Bicycle Mechanics - Traveling Long Distances with my Cervelo on my car rack

I have a 12 hour drive coming up for a race and I'm a little worried about driving that far at 70+mph speeds with my bike on my trunk-mounted rack. Will the driving time/speed do any damage to my bike or am I just being paranoid? If anyone has any experience or suggestions I would appreciate it.

Your bike rack assuming its a quality one, will be fine. I would recommend picking up a cover for the bike if you don't want dust or rocks to hit it. You could also put a tarp over the bike. This might get noisy though. Your bike should be fine. Just watch out for garages and low structures.

Your bike rack assuming its a quality one, will be fine. I would recommend picking up a cover for the bike if you don't want dust or rocks to hit it. You could also put a tarp over the bike. This might get noisy though. Your bike should be fine. Just watch out for garages and low structures.

Sorry but your advice is way off. First the OP said its a trunk mounted rack. There's no need to watch out for garages and low structures. Second, the OP doesn't need a cover. The bike is behind the vehicle. A cover or tarp also will tend to act like a sail and pull on the bike. Finally rocks or dust ?? won't hit it.

I have had bikes on the roof doing 85mph with no damage to the bikes.

Don't forget to lock it to the rack. Don't want to walk out of the rest area and see a missing bike.

Don't forget to lock it to the rack. Don't want to walk out of the rest area and see a missing bike.
+1 The main danger is theft. Otherwise your bike will be fine

I concur with the theft advice, lock it, lock it, lock it. That really is the only threat to your bike on a trunk mount. The only real thing that will hit the bike (excluding someone rear ending you) is rain, and there's not much you can do about that, because like someone said you cover the bike with a plastic and the wind will just rip at the plastic and blow it off or shred it all the while your screaming at your passenger so you can be heard over the noise!

There are some things you do need to to when under way. Once you secured the bike onto the rack and start out driving, drive about 5 miles or so get out and recheck the tightness of the security straps, then do it again at about 20 miles out, after that just check every time you stop.

Another thing you could do if your really worried is to buy some foam pipe insulation, cut to fit your forks and stays that face the body of the car, and top tube so the brackets that hold the bike won't slightly mar the paint while the car is bouncing down the road. Make sure the openings of the foam is facing to the rear so wind won't catch the opening and blow it off.

I drove my bikes across the country once. I could feel the shaking atop the roof when I encountered high winds.. We know the drag drastically decreases fuel efficiency.. And I feared the vibration was not good for the bike. A couple days into the trip , I bought a Hollywood trunk rack . For shorter distances, the roof rack is fine. Long distances. I prefer a rear rack.

terrible advice in this thread, Why the hell would you lock your bike to a trunk rack? you think a thief can't cut through the straps in about 5 seconds and take the whole thing?

My bike came loose on the trunk rack 2 weeks ago so just be careful, I have the saris 2 bike rack and one of the brackets got messed up so it wasn't holding the bike properly and I thought it would be fine. I had to get out and angle the rack more just to let gravity help keep it in place.

Is there a reason you can't take the wheels off and put it inside the car?

Put inside the car.

Worry about thieves stealing my bike from a trunk rack.cappuccino.?........... It's rare I let my bikes out of sight.
The concerns about the security of a trunk rack and its freeing itself from the trunk is a valid concern.

The anti-sway cradles on my rack scraped two dimples into my seattube clearcoat. I taped two coins to the seattube to distribute the pressure of the cradle points. The top-tube contact patches have felt pads, and haven't damaged anything yet.

Check each contact point between the rack and the bike -- if the pressure is concentrated to a small point or there is a hard surface contacting your bike, take precautions.

terrible advice in this thread, Why the hell would you lock your bike to a trunk rack? you think a thief can't cut through the straps in about 5 seconds and take the whole thing?
First, I have a hitch rack with a locking drawbar pin so the rack can't be removed easily and locking the bike to the rack secures it pretty well.

Second, Yakima sells (or sold) a long cable with a large diameter ball looped to each end for use with their rear racks. You wrap the cable around the bike and place each end ball in the trunk and close the trunk lid. That traps the balls inside and the cable can't be removed with out opening the trunk or cutting it.

if you travel overnight or across the country, bring bicycles into hotel room at night instead of leaving them on the car rack even if you can cable lock them to vehicle.

... the cable can't be removed with out opening the trunk or cutting it.

