, order the two-pack of extra locking cylinders to lock the arms in place, and the locking hitch pin.
I went to the shop to by the Saris Thelma and it’s a piece of junk. Cheap materials and was not sturdy at all. I would not dare put my trust in that thing. I went to buy it and instead came home with the Yakama TubeTop which allows me to not have to touch the bike at all. I would use caution with that Saris.
I personally like my Thule t2 hitch mounted rack. You don’t have to worry about the following things:
Hitting any low span like the top of a garage Rock or bug strikes on long trips. (for the most part)Constantly taking the tire off the front wheelMaking sure the fork is locked into the mount.Lifting the bicycle over your head if you have a large/high vehicle roofRub on the bike frame from the mount touching your frame. (The arm locks the front wheel and doesn’t touch the frame)
Yes, you do have to worry about people hitting your car and or backing into things, however I’ve had people rear end my car and the rack took the hit and there was no damage to the bicycle. Besides, if someone does hit your car with a roof mounted rack, depending upon how hard the impact was, there is always a possibility that the top rack will come loose and launch the bicycle. Seen that happen once.
There’s a shop here that only does racks. Thay say someone comes in once a week with a roof rack thats been driven in to something. Once a YEAR someone comes in with their hitch mount rack smashed. No further questions your honor.
I had a custom hidden verticle reciever hitch made for my Z. I am using a Thule rack that came with two trays. I am only using one. It worked great on a 600 Mile 80 MPH trip to Palm Springs. So far I have no complaints.
