Seattle Forrest

The loops I can do from my apartment are getting old. I've found a lot of great rides around town, but I've done them so often they're losing their appeal.

Driving the bike somewhere else is the obvious answer, but it's a little inconvenient. I've got a smallish car, and I'm tall, which means I ride a big frame, and the bike barely fits. Also, I don't know my way around and have to find my way back to the car, so I usually wind up coming back the same way I rode out. And driving isn't really pleasant or enjoyable for me. In some ways, it would be convenient to put my bike on the bus, head out of town, and ride home.

Has anybody done that? With a carbon fiber bike? All the buses out here have bike racks in the front. I'm a little concerned, though, mostly about someone else putting their bike on the rack, and it banging against mine the whole way. Also, theft; even if I'm at the front of the bus and watching it, it would be hard to chase a thief down in bike shoes. And there are probably other things I haven't thought of yet.

Am I being paranoid? Would you do it?

milkbaby

I am paranoid, and no, I wouldn't put my bike on the front of a bus. But where I live, I can probably ride to wherever I want to be quicker than if I had to wait for the bus! I don't think you're paranoid; I'd have the same exact concerns.

I don't drive my bike places, but I'm lucky in that I can be on low traffic country roads within 15-30 minutes out the door depending on what direction I head.

ColinL

would do it here. it's not seattle and you are correct, the most likely thing next to yours is a beat up DUI bike.

Seattle Forrest

Waiting for the bus, and then waiting for it to get where it's going, are the flaws in my plan. But ... "Want to drive me 50 miles away?" isn't something you ask an fwb. And, some days you don't feel like riding a century.

Jed19

I'll do it.

Shift to the highest gear both front and back b/4 loading on the bus (this can give you valuable time to slip off your cycling shoes and chase down a thief before he rides away) and seat/stand always at the front of the bus and keep your eyes on the bike at every stop.

As for carbon bike on a bus bike rack, I think it can be done safely.

Good luck.

edibot42

I've done it a few times before, went just fine. My only worry was that the wheels would swing around, those racks seem to be designed for much wider tires.

dtrain

Did that this morning (kinda). Rode about 1.5 miles to the bus stop in office attire. After work I'll dress down and ride the entire route home (about 15 miles). But that isn't my nicest bike and it isn't carbon. About a $1k Bianchi with 9-speed 105.

dtrain

+1. The racks are for pretty wide tires and the bike does bounce around just a little. Still, I've had a pair of Mavic SL's on there and wasn't really worried about it. It's a great way for me to get a ride in. 50 min ride home vs. 35 min via bus/car. Wouldn't be nearly as fun on a hybrid or true beater. No showers at work - so riding all the way in the morning is less of an option.

Sir Real

I wouldn't do it. I'd learn my way around first.

Commodus

I've done it many times. Never had any problems.

Sometimes if there's a particular place I want to ride and there's highway between me and it, I'll hop a bus there. Otherwise, in the city I'm just as fast as the buses so there's little point.

eippo1

You could also spend $75 and get a rear rack for your car.

Seattle Forrest

That brings us right back to square one. It's more fun to ride in places you've never been, than in ones you know like the back of your hand. Novelty is a good thing.

I have a roof rack for the car with a bike attachment. I have a chip in my windshield from a pebble that got kicked up on the freeway, and I prefer not to use the rack when I can avoid it. Also, this has me driving 50 miles, enjoying a bike ride, finding my car, and then driving another 50 miles. Being in a car isn't something I enjoy, and if I avoid it without much risk, I'd prefer to.

dtrain

Why don't you try it for 30 miles with your not-quite-as-nice Cervelo first?

ColinL

wow, afraid of a stone chip so you don't use a roof rack? proportionally, most of the rocks tossed up go low. (inspect your hood and grille sometime.)

now if you said Seattle car traffic makes you want to kill people and you won't drive somewhere with your bike, I could get behind that.

mazdaspeed

I highly doubt it would hurt the bike

Bob Ross

They don't have those front-of-the-bus bike racks here in NYC, and I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be putting my expensive bike on one if they did...but fwiw, we very regularly take our expensive bikes on subways and trains to get in or out of town without having to ride extra junk miles.

Seattle Forrest

On the whole, it sounds like at least other cyclists don't think this is crazy talk.

Well, it's not just one rock chip I'm worried about. But I feel better putting the bike inside the car than on top of it - I mostly use the roof rack for the commuting bike (it's old, came used, etc) and for times when I can't put the bike in the car, like when I go camping, because there's too much other stuff to bring.

I'm going to do a tour of Tacoma this weekend. I found a ~35 mile route, and about a 20 mile detour. I'll probably use the car for that one, since I know it'll work and don't need to work out which bus(es).

I guess that's the smart thing to do. I think of the nice one as the travel bike, and it's the one I prefer to ride when I have a choice ... but it's a good experiment. I need to adjust the brifters on the not-as-nice, used bike before I take it on that long a ride, though.

This isn't much related to the point of this thread, but a girl I know just emailed me this. Hard to believe a person could get to need a change from the scenery here:

tanguy frame

try it and see.

pdxtex

id give this idea a resounding nay. i treat my good bikes like camerons dad treated the ferrari on ferris bueller's day off. carbon bike on city bus rack???? you crazy mon...but hey, you've got two cervelos right?

tcarl

I use the bus racks here in St. Louis. Narrow tires fit OK. Having a front fender or a front rack makes it a little harder. The only time the bike next to me bumped was with a mountain bikes wide bars against my seat. Regarding theft I've always wondered about using one of those little cable locks with the 4 numbers you line up. If you have the numbers lined up before hand it would only take a second to put on, then only change one number and you could get it unlocked in an instant, yet a thief wouldn't know. I've never tried that though, and don't know what the driver would say or if he could really do anything about it. Regarding stability on the rack, some of the routes here use interstate highways. I've had the bike on the rack going down the highway at 60 and it was pretty stable.

WarLordZ

Wouldn't even go there

Seattle Forrest

Thanks, everyone.

I think I'll try this with the metal bike, on a shorter ride. If I decide to do it with the carbon bike after that, I'll probably get off if anyone else wants to put a second bike on the rack...

If only my friends didn't have better things to do than driving me and my bike around.

pdxtex

i use the bus bike rack all the time but only with a bike id also have no qualms with locking to a parking meter or a metal rack at the grocery store. the last thing im worried about however is the bike falling out of the rack. those things are burly. have home/renters insurance? its probably covered or could easily be if it happened. theft however is a definitely a reality on transit. i hear about bikes being stolen off racks and light rail frequently.

littleonion

I have this same fear. I just bought a brand new bike and the first time I looked at it I realized that it might be on the front of a bus this summer. I'm glad others have tried it without problems. My 20+ old Trek rode the front of the bus many times last year and I never had a problem. I'll be trying this with the new one in about a month.

icyclist 

Yeah, OP, I can see why you'd want to get out of town: you've got one measly mountain 75 miles away from the endless flatlands of downtown Seattle, and those crazy water courses to navigate around. Borrring!

My city is surrounded by, and shot through with, mountain chains and lots of hills. Not to mention it almost never rains and legally can't drop below 70 degrees during the day.

Taking the bus to a new location in Los Angeles would be a good idea, except it would take forever for the local bus system to deliver me to said new location. Taking a metro line might work, up to Pasadena or into the depths of the San Gabriel Valley, or even Amtrak south to Oceanside or San Diego for the day. Do you have any rail or light rail lines, Seattle Forrest?