Rack questions

Saris Bones 3 bike rack. Not the 2 bike rack. The 3 bike rack has
two legs for the bumper and two legs for the trunk lid. The 2 bike
rack has just one leg for the trunk lid. This rack adjusts to fit
almost any car or truck or van. Front or back.

http://www.greenfishsports.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=86

$99.95 at Greenfish Adventure Sports.

[email hidden] (Jeremy M. Dolan) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hello, r.b.tech! First post here, as I've just started cycling
somewhat seriously (~100mi/week) this year.

It's come time for me to do away with wedging my bike into the
trunk/back-seat for road trips. Especially as my last attempt smashed
up a cable ferrule so bad the whole thing needed to be rerun. I was
hoping a helpful soul could steer me in the right direction for a
rack.

I'm currently driving a '98 Plymouth Breeze, but purchasing a sun-roof
equipped '04 VW Golf soon. Does a sun-roof pretty much rule out a roof
rack? I've heard varying reports.

If a roof rack isn't practical, any recommendations on a trunk rack
that would fit on both cars securely? (Key word being securely, I
suppose). As far as my typical usage for it, a fair amount of 75-80mph
highway driving, with 90-95% of the time only a single bike on the
rack.

I know my local shop stocks the Saris Bones rack, and a quick check of
the "Fit Guide" on their web site shows that it would work for both
cars. Any opinions on this one?

My current bike is an '04 Giant Cypress LX, if that matters. I'm
wishing I'd gone with a full road bike at this point, but oh well.
Gives me an excuse to buy a brand new one next year, and something to
look forward to.

Anything else I should plan on buying? Straps and the like... I'd like
to be using it on the highway on 4th-of-July weekend, so I won't have
a whole lot of time to debug the whole mounting getup and order extra
parts.

Also, what's the deal with elements exposure? I normally try to wipe
down my bike after any ride where it gets wet or dusty. But every bike
I see attached to a car is out in the open, taking all of the rain,
snow, sleet, and hail, dust and dirt, at highway speeds. That CAN'T be
good, can it? Why don't people use some sort of dust/rain cover? Are
any available?

Thanks for listening, and extra thanks for any info you can provide.

/jmd

I've got the Saris 2 bike carrier. I agree with Russ, though, get the 3
bike carrier. The single arm puts a lot of pressure on my trunk lid. The
extra upper arm would make a big difference I think.

As some of the other guys said, however, it is best to keep your bike in
your car. No matter where I take my bike, I am always a little nervous
leaving it for any length of time. A quick cut of the straps and someone
has got themselves a new ride.

- Noel

Russell Seaton said:

Saris Bones 3 bike rack. Not the 2 bike rack. The 3 bike rack has
two legs for the bumper and two legs for the trunk lid. The 2 bike
rack has just one leg for the trunk lid. This rack adjusts to fit
almost any car or truck or van. Front or back.

http://www.greenfishsports.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=86

$99.95 at Greenfish Adventure Sports.

[email hidden] (Jeremy M. Dolan) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hello, r.b.tech! First post here, as I've just started cycling
somewhat seriously (~100mi/week) this year.

It's come time for me to do away with wedging my bike into the
trunk/back-seat for road trips. Especially as my last attempt smashed
up a cable ferrule so bad the whole thing needed to be rerun. I was
hoping a helpful soul could steer me in the right direction for a
rack.

I'm currently driving a '98 Plymouth Breeze, but purchasing a sun-roof
equipped '04 VW Golf soon. Does a sun-roof pretty much rule out a roof
rack? I've heard varying reports.

If a roof rack isn't practical, any recommendations on a trunk rack
that would fit on both cars securely? (Key word being securely, I
suppose). As far as my typical usage for it, a fair amount of 75-80mph
highway driving, with 90-95% of the time only a single bike on the
rack.

I know my local shop stocks the Saris Bones rack, and a quick check of
the "Fit Guide" on their web site shows that it would work for both
cars. Any opinions on this one?

My current bike is an '04 Giant Cypress LX, if that matters. I'm
wishing I'd gone with a full road bike at this point, but oh well.
Gives me an excuse to buy a brand new one next year, and something to
look forward to.

