General Cycling Discussion - Bones Bike rack

I'm about to buy a trunk mount bike rack and I think it's going to be a Bones 3-bike rack.

I've done a fair amount of research and this one seems to be the best one out there. Originally going for a thule, but they don't suggest 3bikes for my cars.

I know more than a few of you have the Bones, so...Do you suggest it? Do you like? Any cautions? Any problems? Do I need to know anything going in?

thnaks

Big fan. Easy setup and removal. Our shop sells a ton of 'em. Never had a problem with 'em, aside from some minor difficulty mounting smaller women's frames and kids frames, but that can be fixed with their bike beam if that's an issue.

I have a Bones two bike rack. It works great on my minivan. It's a little more difficult to install on my wife's Impala, though, because the bottom straps have to hook to the underside of the bumper instead of to the edge of the trunk lid. You might check out the Saris website (http://www.sarisracks.com/start.htm) to see if the rack will fit your car. It probably will.

After years of lugging the bike around in the back seat and getting the interior of the car dirty I broke down and bought one.

Nice rack. Sure beats putting the bike in the car. It was a little more expensive then other brands but heck I'm not complaining.

I think in the future though, I may be interested in plunking down the cash for a roof rack. I'll keep the Bones though incase I pool with some riding buddies. :D

My girlfriend and I use use one of those.
http://pricepoint.com/media/Saris_Bones3.jpg Another view:
http://rack2.bikepartsusa.com/product_images/mfg_01/4/full_45582.jpg

One of the things that I really like about it is that it's EASY to secure. If you look at the silver part in the middle of the second picture you'll see that it's a tube that the straps go through (as shown in the first picture. This tube has an interior diameter about the size of a soda can. What we do is lock a contractor grade Master Lock cable to the frame of the car (at one of the tow points). Next we run the cable through the rack weaving it through the wheels frame etc then we use my Kryptonite EV disc lock to secure the other end. When we take the bikes off to ride we just wind the cable around the rack to take up slack and lock it to the portion coming up from under the car. Yes we go through some (ahem) interesting neighborhoods, but with this setup we haven't had a problem even when we stop for lunch after a ride. Just be sure to use big intimidating locks not puny padlocks.


Originally posted by Prosody
I have a Bones two bike rack. It works great on my minivan. It's a little more difficult to install on my wife's Impala, though, because the bottom straps have to hook to the underside of the bumper instead of to the edge of the trunk lid. You might check out the Saris website (http://www.sarisracks.com/start.htm) to see if the rack will fit your car. It probably will.

Prosody: go buy one of those $2 "noodle" pool toys (one that has a hole down the center). Cut about four inches off the end then cut that in half length wise. What we end up doing on my G/F's Monte Carlo is taking these sections and using them as a buffer to keep the straps from contacting the plastic fascia of the trunk ,as we just hook the bottom straps to the hollow area inside the bottom portion of the vertical section of the trunk lid. Also we use the noodle to protect the car's finish from the cable we use to lock the rig to the car. Where the cable would hit / rub on the bumper I slit part of that "noodle" pool toy down one side and slipped the cable inside (they have a hole that's the perfect size) a little duct tape and boom no girlfriend wigging out about roughed up bumper paint.

Okay I went with the Bones rack and used it to bring home my 2 new bikes. Had the LBS help me install the rack, however, on hte way home the top arms seemed to bump up against the back window glass of my Grand Cherokee when we hit a bump or pothole. Not very comforting!!

Anyone have any experience mounting it on an SUV or minivan with a basically square back?? How do I get the top legs tight to glass so it will not pull away and bump back?

Never had that problem with my rack on a Dodge Caravan. The fist thing I do is to hang the rack by the top straps and snug them up to put a little pressure on the pads. Make sure the straps go close by the top arms and straight up to the lip, that way, they won't slide toward the center and loosening up the top pads.Then I hook the bottom straps and cinch them down which puts a bit more pressure on the top pads. Lastly, I hook the side ones and secure them to make sure the rack doesn't move side to side. I also experimented with different bar positions when I first got my rack, making sure that the pads were not setting to far up on the window and too far down on the hatch. I have a three bones and and have carried two Trek 520's to South Carolina and back with no readjustment.

Rick

Thanks, I think I need to experiment a bit more the leg positions.

One More Question: Do you put the tie-down straps for the top tube on top or or under the cables.

My new trek has three exposed cables running on top of the top tube. My LBS snaked the tie-down between the cables and the tube, but that seemed a bit odd and seemed like he had to stretch the cables a bit. He claimed that you should always put the tie down under the cables, but i was wondering what you all think/do????

After you load the bikes on the rack, try to tighten the straps a little more. Sometimes the weight of the bikes will stretch the straps and loosen the rack.

I have always put my straps on top of the cables simply because I usually don't pull mine down that hard. I've found the bikes ride very well with them snug. I also put a bungee cord on the wheels to keep them from turning in the wind and to keep the bikes from swaying.

Rick

Bump... Any more thoughts on straps over or under cables? this issue must come up for every rear and hitch mount rack>>>