TRANSPORTING BIKES--PLENTY OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO DO IT BUT USE CAUTION If you live in Portland or Minneapolis you can get pretty much anywhere you want to go on bikes paths. Oklahoma City is making some progress along those lines but its a spread out city so most people have to carry the bike in a car to the start of a ride. There are a number of good rack systems that fit on cars and trucks. Trunk mounted racks that are held on with nylon straps are the most popular. Trailer hitch mounted racks work well too as long as the vehicle will accept a hitch (we had a customer a few years ago who had a hitch mounted on his KIA subcompact--the weight of the rack bent the trunk floor so that the rack dragged on the ground). Roof racks are still used though attaching them to streamlined roof lines is often not possible. Using a rack is not always necessary though. Most quality bikes have quick release wheels and removing a front wheel will usually reduce the size of the bike enough that it will fit in the back seat of even a small car. In fact, many years ago a friend and I put TWO bikes with both wheels removed in the back of a VW Beetle and drove to New Mexico for the Enchanted Circle Century--its amazing what a Beetle will hold! Bikes carried inside a car are better protected from the weather too so if that is an option I recommend it. But sometimes a rack or some sort is necessary. Saris produces a line of excellent rear mount racks. The Bike Porter and Bones models are popular and reliable (and American made!). The new Saris Freedom rack mounts on a trailer hitch (either 1 1/4 or 2) and works well for any type of bikes including step-through frames and full suspension mountain bikes which can be difficult to carry on traditional rear mount racks.. The Saris website (saris) has good information about the different models and which ones fit different types of cars. Saris also makes a fork mount rack that works very well in pickup trucks. They can be mounted directly onto the box or onto a solid piece of lumber in the box. With these fork mount racks it is possible to securely carry four or more bikes in one truck. Roof racks have some serious downsides and I am generally not a big fan of them. They tend to be quite expensive (usually over $500 for a 2-bike setup) and when two or more bikes are on a roof rack they will seriously cut vehicle mileage. But the real problem with roof racks is that it is very easy to forget after a long ride that there are bikes up there. Scenes such as the picture below on the right are not uncommon. So use whatever system works best for yourself. Just dont be like the guy in the other picture--somebody should have told him to just assemble the bike and RIDE it home!
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 01:15:43 +0000
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