Road Trip [now underway]: Rent it, Bag it, or Rack it?

[Clean39T]

And we're off! Photos and a bit of story starts on page 2...

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The wife and I are taking a road trip to Santa Barbara leaving this coming weekend and I'm trying to decide what to do for my bike needs on the trip. We'll be driving our CX-5 down from Portland. I have purchased a trailer hitch and Kuat rack for it, but haven't installed it yet. We are zipping down to SB on the way there, with just a quick overnight in NorCal. Then we'll be in SB for 4 days, 3 nights. Then likely stopping in the North Bay for two nights or so on the way back.



So, here are the options:



1) Rent an Orbea Orca in SB for two days - $170 - get in two solid rides (Gibraltar plus ?); rent something else in North Bay if there's time and it lines up. Pros: don't have to worry about my own bike in transit, can still bring own pedals/saddle. Cons: cost, may miss a ride b/c of timing with the shops, don't get to ride my own bike; bike may not fit that great.



2) Buy a cheap bag to put the bike inside the car with the wheels off, seatpost out (60cm bike). Pros: Have my own bike, slightly less obvious than rack for theft prevention. Cons: still leaving $3K+ item in car when stopped, have to disassemble a bit.



3) Get that rack installed. Pros: bike stays assembled, can hop on and ride whenever/wherever. Cons: leaving $3K+ bike on the back of the car when stopped, potential wear/tear on bike from 2K miles on the road.



WWYD? (What Would You Do)

[MattTuck]

I don't know about the crime risk in the areas you're passing through, but I'd just get an old quilt/blanket and a sheet of plastic, and wrap the bike to protect your car, and keep it in your car.

No need for something fancy.

[chiasticon]

option 2 is always my go-to choice when traveling. far outweighs any other option, and the only downside is the internal space required. only takes about five minutes to get into/out of the car. no biggie. and it for sure won't get rained on or have road debris/bugs flung at it that way.

I don't use a bag though. just cover the drive train with an old tshirt/towel, put an old towel or blanket over things it's supposed to cover, cover the cassette with a rag, etc. if you have wheel bags, those will help.

I wouldn't worry about leaving it overnight in the car but you can always bring it (or part of it) in if you need to. if you had a hitch rack, you'd have to do that anyway.

[Ken Robb]

Besides the negatives that you posted there will be some extra fuel consumption with a bike on a rack at highway speeds.

You might find it fun to try a different bike/drivetrain.

You can ride any time at home but there will be new things to see and do on this trip so you may not want to ride as much as you think you will.

[Clancy]

Install the rack and use it! Why else did you get it?

Have used a Yakima Hold-Up for past 4 years and 6-8 long distance trips, sometimes with two bikes. Bikes are $4k plus.

Super easy to load and unload a bike, under 60 seconds.

Go to Home Depot, buy a 10 foot heavy duty cable (pre packaged, look for them in the bulk chain area. $15 or so.) and a good lock. Keep these in the back of your car, use them when you stop.

I've found that carrying bikes this way is the best option. No loss of gas mileage and not noisy as is the case when carrying bikes on the roof. Protected from debris (never even a single small paint chip)

Why rent a bike you're not use to when you can have your own?

Why use a bike bag when you have one of the best racks made?

[MattTuck]

When I drove from Boston to Seattle with my ex, this was the car when we left. There are two bikes in there, and all our stuff for a 6 month work assignment.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

I don't know about the crime risk in the areas you're passing through, but I'd just get an old quilt/blanket and a sheet of plastic, and wrap the bike to protect your car, and keep it in your car.



No need for something fancy.

That's the way I'm leaning, it's my wife that's more anxious about break-ins.

We may stop in Berkeley, that's probably the sketchiest spot on the trip where I wouldn't take it in with me (like stopping at a hotel overnight).


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[josephr]

the problem with bikes and road trips is that you spend a fair amount of time offloading/unloading the bikes in/out of the hotels. I certainly wouldn't leave any bike on a rack overnight or for long periods of time, even if it is locked up.

I recommend the rent-a-bike option as you can get the opportunity to ride something different.

installing the hitch on a cx-5 takes 30 minutes...just use copious amounts of wd-40 to slide the rubber muffler mounts. Find a friend with a torque wrench if you don't have one.

pics of your trip required!
Joe

[rwsaunders]

Have the bikes delivered and picked up.

http://www.sbbikestogo.com

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by rwsaunders

Have the bikes delivered and picked up.



http://www.sbbikestogo.com

That's who I was planning to use if renting. We're starting in Montecito, I think pretty near Gibraltar..


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[biker72]

So far I've been able to travel with the bike inside my vehicle and removing just the front wheel.

This has worked very well for me.

[jasonification]

Originally Posted by MattTuck

I don't know about the crime risk in the areas you're passing through, but I'd just get an old quilt/blanket and a sheet of plastic, and wrap the bike to protect your car, and keep it in your car.

No need for something fancy.

+1

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[brockd15]

I'd use the rack. Bring them in the hotel for when they're not being used, not left on the car, and use a cable/u-lock combo to lock them to the rack if you'll be going in places with nowhere else to put them.

[vqdriver]

if space allows, option 2 is the best, tho you don't really need a bag, just a moving blanket is fine.
racks are great for road trips when the car is full of other junk, but frequent stops always give me pause.

[kevinvc]

Hey neighbor.

My friend has a Kuat rack and we've used it for multi-day trips. No noise, bike damage, change in gas mileage, etc. The downside is that I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it out of sight for any amount of time. It has a built in cable lock that looks easily snipped with bolt cutters. You can use additional cabling, but you cant really use a u-lock to connect it to the rack itself, just to secure the wheels to the frame.

It may have been unnecessarily paranoid on our part, but we wouldn't stop to eat unless we parked where we could see the bikes and if we stopped for gas one of us would stay with the bikes. (OK, it was probably unnecessary)

I would feel a bit nervous about leaving them unattended in the vehicle under a blanket because it's still obvious that there's something there and an opportunistic thief doesn't mind busting out your window to find out what it is.

If you're a trusting sort of person who carries good insurance and isn't too personally connected with these particular bikes, the rack gives you the most flexibility in riding whenever you want and maintaining storage capacity. Otherwise rentals seem like the safest, and in many ways most convenient option. And it can be fun trying out a new bike.