Other title "MALVERN STAR" strikes again.
I am posting here because I have twice come up against "MALVERN STAR". Once was with two cheapo bikes that lasted about two weeks, with constant adjustments and returns to the bike shop. The second was the bike rack I just bought, against my better judgement, which is a "Malvern Star" (these days of course "Malvern Star" is Pacifi8c products, an importer.)
The rack looks good. Lost of nice quality strap cleats, neato little bike frame clamps and not just rubber foam etc.
BUT. My wife was setting off to stay with the Family, and we tried to use the rack for the first time. We had attached it to the car, and it looked OK. We were tired after a longish ride when we tried it. We felt it was OK.
Firstly, the screws that hold the neato little bike frame clamps in place are attached to Nylox, which sit in a hex recess _that lets them turn_ and you can't get a spanner to them
However, in a way this is just as well:
BECAUSE
Secondly, the neato little bike clamps get in the way when you try to put the bike on. I have a Giant 21" framed Yukon. The two bike carrier tubes are so far apart and not adjustable, that you have to flip the neato little bike frame clamps sideways to get the bike over them....lucky I couold not tighten them!
BUT
This meant that the neato little bike frame clamps could slide up and down the rack's main tubes. While adjusting ghe outer bike, the neato little bike frame clamps simpoly slipped off the end of the tube. Luckily there were two of us, and the bike did not drop onto the car.
AND
The neato little slots for your gear / brake cables, on the neato little bike frame clamps simply get in the way, and because the rack's so wide, the cables are being stressed up against the down tubes at each end, by the neato little bike frame clamps.
At this stage we decided that my wife was going to not trust these things, and she went bikeless.
Has anyone used one of thse with better results?
I am posting here because I have twice come up against "MALVERN STAR". Once was with two cheapo bikes that lasted about two weeks, with constant adjustments and returns to the bike shop. The second was the bike rack I just bought, against my better judgement, which is a "Malvern Star" (these days of course "Malvern Star" is Pacifi8c products, an importer.)
The rack looks good. Lost of nice quality strap cleats, neato little bike frame clamps and not just rubber foam etc.
BUT. My wife was setting off to stay with the Family, and we tried to use the rack for the first time. We had attached it to the car, and it looked OK. We were tired after a longish ride when we tried it. We felt it was OK.
Firstly, the screws that hold the neato little bike frame clamps in place are attached to Nylox, which sit in a hex recess _that lets them turn_ and you can't get a spanner to them
However, in a way this is just as well:
BECAUSE
Secondly, the neato little bike clamps get in the way when you try to put the bike on. I have a Giant 21" framed Yukon. The two bike carrier tubes are so far apart and not adjustable, that you have to flip the neato little bike frame clamps sideways to get the bike over them....lucky I couold not tighten them!
BUT
This meant that the neato little bike frame clamps could slide up and down the rack's main tubes. While adjusting ghe outer bike, the neato little bike frame clamps simpoly slipped off the end of the tube. Luckily there were two of us, and the bike did not drop onto the car.
AND
The neato little slots for your gear / brake cables, on the neato little bike frame clamps simply get in the way, and because the rack's so wide, the cables are being stressed up against the down tubes at each end, by the neato little bike frame clamps.
At this stage we decided that my wife was going to not trust these things, and she went bikeless.
Has anyone used one of thse with better results?
