Reminder for those with cycle/car racks..
View Full Version : Reminder for those with cycle/car racks..
*Please* check you've actually tightened the straps that
hold rack to car and bikes to rack BEFORE setting off down
the motorway (or any other road, come to that) at above the
speed limit (or below it!)....
Following a car with the above flapping wildly out the back,
the bikes wobbling precariously on the rack with a front
wheel flapping back and forth in the wind was NOT something
that inspired confidence that they'd remain on rack till
they got to wherever they were going to.
I mulled it over for a while then decided that my conscience
would forever hate me if I did nothing and the bikes fell
off and caused an accident/injuries/death (though I have to
say the driver would never forget to do them up again!).
It took a surprising amount to a) attract driver's
attention, and b) make him understand that there was
something wrong that he needed to pull over and sort out -
two attempts at pulling alongside, beeping, gesticulating,
flashing lights from behind and gesticulating to the hard
shoulder, etc.
Trying this on the passenger (as the person who *wasn't* in
control of the car) didn't work AT ALL - they looked, they
stared, they had no comprehension, they ignored... so I had
to move on to the driver.
*FINALLY* he got the message, and pulled over to stop and
take a look.
You'd have thought he'd have heard the metal of the rack-
retaining strap clonking on his bodywork, but
apparently not...
So while there are *some* loonies that do apparently bizarre
things and beep and flash lights etc at you, it's worth
thinking about whether they *might* actually have a reason,
some times :-)
--
Velvet
Another plus point for the Tradekar silver bike towbar-
mounted carrier then - the bikes *can't* flap about as they
are secured to the carrier by the frame, front wheel and
back wheel - three separate points secured. Then the carrier
itself is bolted down and locked on to the towbar.
I must admit, I've always been a bit suspicious of the bike
carriers which aren't towbar-mounted and the bikes
effectively hang off the boot of the car...
Cheers, helen s
--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get
correct one remove fame & fortune
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--Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the tunnel
is switched off--
Velvet wrote:
>
> So while there are *some* loonies that do apparently
> bizarre things and beep and flash lights etc at you, it's
> worth thinking about whether they *might* actually have a
> reason, some times :-)
And you did all that on your bike? Wow! ;-)
Tony
dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
> Another plus point for the Tradekar silver bike towbar-
> mounted carrier then - the bikes *can't* flap about as
> they are secured to the carrier by the frame, front wheel
> and back wheel - three separate points secured. Then the
> carrier itself is bolted down and locked on to the towbar.
>
> I must admit, I've always been a bit suspicious of the
> bike carriers which aren't towbar-mounted and the bikes
> effectively hang off the boot of the car...
>
> Cheers, helen s
>
>
>
> --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get
> correct one remove fame & fortune
> h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$
>
> --Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the
> tunnel is switched off--
>
>
>
Presumably you can't bolt the carrier down and lock to the
towbar till the bikes are actually secured at
frame/wheel/wheel points?
--
Velvet
dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
> Another plus point for the Tradekar silver bike towbar-
> mounted carrier then - the bikes *can't* flap about as
> they are secured to the carrier by the frame, front wheel
> and back wheel - three separate points secured. Then the
> carrier itself is bolted down and locked on to the towbar.
>
> I must admit, I've always been a bit suspicious of the
> bike carriers which aren't towbar-mounted and the bikes
> effectively hang off the boot of the car...
IMO they're useless. A bit of "spirited" driving, or perhaps
swerving to avoid an accident is enough to move the straps
and get stuff wobbling all over. And don't get me started on
what happens if you do much above 60 without the bike tied
down in 14 different places...
Tony Raven wrote:
> Velvet wrote:
>
>>So while there are *some* loonies that do apparently
>>bizarre things and beep and flash lights etc at you, it's
>>worth thinking about whether they *might* actually have a
>>reason, some times :-)
>
>
> And you did all that on your bike? Wow! ;-)
>
> Tony
>
>
>
Yeah, all my talk of being a pants cyclist is actually just
a cover story... the real me is a slim and very althetic
girl with an outstanding power to weight ratio... who can
often be found in the *fourth* chainring (extra big, of
course, with 82 teeth), smallest on the rear, frantically
trying to get the car in front to move out my way so I can
resume my normal 90mph average speed... I've also attempted
the Tour de France but they kept disqualifying me for
reaching the end of the stage 4 hours before everyone
else... and of course you never saw me on the coverage
because I was always so far ahead of everyone...
