cbr2702

Last night I tried to take my roadster on one of boston's busses. The bus had one of those bike racks on the front designed for two bikes. I'd never used one before, but it was raining and I was sick of the weather and willing to pay bus fare. The rack was pretty self explanatory: you pull it down flat, lift your bike up, then pull a hook over the front wheel to hold it in place. Turns out roadsters don't fit. My bike has a pretty long wheelbase, 47" or 48" hub to hub, and when combined with 28 inch wheels that's just a few inches longer than the track that the wheels need to sit in.

So after the driver of the bus finished being annoyed at me I got back on my bike. Beat the bus home.

sailorbenjamin

Someone posted a funny picture, I think it was at RatRods.com of one of those stretched lowrider bikes sticking about 2 feet out the side of the bus and the bus driver laughing.
I had a ladies roadster for a while that had to be hung upside down on the rack on the back of my car cause the usual places at the top of the frame were too far apart. Kind of hard to explain.

Veloria

That is good to know. They probably don't fit Dutch bikes and Pashleys either.

fuzz2050

They fit my touring bike with 48mm chainstays. But just barely.

jamesj

one time i decided to ride my 3 speed to work and take the bus, cause it was humid out... he yelled at me through the glass cause i could not figure out how to life the rack since i was the last one to take my bike off... he wouldn't even show me how... he just kept lifting his arm up in the air... i never rode the bus again...

cbr2702

Just thinking about the math: the wheelsize doesn't actually matter. The problem was the length of the track, which needed to be longer than the hub to hub distance. I could have put 20" wheels on and it still wouldn't have fit.