The yakima cable is pretty thin. It wouldn't take a thief more than a few seconds to cut it.

I haven't seen any trunk racks (as opposed to hitch racks) that are even moderately secure. A roof rack can be more secure, at least enough that I'm comfortable leaving the bike to go in for a meal or to use the restroom. I wouldn't trust either to leave the bike overnight.

terrible advice in this thread, Why the hell would you lock your bike to a trunk rack? you think a thief can't cut through the straps in about 5 seconds and take the whole thing?

My bike came loose on the trunk rack 2 weeks ago so just be careful, I have the saris 2 bike rack and one of the brackets got messed up so it wasn't holding the bike properly and I thought it would be fine. I had to get out and angle the rack more just to let gravity help keep it in place.

Fair point. The straps are the only thing keeping the trunk rack attached to the car. Anyone with a pocket knife can steal it. At least a cable lock attached to the car as others have said, you limit who can steal it based on who has a cutter.

Be careful of your exhaust too. I've heard of the tailpipe burning the tire apart, never been that unlucky,,but could ruin your day. Chris

I lock mine to the rack - yes they can cut the straps. Heck they can just undo the straps just as fast. This is more for the casual thief who will just grab the bike and ride off. Plus your going to be much slower and look much more like a thief if you're fumbling along with a bike W/rack attached with a lock. Over night bring into your accomodations. My rack sits on the car 8 months of the year. I check the straps before any high speed haul. Also secure the bike from swaying. At 80 the bike will lay out almost horiz. on my car/rack setup if not secured.
The lock will be a deterent for most anyone. If someone really wants your bike nothing you do will stop them. Park where you can see or in a high traffic/conspicuous area.

I often bring my bike to my daughters gymnastics meets (often on college campuses) to ride in the 2 hours between drop off time and actual meet and have never worried about it when it's locked to my trunk rack. Maybe it's just that my bikes are old DT shifter stuff that no one wants.

terrible advice in this thread, Why the hell would you lock your bike to a trunk rack? you think a thief can't cut through the straps in about 5 seconds and take the whole thing?

My bike came loose on the trunk rack 2 weeks ago so just be careful, I have the saris 2 bike rack and one of the brackets got messed up so it wasn't holding the bike properly and I thought it would be fine. I had to get out and angle the rack more just to let gravity help keep it in place.

Hmmm, I'll have to tell a couple of my friends who lost their bikes on their bike racks while parked at restaurants that they don't have to worry anymore about locking up their bikes because Cappuccino said it was terrible advice. You know, those nylon straps are very robust, I doubt any knife could cut those.

Hmmm, I'll have to tell a couple of my friends who lost their bikes on their bike racks while parked at restaurants that they don't have to worry anymore about locking up their bikes because Cappuccino said it was terrible advice. You know, those nylon straps are very robust, I doubt any knife could cut those.

i think you missed cappuccino's point. just about any knife could cut the nylon cinch straps. so locking your bike to a trunk rack would only keep the honest people honest, not prevent a slightly more invested thief from taking the bike+rack, throwing it into the back of a pickup truck and driving off. hence cappuccino's 5-second call.

sorry if your pals lost bikes that were locked to rear racks. that's rotten. and a reminder to us all that cars can be burgled from the outside (as in these cases), as well as easily smashed into (the safety glass only facilitates it).

i think you missed cappuccino's point. just about any knife could cut the nylon cinch straps. so locking your bike to a trunk rack would only keep the honest people honest, not prevent a slightly more invested thief from taking the bike+rack, throwing it into the back of a pickup truck and driving off. hence cappuccino's 5-second call.

sorry if your pals lost bikes that were locked to rear racks. that's rotten. and a reminder to us all that cars can be burgled from the outside (as in these cases), as well as easily smashed into (the safety glass only facilitates it).

I didn't miss anything, Cappuccino has since deleted his post because I think now he realizes he was wrong, but he said: "terrible advice in this thread, Why the hell would you lock your bike to a trunk rack? you think a thief can't cut through the straps in about 5 seconds and take the whole thing?" Where is the point I missed? He never mentions someone defeating a lock or putting a lock on.