Next week I'll be riding the E2E in a single day, I feel
I've prepped enough for it now... and as long as the
cars move over to let me pass I'm sure I'll manage it
easy peasy :-)
--
Velvet
Doki wrote:
> dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
>
>>Another plus point for the Tradekar silver bike towbar-
>>mounted carrier then - the bikes *can't* flap about as
>>they are secured to the carrier by the frame, front wheel
>>and back wheel - three separate points secured. Then the
>>carrier itself is bolted down and locked on to the towbar.
>>
>>I must admit, I've always been a bit suspicious of the
>>bike carriers which aren't towbar-mounted and the bikes
>>effectively hang off the boot of the car...
>
>
> IMO they're useless. A bit of "spirited" driving, or
> perhaps swerving to avoid an accident is enough to move
> the straps and get stuff wobbling all over. And don't get
> me started on what happens if you do much above 60 without
> the bike tied down in 14 different places...
>
>
Yeah, hence my concern that they were doing 80+ with the
bikes not tied down in ANY places!!!!
--
Velvet
Velvet wrote:
> Doki wrote:
>
>> dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
>>
>>> Another plus point for the Tradekar silver bike towbar-
>>> mounted carrier then - the bikes *can't* flap about as
>>> they are secured to the carrier by the frame, front
>>> wheel and back wheel - three separate points secured.
>>> Then the carrier itself is bolted down and locked on to
>>> the towbar.
>>>
>>> I must admit, I've always been a bit suspicious of the
>>> bike carriers which aren't towbar-mounted and the bikes
>>> effectively hang off the boot of the car...
>>
>>
>> IMO they're useless. A bit of "spirited" driving, or
>> perhaps swerving to avoid an accident is enough to move
>> the straps and get stuff wobbling all over. And don't get
>> me started on what happens if you do much above 60
>> without the bike tied down in 14 different places...
>>
>>
>
> Yeah, hence my concern that they were doing 80+ with the
> bikes not tied down in ANY places!!!!
That results in nearly horizontal bikes trying to climb off
the rack IME (and that was a bike tied down with cable
straps along the top tube). Do these twats never look in
their mirrors?
Doki wrote:
> Velvet wrote:
>
>>Doki wrote:
>>
>>
>>>dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Another plus point for the Tradekar silver bike towbar-
>>>>mounted carrier then - the bikes *can't* flap about as
>>>>they are secured to the carrier by the frame, front
>>>>wheel and back wheel - three separate points secured.
>>>>Then the carrier itself is bolted down and locked on to
>>>>the towbar.
>>>>
>>>>I must admit, I've always been a bit suspicious of the
>>>>bike carriers which aren't towbar-mounted and the bikes
>>>>effectively hang off the boot of the car...
>>>
>>>
>>>IMO they're useless. A bit of "spirited" driving, or
>>>perhaps swerving to avoid an accident is enough to move
>>>the straps and get stuff wobbling all over. And don't get
>>>me started on what happens if you do much above 60
>>>without the bike tied down in 14 different places...
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Yeah, hence my concern that they were doing 80+ with the
>>bikes not tied down in ANY places!!!!
>
>
> That results in nearly horizontal bikes trying to climb
> off the rack IME (and that was a bike tied down with cable
> straps along the top tube). Do these twats never look in
> their mirrors?
>
>
Obviously not, especially given the lengths I had to go to.
And I did make sure I wasn't overreacting - I could see no
signs of any strapping/bolts/ties around any point of the
bikes *at all*, (I had a good careful look once I got close
enough and off to one side) and a multitude of strapping
flying free like streamers from under the bikes (looked like
more than just loose ends from the also not all tightened
rack strapping to hold it on the car). They looked like
they'd have been reasonably weighty as bikes go - cheap
heavy steel framed things, hybrid types, complete with one
with a basket on the front of it, fat semi-knobbly tyres. It
looked like the only thing keeping them on the rack was the
fact that it was the type with two protruding 'horns' angled
out and slightly upwards, so they'd have to move back AND
upwards on the horns before slipping off the top. But given
two bikes were on, they'd not have to slide up there all
that far for the first to launch airborne...