Anything else I should plan on buying? Straps and the like... I'd like
to be using it on the highway on 4th-of-July weekend, so I won't have
a whole lot of time to debug the whole mounting getup and order extra
parts.

Also, what's the deal with elements exposure? I normally try to wipe
down my bike after any ride where it gets wet or dusty. But every bike
I see attached to a car is out in the open, taking all of the rain,
snow, sleet, and hail, dust and dirt, at highway speeds. That CAN'T be
good, can it? Why don't people use some sort of dust/rain cover? Are
any available?

Thanks for listening, and extra thanks for any info you can provide.

/jmd

Muskie <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I've got the Saris 2 bike carrier. I agree with Russ, though, get the 3
bike carrier. The single arm puts a lot of pressure on my trunk lid. The
extra upper arm would make a big difference I think.

As some of the other guys said, however, it is best to keep your bike in
your car. No matter where I take my bike, I am always a little nervous
leaving it for any length of time. A quick cut of the straps and someone
has got themselves a new ride.

- Noel

I'll agree putting the bike in the car is usually the best and
quickest. An important thing to look for in cars is a fold down rear
seat so you can take the front wheel off your bike and put the whole
bike in the trunk with the rear seat folded down.

But sometimes you have to use a rack. With my mountain bike I have a
rear rack on it and it just does not quite fit. So to transport my
mountain bike, I have to use the Saris rack. The reason I bought the
Saris was because my mountain bike did not fit in the trunk after I
put a rear rack onto it. And I've heard when you have a muddy
mountain bike, you really don't want it inside the car either.

When traveling with two bikes, I find its easiest to use the Saris
rack instead of figuring out how to disassemble the bikes, store them
inside, AND get two duffel bags of camping gear into the car, along
with the two people too. Its easier to just put the duffel bags in
the trunk, some stuff in the back seat, people in the front seat, and
the bikes on the Saris rack.

Quoted message said:

Russell Seaton said:

Saris Bones 3 bike rack. Not the 2 bike rack. The 3 bike rack has
two legs for the bumper and two legs for the trunk lid. The 2 bike
rack has just one leg for the trunk lid. This rack adjusts to fit
almost any car or truck or van. Front or back.

http://www.greenfishsports.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=86

$99.95 at Greenfish Adventure Sports.

[email hidden] (Jeremy M. Dolan) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hello, r.b.tech! First post here, as I've just started cycling
somewhat seriously (~100mi/week) this year.

It's come time for me to do away with wedging my bike into the
trunk/back-seat for road trips. Especially as my last attempt smashed
up a cable ferrule so bad the whole thing needed to be rerun. I was
hoping a helpful soul could steer me in the right direction for a
rack.

I'm currently driving a '98 Plymouth Breeze, but purchasing a sun-roof
equipped '04 VW Golf soon. Does a sun-roof pretty much rule out a roof
rack? I've heard varying reports.

If a roof rack isn't practical, any recommendations on a trunk rack
that would fit on both cars securely? (Key word being securely, I
suppose). As far as my typical usage for it, a fair amount of 75-80mph
highway driving, with 90-95% of the time only a single bike on the
rack.

I know my local shop stocks the Saris Bones rack, and a quick check of
the "Fit Guide" on their web site shows that it would work for both
cars. Any opinions on this one?

My current bike is an '04 Giant Cypress LX, if that matters. I'm
wishing I'd gone with a full road bike at this point, but oh well.
Gives me an excuse to buy a brand new one next year, and something to
look forward to.

Anything else I should plan on buying? Straps and the like... I'd like
to be using it on the highway on 4th-of-July weekend, so I won't have
a whole lot of time to debug the whole mounting getup and order extra
parts.

Also, what's the deal with elements exposure? I normally try to wipe
down my bike after any ride where it gets wet or dusty. But every bike
I see attached to a car is out in the open, taking all of the rain,
snow, sleet, and hail, dust and dirt, at highway speeds. That CAN'T be
good, can it? Why don't people use some sort of dust/rain cover? Are
any available?

Thanks for listening, and extra thanks for any info you can provide.

/jmd