I'm now using a bike rack to transport my bike, is there any sort of cover I can use to protect it from the elements?
On my second fiama one. First one lasted 6 years.
Is it behind a saloon, estate or van?
life is too short, A bike rack will last 5 or more bikes. Mine is so old it's taken 26" cantilever bikes.
I’m now using a bike rack to transport my bike, is there any sort of cover I can use to protect it from the elements?
Protect the bike or the rack ? Or both ?
Sorry, I clearly wasn't clear. It's to protect the bikes.
Sorry, I clearly wasn’t clear. It’s to protect the bikes.
I've never bothered protecting bikes on racks. They get ridden in horrific weather, through all sorts of mud and grinding paste. A bit more crap being on the back of the car won't make much difference.
I've had bad experiences of disk rotor contamination with bikes on the back of the van. I faffed around with wrapping the rotors for a while but eventually bought some of those protective shrouds that Muc-Off sell.
I’ll second the use of the Muc-Off protectors. Otherwise everything else is getting washed off after the drive anyway
Presuming you are suggesting protecting the bike......just hose them down when you get there, not to on the impact on fuel consumption and handling if covering of effectively putting an airbrake on the brake on the back of the car.......
I've sometimes wondered about this and ended up then wondering how you stop all that stuff getting in to the inside of the covering...and then once in there, what will it do.
In my head it is just as bad as leaving them uncovered as I'm sure the contents of the spray will still make it passed any closures.
I haven't thought enough about to do anything about it though...a quite hose down tends to keep the worst of the crap from staying on the bike and it gets a wash when I get home anyway so isn't something I'm overly bothered about.
Third recommendation for the muc off disc covers, I typically use them when the ground is wet, whatever comes off the road managed to contaminate my rear brake on the way to a ride, ruining my ride and needing a new set of pads.
I'd also ensure that any chains on the bikes have a level of rust protection, I used to have a NX chain which didnt have any and the combo of winter riding and road salt/grime saw rust start to appear and build up. I went to X01 chains and have not had this issue.