--
Velvet
dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
>>Presumably you can't bolt the carrier down and lock to the
>>towbar till the bikes are actually secured at
>>frame/wheel/wheel points?
>
>
> No.
>
> You put the carrier on the towbar, bolt it down & the lock
> it with a padlock. Then the bikes are put in place, each
> secured to the carrier by frame, front wheel & back wheel.
> You can still access the boot as the carrier has a tilt
> mechanism which allows this. It's a very, very secure
> carrier - as proved when The Unfit Family drove up and
> down badly rutted, cobbled streets of an Italian town with
> the bikes carried thus and they didn't budge.
>
> Cheers, helen s
>
>
> --This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get
> correct one remove fame & fortune
> h*$el*$$e*nd**$o$ts**i*$*$m*m$o*n*s@$*a$o*l.c**$om$
>
> --Due to financial crisis the light at the end of the
> tunnel is switched off--
>
>
>
Aha, I see how it works now. I was wondering if it was proof
against putting bikes on carrier but forgetting to fasten
them - I guess much depends on the method of fastening -
some I've seen clamp the bikes on via the frames, so unless
you clamp it, you can't let go of the bike (unlike put on
hooks then strap them down types)?
--
Velvet
dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
>>I must admit, I've always been a bit suspicious of the
>>bike carriers which aren't towbar-mounted and the bikes
>>effectively hang off the boot of the car...
Doki wrote:
> IMO they're useless. A bit of "spirited" driving, or
> perhaps swerving to avoid an accident is enough to move
> the straps and get stuff wobbling all over. And don't get
> me started on what happens if you do much above 60 without
> the bike tied down in 14 different places...
I've never had a problem. Mind you, I've also never used one
*without* the bikes tied down in 14 different places, I've
always made a point of stopping to check the fastenings
before joining the motorway and I wouldn't actually dream of
doing much above 60 with bikes on the car. Do you think you
should be engaging in "spirited" driving while carrying a
load on the outside of the car?
I now have 2 roof mounted carriers, which are much
better. The boot rack still gets used for the kids'
trailer. I'll also carry unicycles on it if I've already
got 2 bikes on the roof. And in future there will be
times when I want to carry more than 2 bikes, so I'll use
the boot rack then as well.
--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my
reply address)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/> (http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/) "He who
dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine
dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
>
> Then click on Tradekar Silverbike at £150 Then you'll get
> some pics. That's basically what Vernon & I use, with the
> thrid bike adapter. Vernon modified the third bike
> adapter so it works better with road bikes as opposed to
> mountain bikes.
>
I bought a similar Dutch one called the Twinny Ergo which
holds the bike by the wheels and bottom bracket crank so
that holds bikes with non-conventional frames (also saves
clamping onto a gritty mud covered frame tube if you do off-
road cycling) http://www.twinnyload.nl/Producten_Intro/_Pro-
ductlijn2/Ergo/Ergo_CK/ergo_ck.html
Tony
Danny Colyer wrote:
> dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:
>>> I must admit, I've always been a bit suspicious of the
>>> bike carriers which aren't towbar-mounted and the bikes
>>> effectively hang off the boot of the car...
>
> Doki wrote:
>> IMO they're useless. A bit of "spirited" driving, or
>> perhaps swerving to avoid an accident is enough to move
>> the straps and get stuff wobbling all over. And don't get
>> me started on what happens if you do much above 60
>> without the bike tied down in 14 different places...
>
> I've never had a problem. Mind you, I've also never used
> one *without* the bikes tied down in 14 different
> places, I've always made a point of stopping to check
> the fastenings before joining the motorway and I
> wouldn't actually dream of doing much above 60 with
> bikes on the car.
Why wouldn't you go above 60?
> Do you think you should be engaging in "spirited" driving
> while carrying a load on the outside of the car?
If it's properly attached, then I won't be driving like a
granny. If it's not properly attached, I won't be driving. A
lot of people don't attach the bike that well, don't attach
the rack that well, and don't check up on it. And people
will always occasionally go into a corner a bit quicker than
they'd like, or swerve to avoid other cars / wildlife
"Doki" <doki@spamtroNspidar.com> wrote in message
news:2k5b3pF180i1uU1@uni-berlin.de...
> > Do you think you should be engaging in "spirited"
> > driving while carrying a load on the outside of the car?