Some bike racks actually come with a locking system, you swing the clamp over and place a pad lock on the clamp, I use the Abus Disc lock to secure because it's more difficult to put a bolt cutter in there. Obviously nothing is theft proof, but you do want to slow them down and not just leave a bike on a rack with nothing more then the nylon or rubber tie downs to protect it while you eat or shop. Even a high quality cable lock is better then nothing; those things are harder to cut then you think and takes some time; try taking a 1/2 cable and cut one with a saw and see how long it takes. And a thief is going to set there in a public area sawing away at a cable to steal a bike while everyone watches including any cameras? But a thief won't mind undoing the fasteners, or cutting the straps, then just get on the bike and ride it away, anyone watching would just think it's the guys bike and he's taking a ride.

If I'm taking a road trip and have my bike on my rack...locked by the way, I take the bike off the rack when I go to a hotel and put it inside the room. Sure someone could break into the room while I'm out, but it's easier to work on getting the bike in the parking lot, but it also prevents vandalism by putting it in the room.

It was sad my buddies lost their bikes, fortunately they all had insurance but they were out $500 and a bike for the weekend event. But like Pwdeegan said cars are an easy target, that's why I lock my bike to the rack and it's why I don't have expensive stereos in my cars.

I didn't miss anything, Cappuccino has since deleted his post because I think now he realizes he was wrong, but he said: "terrible advice in this thread, Why the hell would you lock your bike to a trunk rack? you think a thief can't cut through the straps in about 5 seconds and take the whole thing?" Where is the point I missed? He never mentions someone defeating a lock or putting a lock on.

His post is still there. It least it is as i type this out.


Some bike racks actually come with a locking system, you swing the clamp over and place a pad lock on the clamp, I use the Abus Disc lock to secure because it's more difficult to put a bolt cutter in there. Obviously nothing is theft proof, but you do want to slow them down and not just leave a bike on a rack with nothing more then the nylon or rubber tie downs to protect it while you eat or shop. Even a high quality cable lock is better then nothing; those things are harder to cut then you think and takes some time; try taking a 1/2 cable and cut one with a saw and see how long it takes. And a thief is going to set there in a public area sawing away at a cable to steal a bike while everyone watches including any cameras? But a thief won't mind undoing the fasteners, or cutting the straps, then just get on the bike and ride it away, anyone watching would just think it's the guys bike and he's taking a ride.

it's happened: cables/cords cut, object thrown into pickup truck to be chopped at the shop, as it were. Even a fancy cable lock, which is better than nothing, won't buy you more than a few minutes against an experienced thief (there are several ridiculously long threads on this subject in BF). By way of example, i had to cut my friend's bike free of a brand-name U-lock with my portable grinder. We timed it in just under 1 minute, like a hot knife on butter. It's not an especially good grinder. As for cameras, i've seen Youtube videos of guys testing out public awareness "stealing" bikes in a big city, and no one stopped them (sorry, too lazy to go Youtube link hunting). Same when i used my grinder—not a single person stopped to ask for credentials; maybe they were scared of the sparks?

and it's still true: locking your bike to a trunk rack is nice eye candy, but it's nigh useless for security. if your eyes aren't on it, then just about any other mechanism—including taking the bike off the trunk rack and locking it to a lamp post or parking meter—will be safer, especially if you are in any kind of dense urban environment.

His post is still there. It least it is as i type this out.



it's happened: cables/cords cut, object thrown into pickup truck to be chopped at the shop, as it were. Even a fancy cable lock, which is better than nothing, won't buy you more than a few minutes against an experienced thief (there are several ridiculously long threads on this subject in BF). By way of example, i had to cut my friend's bike free of a brand-name U-lock with my portable grinder. We timed it in just under 1 minute, like a hot knife on butter. It's not an especially good grinder. As for cameras, i've seen Youtube videos of guys testing out public awareness "stealing" bikes in a big city, and no one stopped them (sorry, too lazy to go Youtube link hunting). Same when i used my grinder—not a single person stopped to ask for credentials; maybe they were scared of the sparks?

and it's still true: locking your bike to a trunk rack is nice eye candy, but it's nigh useless for security. if your eyes aren't on it, then just about any other mechanism—including taking the bike off the trunk rack and locking it to a lamp post or parking meter—will be safer, especially if you are in any kind of dense urban environment.

Weird I still don't see his post on my end.

With a grinder you can cut through anything pretty fast, but again not many thieves are going to have a grinder available to them at a restaurant on a highway.

But you make a point, anything is steal able. I know a guy who can pick any lock in under a minute, no noisy grinders or bulky tools, just looks like a guy having difficulty with his key and lock. By the way, picking will become the next big fad in stealing your bike, it's already happening in Europe.

