How do you transport your Bent?

Having a great time comparing bikes for purchase. Location demands I also plan for transport so I am soliciting input on racks. Many of the bike racks out there are way over $300 and then one often finds in the fine print that the rack will NOT work for bents. So, how do you folks transport your bikes?

I found one that appears reasonable, at least for us pickup drivers. It can be seen at http://siwbikerack.com/index.htm and runs $189 with two holders and that includes shipping. Anyone have experience with one?

__________________
Charlie Dwyer
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."
– Sir Winston Churchill

I have a Cavelier. I put down the seat back opening the trunk up to the interior. I place a section of carpet over the lip of the trunk. Then, I carefully slide my bike into the trunk taking cate not to break or scratch anything. The trunk closes and I am off!

The bike is a EVOX 140 so-called "Semi" recumbent. I would term it a CLWB as it is not much different than a BikeE. Longer bikes may not fit quite so well. Aside from getting it in, I don't have to lift an awkward 40 pounder over my head to place it in a cartop rack.

Cheers

Charles

__________________
"If something is worth doing, it's worth doing poorly."

"My other car's a Bianchi!"

The SIW doesn't look very confidence-inspiring, but it may work.

Many, maybe most, recumbents will go on a 2-arm trunk or hitch mount rack. For those that don't, there are various options. With a pickup truck you have the inexpensive option of a Bike-Tite (fork mount) bolted to a 2x4. Those are $10-20 each, 2x4 not included. Or any fork-mount tray system, as long as the tray is long enough for your wheelbase. Since Sportworks sold out to Thule, their line, which was very good for bents, seems to have languished; but you can still find NOS Sportsworks stuff out there. It's a bit expensive, too.

For my V-Rex, I use a Rhode Gear 3-bike carrier, the kind with 2 arms, on a hitch mount. That won't work for my lowracer, so for that I just stand it with the chainring wedged in one corner of the cap and the rear tire diagonal until it meets the gate. Then I bungee it in place. Or, depending on how I feel, I just lay it down in the bed.

We have a small pickup. My husband built a frame to fit in the bed of the truck for the front wheels and leave the tail gate down. We use tie downs to secure the bikes. It works very well. No scratches and the bikes don't fall down.

I drive a 1995 Saturn SL1. After contemplating several possibilities, I ended up getting a hitch receiver installed at the local U-Haul and then went with a rack from a company called Cycle Simplex. Check www.cyclesimplex.com
They were the least expensive choice I could find for something like this that comes from a factory and was designed to work with a recumbent. You have to do basic assembly, but it isn't difficult. It holds my bike (RANS V2) very securely. The car is too small to do much else with and I didn't want to have to deal with wrestling such a long bike onto a roof mount.

Steve

I have an SIW truck bike rack. Bought it about 4 years ago and love it! I have never seen anyone else using one. It's quick and easy to secure the bikes down. There has never been a problem with them not being secure while driving, and we have driven on and off road. It works equally well with road and mountain bikes. And the best part is we don't have to mess with taking tires off and on. You just take the bike out and start riding!

I recently looked up the website because a friend was interested in getting one and they are not there. Have they gone out of business? Does anyone know if they are still available?

I think the only con with the SIW is the size. If you store it, it's not real compact. Other than that, I recommend it for it's ease of use and how well it holds the bikes in place.

Just googled and found this site -- Rec Rac. It looks simple and very doable, and a lbs carries it, so I will check it out this weekend.

Rec-Rac

KW

That looks even easier than the siw. It looks like it would leave more room for other stuff in the bed as well. Thanks for the link!

I found a Sport Rack at Canadian Tire that will slip into any trailer hitch that has a 1 1/4 inch or a 2 inch receiver. I am currently using it on a small car but it would work equally as well on a pickup truck. The bikes are supported by their tires and a hook holds the frame in a perpendicular position. The nice part about these racks is that it is completely adjustable for longer wheelbase bikes. I took my Evox LE and my daughter's mountain bike for 1000 kilometers last weekend and the rack performed perfectly. It folds up when not in use and it also folds down so you can use the trunk or tailgate without having to remove the rack. The rack slides snugly into the reciever and a threaded pin cinches tight to keep the bikes from bouncing around. Here is a link to the website: http://www.sportrack.com/a30901

I use my legs.....cars are usless

I found the RecRac at my LBS and bought it. What an outstanding product! It is not inexpensive, at $65, but neither is it cheaply made. It only took a minute to install and works wonderfully with my Speedster SX -- very secure, with no movement during turns, high speed or major bumps. It makes loading my bent about a one minute operation, with no worries of dumping it.

I highly reccomend this product to any bent (or wedge) rider with a truck.

KW

Ditto this, but I did have to transport it from Denver, 70 miles away, when I purchased it. I put it on our regular car rack bike rack. I had to rope the top of the bicycle down, so the wheels were sticking straight out the back, horizontally. It was stable, but I held it to about 55 MPH on the Interstate.

Since getting the bike that evening three weeks ago, I haven't transported it at all.

__________________
Jim
Make a BOLD statement while cycling.
www.oilfreeandhappy.com

I use my old Bones rack for my Road Runner. I had to get creative with it, but basically 2 24" pieces of PVC tubing, 2 adjustable straps and options bungee cords gets the bike very securely on the rack.

If you're handy or know someone who has some machining skill, take a look at what I did (see ATR62 posting at the attached link). http://www.bentrideronline.com/messa...ad.php?t=16947


All the best!

Angelo

Ditto! I ride mine.

I do have a Hollywood clamp-on
rack that rests on the trunk of
my car and it will hold either my
SWB Lightning Thunderbolt OR my
CLWB EZ-1 SuperCruiser. Cost
me about $40.00 brand new at
a sporting goods store.
http://hollywoodracks.com/

Never lost a bike off the back yet!
But I have never carried them
more than 5 or 10 miles and
never on the Freeway.