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.

greenfishsports.comindex.aspOpen ↗
D&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.

greenfishsports.comindex.aspOpen ↗
ROD&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.

greenfishsports.comindex.aspOpen ↗
WPROD&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