Roof Racks - Help Me Out!

[Cat3roadracer]

I always liked that model of the Riviera. Many happy miles ahead!

[Louis]

And when the OP's Riviera dies he can upgrade to this:

(I think it deserves the extra-large image.)

[KF9YR]

You can buy the Thule bars and get the 1upusa roof tray. I have two of them on my vehicle. They are made just north of you in Platteville, Wi.

I like the folded profile better than the the Sidearms I used to have. Also the car wash guys don't make me pay extra for the hand wash as I did with the sidearm racks. I went with the black anodized ones.

[Black Dog]

This seems like a perfect situation for the vacuum cup roof racks.

[ofcounsel]

Originally Posted by eddief

........ incredible how often we both forget her's is up there. out of sight, out of mind, crash.

Yeah, I can attest to that....






Once I got it back from the shop, I went with the 1up rack.

[bikinchris]

I had a guy drive his chainrings through the roof of his car with a roof rack at a drive through. Another guy drove his car into his garage with his bike on the roof TWICE. All methods of carrying a bike have both advantages and disadvantages.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

All methods of carrying a bike have both advantages and disadvantages.

True, but I bet that per times used, roof racks are most likely to result in disaster.

[abalone]

In some states, you have to have the rear license plate visible. So any rear rack and bike that blocks the rear license plate is illegal.

[raygunner]

Hmmm...maybe I'll just keep squeezing the bike in the back seat of the Riv.

I just don't want to tear up the Corinthian leather!

[Louis]

Have you tried to put it in the trunk?

My old Trek 410 fit in the trunk of my '70 Impala without even taking the front wheel off.

Of course that trunk was only about 10 ft deep...

Nearly identical to mine, except that I still had the chrome trim around the wheel wells.

[carpediemracing]

Originally Posted by Louis

I'd go with either in the trunk or a hitch rack.

PS I'd never, ever put a roof rack on a car that was worth more than $250

Somewhere I have a picture of my $1 car with a $400? rack and a $1200? bike (bike and rack prices wholesale). It was set up with a bar on the trunk and 3 on the roof, the car I was thinking of when I posted the "outside the box" solution. Can't find the picture though.

Back in the day I semi-joked that you could tell a serious rider if the bike > rack > car.

[Gummee]

I was contemplating a hitch vs roof setup on the Focus. Ended up spending a little $ to get a short roof adapter and some Q clips instead of spending BIG $ on a hitch and a Kuat.

Plain roof rack eats about 2-4mpg. Bikes on top eats another couple.

...but since I only haul more than one bike during CX season, I took the rack back off last week. Back up to mid-30s mpgs!

M

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by Louis

True, but I bet that per times used, roof racks are most likely to result in disaster.

Jeez, are all of you guys stoned all the time? Uh, dude, where's my bike? Bam!

Hey, I've been known to indulge, but, never did that.


Carrying a bike off the back of the car screws up the handling big time. Hanging 40 to 60 pounds that far away from the center of gravity is just awful. Doesn't matter if it's an old car like this or a nice shiny Bimmer. A roof rack will cure that problem.

[christian]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Carrying a bike off the back of the car screws up the handling big time. Hanging 40 to 60 pounds that far away from the center of gravity is just awful. Doesn't matter if it's an old car like this or a nice shiny Bimmer. A roof rack will cure that problem.

Do you drive a MkI MR2? I'm all for low polar moment of inertia at the track, but really, for most driving, this is an absolute non-issue. BTW, I guess you hate 911s.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by christian

Do you drive a MkI MR2? I'm all for low polar moment of inertia at the track, but really, for most driving, this is an absolute non-issue. BTW, I guess you hate 911s.

Never drove one, but I have read many a critique of the 911 claiming that it just loves to do nasty things at the wrong times to rookies if pushed too hard. I guess because of that issue.

I didn't find a rear rack with two bikes to be a non issue when I put it on the back of my Outback years ago. It felt like I added ten feet to the back of the car. Never again.