My bike got gouged on the bike rack the other night due to much pissing about trying to get three bikes on that didn’t rub their forks together and forgetting to check whether the handlebars were touching, angry is not the word!!!

My options are;

1) Buy a van.
2) Ride on my own
3) Limit rack to only two bikes instead of three (bikes don’t rub together then).
4) Buy a better rack.

So any better racks out there or should I just tell my friends to piss off next time more than one of them wants a lift?

Tom

Roof rack, van.

Van
Ride on your own
Ride from home

How do the forks rub together? surely you put them on the rack back to front don’t you?

This is why I dislike tow ball mounted racks.
591s on the roof if they wont go in the back.

So you get the few bits scratched, then throw the bike down the side of a mountain in the mud/rocks/trees ?

They can be temperamental when you have three bikes on, you really have to pay attention when fitting three on. Kind of luckily I have a 29er now which means mines out of sync. I used some cut up pipe insulation and a zip tie. Not ideal but work brilliantly. Otherwise I really like the rack, doesn’t smash the fuel economy to bits like my 591’s did and means I can go a bit quicker on motorways (was always too tight to travel at 80 as the car was ready 28mpg

So you get the few bits scratched, then throw the bike down the side of a mountain in the mud/rocks/trees ?

I’ve seen fork lowers rubbed through on a 50 mile drive (not my bike/car or loading). When I use mine I remove pedals and seat posts and turn the bars, which is a bit of a faff compared to just lifting the bikes off the roof.

All the tow bar mounted racks that I’ve looked at are annoyingly cramped for space.

I’ve got an Atera rack, one of the nice things about it is that you can adjust the position of the wheel supports which means that once you’ve found a position that works, it’s very easy to get the bikes back to that same position, but I won’t lie: finding a position that works for any given 3 bikes can be an absolute PITA.

Never had an issue.

As has been said, ‘top & tail’ them when you load up & the wheel clamps can be moved to offset them a bit. I have the set nearest the car central, the middle a bit to the left & the rear to the right. It doesn’t unbalance it in any way.

For all other circumstances there is always

Bit of fiddling and locating the wheel traps off set and dont have an issue. Also put frame saver on the fork legs as a back up, job done cheaply……….Pipe foam does work too. All fixed for under a tenner.

Never had rubing with my Aiston.

Can’t really see how they could on a ride on style rack? Don’t the uprights hold them appart?

weeksy – Member
So you get the few bits scratched, then throw the bike down the side of a mountain in the mud/rocks/trees ?

Strangely I find the scratches on my bike earned on the trails are badges of honor, where as the preventable gouges on the bike rack drive me insane!

The bikes were carefully loaded and pipe foam fitted on the way there and no damage was done. It was on the return journey back when pipe foam had been lost (probably left on the fork leg and scattered to the four corners of Grizedale). After checking my bike was all secure, pipe foam on forks and handle bars not touching, I stupidly asked my friends what had happened to their pipe foam and then much fiddling of wrapping of innertube around fork legs ensued.

My fault lay in not checking their handy work afterwards of re-positioning the outer third bike so that the handlebars had ended up touching. The problems of pitch dark bike loading and the pressure to get to the pub for the post ride pint I suppose as I have successfully transport three bikes many times before.

I guess I will just have to wrap pipe foam around my handlebars in the future and stock up on spare foam in case it gets lost, a trip to B&Q next – sigh.

🙂

Never had a problem with our Thule one, bikes are put on top to tail so bars dont touch and we use foam garden kneelers between the forks and chain stays where needed, never lost one or worn through one, £1 each and cut them in half

This may explain it better although I have just realized we don’t have any of those bikes now