>
> If it's properly attached, then I won't be driving like a
> granny. If it's not properly attached, I won't be driving.
> A lot of people don't attach
the
> bike that well, don't attach the rack that well, and don't
> check up on it. And people will always occasionally go
> into a corner a bit quicker than they'd like, or swerve to
> avoid other cars / wildlife
In the light of recent experience, have you decided to cut
down on the 'spirited' driving? :-)
cheers, clive
Clive George wrote:
> "Doki" <doki@spamtroNspidar.com> wrote in message news:2k5b3pF180i1uU1@uni-
> berlin.de...
>
>>> Do you think you should be engaging in "spirited"
>>> driving while carrying a load on the outside of the car?
>>
>> If it's properly attached, then I won't be driving like a
>> granny. If it's not properly attached, I won't be
>> driving. A lot of people don't attach the bike that well,
>> don't attach the rack that well, and don't check up on
>> it. And people will always occasionally go into a corner
>> a bit quicker than they'd like, or swerve to avoid other
>> cars / wildlife
>
> In the light of recent experience, have you decided to cut
> down on the 'spirited' driving? :-)
I'm not doing any driving at the minute. Still looking for
a new car. I imagine it'll still be spirited, but not
quite as silly.
Doki wondered:
> Why wouldn't you go above 60?
I actually wrote "much above 60" (as did you, in your
previous post).
On most roads the speed limit is 60 or less anyway, so it's
not an issue. On motorways the speed limit isn't much above
60, so again it's not much of an issue.
But anyway, handling is significantly poorer when a car is
fully laden and my wife's car certainly isn't designed
(according to the manual) to go much above 60 when there are
bigs hanging off the outside.
> And people will always occasionally go into a corner a bit
> quicker than they'd like, or swerve to avoid other cars /
> wildlife
Agreed, although that doesn't happen often if you're driving
carefully.
--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my
reply address)
<URL:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/> (http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/) "He who
dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine
On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 11:56:01 GMT, Velvet <velvet@not.a.valid.domain>
wrote:
>cheap heavy steel framed things, hybrid types, complete
>with one with a basket on the front of it, fat semi-
>knobbly tyres.
Hey, what's wrong with baskets? It's the only means of carry
luggage on a bike that Mrs NR will contenance. She won't
ride without one; needs somewhere to put her handbag, I
assume. (Why don't women's clothes come with pockets?).
On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 16:13:51 +0100, in
<kh4rd0tfelfe6ckqglbhfmpqebb36299v6@4ax.com>, "[Not Responding]"
<not_responding@dev.null.invalid> wrote:
>needs somewhere to put her handbag, I assume. (Why don't
>women's clothes come with pockets?).
Because blokes clothes _do_
--
DISCLAIMER: My email box is private property.Email which
appears in my inbox is mine to do what I like with. Anything
which is sent to me (whether intended or not) may, if I so
desire, form a legal and binding contract.
[Not Responding] wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 11:56:01 GMT, Velvet
> <velvet@not.a.valid.domain> wrote:
>
>
>>cheap heavy steel framed things, hybrid types, complete
>>with one with a basket on the front of it, fat semi-
>>knobbly tyres.
>
>
> Hey, what's wrong with baskets? It's the only means of
> carry luggage on a bike that Mrs NR will contenance. She
> won't ride without one; needs somewhere to put her
> handbag, I assume. (Why don't women's clothes come with
> pockets?).
Nothing, did I say there was? ;-)
As for pocketless, I have no idea and it REALLY winds me up!
Being an engineer by trade a handbag is somewhat
impractical, and pockets SO much more useful.. but no...
--
Velvet
Velvet wrote:
> It took a surprising amount to a) attract driver's
> attention, and b) make him understand that there was
> something wrong that he needed to pull over and sort out -
> two attempts at pulling alongside, beeping, gesticulating,
> flashing lights from behind and gesticulating to the hard
> shoulder, etc.
I have to be honest....if another driver did this to me, I
would ignore them unless they had blue lights and were
members of the constabulary. I might stop at the next
services to see if there was an issue - if the flashing
driver had gone away by then - but otherwise I would
construe it as road rage.
(of course, I wouldn't have had unsecured bikes on the back
of the car in the frist place, as well!)
P.
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