Comments on: The Fat Cyclist’s Guide to Ultimate Bike Rack Happiness

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 18:09:40 +0000

Now, if it were an acura _nsx_, I’d be impressed. :)

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 17:58:34 +0000

Here’s my favorite roof rack story. Let me also claim this was a friend of mine (aka not me!)He bought a new roof rack for an Integra. He put it on his car in his garage – it was raining that day. Then, to his surprise and amazement, he had space to load the bikes up on the rack there in the garage! Woo hoo!I bet you can guess what happened next: As I – oops I mean _he_ – backed out of the garage, karrunch. Two forward-facing mountain bikes, damage to the seats, seatposts, rack, car roof, and garage door.D’oh.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 17:33:26 +0000

My man boobs are stealthily sustained by my Manzere® or my Bro®, (which ever persuasion you have a yen to subscribe to) so the "nice rack" commentary has to be at the bike rack…er…

By: Douglas

Douglas — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 17:11:02 +0000

Fatty, Rack snobbery: a subset of bike snobbery. How else are we to be able to judge your bike if you won’t put it on a rack? The same goes for your selection of a rack. If you truly feel that your box-mart or mcguyver special rack is good enough to carry your bike, then go for it. Just like your swanky bike, you really do get what you pay for. How much do those pesky engineers know anyway? More importantly, how much is your bike worth to you? With an external rack, you not only have the room to put your friends and the rest of your gear in the car (you don’t want to have to decide between your friend and his/her bike) You also allow the bikes/people ratio to be noted (my personal best, 5 bikes to one person). If you happen to have gone on a ride involving dirt, mud, water, blood and sports drink, none of this gets in the vehicle. Bike racks also allow for constructive criticism if you happen to have forgotten to take the race number off of your bike before driving home. I’m sure that the race/ride was THE event of your life, but just take the number off. Do you drive around with your bike helmet on? Do you wear your bike clothes home too?

By: JPSOCAL

JPSOCAL — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 17:00:12 +0000

I’ve had roof racks and liked them but they always make me nervous. I’m always looking either at the shadow of the car to make sure the bikes are still there or at the reflections in store windows. I don’t park in a garage so i have never had the problem of driving into one with the bikes on top. I’ve never liked the idea of trunk racks. The bikes are too exposed to other idiot drivers. My perfect solution( and being and old guy helps with this) is a mini van. I’m way past caring about sporty give me practical every time. For two three or four people it is great. I can fit everything inside usually with one or two bikes I don’t even have to remove the front wheel. I always feel better knowing that my bike is safely inside with me. With my old Camry, it’s huge trunk allowed me to put one bike in there with all my gear. The only downside is that you don’t get to show off your hardware as you drive around town.

By: JPSOCAL

JPSOCAL — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 16:49:59 +0000

By: craig

craig — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 16:27:44 +0000

I’m with Tim D.If cars go in the garage, where does the Bike Shop and repair studio go?

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 15:45:37 +0000

As a former product manager for a line of rear mount (i.e., straps and hooks) and hitch mounted racks, I saw a LOT of poorly mounted racks. For the reasons you mentioned (tangled straps, etc), I took to using our most basic design since it mounted quickly, and worked just as well if one was careful to cinch everything down correctly. I had been a dedicated roof rack guy prior to that job, but had too many close calls with low structures. I am planning to switch to a hitch rack eventually, but with limited free time these days, I avoid driving to ride as much as possible.One tip for the garage impaired: put garage remote in your trunk. Of course, this gives a false sense of security, and it’s just too tempting that one time when your garage door is already open when you get home…There used to be an electronic roof rack accessory on the market that would warn you when you approached a low overhang while driving under 10 mph – clever, but I think it was $200. Cheap compared to $5000 bike, but we all think it won’t happen to us until we hear that crunch.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 13:31:34 +0000

Those of you who have driven into the garage with the bikes on the roof simply don’t have enough bikes.

By: k

Thu, 03 Nov 2005 05:08:31 +0000

While preparing to race the 12 Miles of Hell in Lawton, Oklahoma, my friend had pulled out her fancy trailer-hitch-bike-rack-cum-repair-stand from the Jeep. It’s one of those jobs that swings out away from the back of the vehicle so you can open the tailgate without removing or folding down the rack. Hot stuff.I came around from the side of the Jeep, full of excitement and pre-race jitters, and CLOSE-LINED the HELL out of myself on the extended rack. I was actually knocked on my butt from the impact. I had bruises for weeks. The best part of it all? We were camped right at the starting line, which was, at the time, crawling with the Pro/Expert riders who were getting ready to begin the day’s racing. *sigh* I should not be allowed out of the house some days…