Bike racks

Curious about people's preferences regarding the two roof top options:Upright Vs Fork Mount. Does one have an advantage over the other?

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Cannondale Caad7 R2000

Good question. I have been told by a not completely reliable source that either type can do damage to your headset. Can anyone confirm or refute this?

I got it explained to me this way from I don't remember who, when, or where. At 80mph on the roof of a car, grease can literally be blown out of the headset by the wind. We then proceed to ride 100 miles or more on a headset without sufficient grease. After all, how many of us stop to repack the headsets after driving our bikes 400 miles on the top of our vehicle?

BTW, I prefer fork mount. I can always stash a front wheel or two behind the seat of my pickup.

Bri

I use a fork mount on a rack that uses a rear hitch. There are two basic advantages with this type of mount. First and foremost, I can drive into my garage without worry. Second, the car blocks most of the wind so the bike doesn't get air blasted.

Other advantages include accessibility to the trunk and easy to load and lock the bike down, easy rack installation and removal, and if I want the added security, the rack fits in my trunk.

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Mike E.

I have an upright bike roof top carrier. It has worked well for me over the last eleven years. About the only problem I have almost had was forgetting that I had my bike on the top of my car when I was going into a garage or other similar facility. Fortunely on those several occassions someone called out to me in time for me to avoid an accident. If I replace this rack in the future, I think I will opt for a diffirent type carrier.

I fold down the rear seats of my hatchback and put the bike in there (just need to take the front wheel off and it fits.)

It's a bit of a pain spending a few minutes putting things down and up again later each time I want to drive to a riding place, but when I look at how much roof racks (and the bike mount things) are, I figure I'll live with it.

Plus then, I don't need to worry about forgetting to put the garage door all the way up, and I'm also prevented from accidentally crushing the top-tube of my bike on a towbar-mount types rack

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Peter
Cannondale Synapse Carbon Scalpel Cyclocross Ultra

Wonder if you could outfit a minivan to carry two bikes upright inside? I saw this new Nissan Quest that looks somewhat palatable...for a minivan. Without losing 4 seats, maybe that will work as an alternative to carring bikes on the roof. Gotta check it out.

I have just replied to a bike rack search in Orange, and thought I'd pass it on here as well...I bought the tube style carrier..ie:MACRAC @ the local St Vinneys...as I said Yep I'm cheap..but with a wagon & 3 boys had constant hassal every time with having to get gear out of the back...then along came an early Xmas present...mainly because my wife can no longer put up with the cursing...aXsarm...it fits between the towbar and the rack and you can get gear in or out without taking the bike rack off each time...would work for the van too
For what its worth...www.axsarm.com.au

I thought I'd bump this, since I am now having the same debate.


I currently own a Yakima upright rack, and am wondering if I ought to spend the money to get a fork mount for lower CG or other advantages. Any more opinions?

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"You drink wine that you may be intoxicated; and I drink that it may sober me from that other wine." -Kahlil Gibran

FYI, I also read that the PT Cruiser will swallow two road bikes standing upright with the front wheels removed...

The problem is, only Guys with big bellies, a straw Hat and Bowling shirt look OK in PT's....

I have a rack that attaches to the tow ball via a bracket fitted under the ball and a lockable leaver. Fitted in seconds, carries three bikes safely on padded rubber cushions behind the car and secured with a lockable cable if necessary. The bikes are easy to get on and off and no worries about smashing my beautiful bike going into my garage or a low parking area.

I don't believe the wind would blow the grease out of the head set or anywhere else for that matter. Put a smear of grease on your wind screen and see if you can blow it off.

I too question the concern of 80 mph wind degreasing the headset. I've got a fork mount rack and have used it extensively for highway transport. If this occurred, I would expect to find some grease residue trailing off of the headset after each of my journeys, but never have.

As far as avoiding hitting low clearance with a roof mounted bike, my sister has made this mistake twice. The second time was fatal for her Bianchi... she must have been determined to get in the garage! To avoid the same experience, I hide the remote of the garage door opener when toting my bike so that I don't forget about my precious cargo above. However in my sister's case, it was a good reason to go shopping for a new bike, while my brother-in-law repaired the damaged garage door.

Fork mount. Always found the uprights a bit too flimsy/unstable (at least to look at). And it was always quite easy mounting the bikes on the roof and using the QR to help secure them.

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De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!

Oh, and the wind degreasing thing is baloney.

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De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!