And true, I saw those U-Tube photos as well, it is amazing how no one will stop, one photo I watched a cop drove up looked at the would be thief and did nothing!!!

But a lock keeps a honest person from scoring an easy hit that he may have never attempted had it been locked.

Good heavens, make it easy on yourself...bike goes in the car.

So you are going 12 hours race a Cervelo. This is cool. I need to assume that you have some level of disposable income.

Here's the deal: Any trunk rack will get your bike from A to B. Any rack that hangs a bike by the top tube (all trunk racks) will sway. Even if they have anti-sway cradles, they will sway. Over a 12 hour drive, you WILL get marks in the paint. This will piss you off.

Second (and feel free to contact them to confirm) major rack manufacturers are not thrilled about high-end carbon bikes hanging on these style racks. There are generally not recommendations against, but Yakima (for example) will steer you towards a rack that doesn't touch the frame.

The best example of this is the HoldUp. It is a hitch mount rack that only touches the tires. Really the premium solution for getting a bike from here to there.

-Z

Is there a reason you can't take the wheels off and put it inside the car?

That's what I was thinking too. Out of the weather, away from the road grime, relatively secure from theft. You don't have to worry about if the whole rack is going to blow off of the car. The bike and/or rack isn't going to scratch the paint on your car. There's no wind noise and no impact on fuel economy. Any other concern you may have that caused you to ask the question - gone.

I think that the best bike rack is a canvas painter's drop cloth. You use it to protect the seats and interior of your car. Cheapest bike rack too.

Any determined thief will steal the bike, if it's attached to the roof, trunk, hitch, or even inside the car. What a lock and straps do for external transport is deter the casual thief. Have to work a little harder to steal a bike inside the car, but nothing is thief-proof.

I have a trunk mount (Saris Bones 3), and to prevent sway I have a strap I bind through the rear wheel around one of the vertical struts, and through the front wheel. No wheelspin, no sway, the bike is secure. There is an aero penalty (I can't get the car to go over 90mph with the bike attached), but rarely am I doing 90 for any length of time (kinda scary in a real light car like a corolla).

Any determined thief will steal the bike, if it's attached to the roof, trunk, hitch, or even inside the car. What a lock and straps do for external transport is deter the casual thief. Have to work a little harder to steal a bike inside the car, but nothing is thief-proof.

Yeah, remember the truism: Locks are there to keep honest people honest. Over my twenty years shuttling my bike up and down the east coast, I found a bit of common sense and a decent lock will usually be fine. Park the car under a light at night. If you are going into a restaurant, park in front of a window if possible, and try to get a table overlooking your car. Even just being near the entrance will scare away most thieves. As others have posted earlier, do take the bike in with you if you have to stay at a hotel. It should be fine if you are in a populated, well lit area, but why take that chance, or give yourself something to lose sleep over. Do lock the bike since at the very least, it'll slow a thief down enough where it might not be worth it to steal the bike. You do have a nice bike, so it will attract attention and sometimes the bad kind. As long as you take some common sense precautions, you'll be fine at that end.

As for the bike rack, make sure that your bike is padded well where it's going to touch the rack. Pipe insulation works well. I've even seen people cut pool noodles to use to protect a frame. It's cheap and easy and good insurance. Pad it anywhere it touches the rack. The vibrations of the road can do some fair damage to the finish and possibly the frame depending on composition. Padding is good.

Generally you shouldn't have any trouble with the bike being behind the car. Splattered bugs come off fairly easily. You do get many less than if it's on a roof rack.

I have a roof rack, but it cost a lot of scratch, and every car is different and will cost more to put it on. If you're on a budget, stick with the trunk rack. It'll do you well.

Much luck and have a good trip!

terrible advice in this thread, Why the hell would you lock your bike to a trunk rack? you think a thief can't cut through the straps in about 5 seconds and take the whole thing?

I agree with this. I use a trunk rack but rarely, if ever, let my bike out of my sight. If I were to leave my bike unattended I'd either get a hitch mount and lock it to that or a vehicle large enough to stow the bike. But you still need to keep in mind that with a locked hitch mount setup wheels, seats, accessories, etc. are still vulnerable.

My favorite advantage to a trunk mount is that when I'm out riding I can stash the rack inside the car. This way it doesn't look like I'm away on a bike ride making my car more vulnerable to thieves.

Matt