another bike transport question
 

didnt want to hijack the honda crv thread. I just put a yakima roof rack on my roadmaster (son wrecked my truck and this is what I replaced it with). I have been keeping an eye out for a couple of used yakima raptor or similar rack but when reading the pdf instructions online it says, " DO NOT TRANSPORT BICYCLES WITH attached baby seats, panniers, wheel covers (this would be fenders?), full bike covers or motors." I have fenders on my bike and figured this could be a problem. Anybody have any experience with transporting one on top with fenders. Even if I used a model that required taking the front wheel off the fenders would still be on. It would be a big hassel to remove the fenders everytime I loaded the bike on the car. This will be for the 520. the OCR 3 will not be a problem. Any comments or suggestions?

Coy Boy

Have you looked into the non-hardware based fenders. I have some on my hybrid that lock into place with a lock strap that I can easily remove without tools and pull the fenders if I need to.

nope, I have these

http://biketiresdirect.com/productde...p?p=PBHRD&tn=0

and here is a pic. I guess the type you mention might be worth swaping over for. I could leave the rear one on I think? got a link to the type you are refuring to?

I have basically the same fender only they are the SpeedEZ version.

http://ecom1.planetbike.com/7016.html

Here is my bike:

http://www.jaxgtr.net/BFStuff/Trek 7300.JPG

so, i should thought ahead....the wife is gona love this. I may have to get those. I took me awhile to get mine mounted on and adjusted to where they dont rub (got the medium size that fits up to 700 x 35. Are the speedEZs easy to take on and off and do they not rub without a lot of fiddling?

PS good luck fixin the leaky roof tomorrow. we could sure use that rain up this way.

I had no issue with mine rubbing or making noise and I run 28's on this bike so I have lots of room. I did initially run a wire tie up front as I thought it needed something to stabilize it a little, but after rechecked it and after a little fiddling, I discovered that I did not line up the braces evenly, once I fixed that, it centered nicely and I no longer have to use the tie.

Edit to Add: I can pull both fenders off in less than 30 secs. Thanks for the good vibes on the roof. It doesn't look good from the attic side. Also on the rear fender, if you don't need to pull it, it does have a bolt you can install to hold in place if your bike has the capability in the seat tube. Mine did, but I did not use it.

How long have you had these? Might be able to see if you can exchange if you only have them a short time.

bout 6 months. I doubt it by now.

yea you right, probably not, but you might be able to sell them on ebay and offset the cost of the others. Check around, I found my EZ for $22 online. I think it was an Amazon seller.

I don't know if Yakima has anything similar, but my friend has a Thule Criterium because he has fenders. Doesn't have to remove anything to mount on the roof-rack. http://www.thuleracks.com/images/products/598.jpg

How long have you had the rack? I don't like roof racks, it's too easy to forget the extra height, and do some serious damage:eek::mad::cry:. Roof racks leave the bicycle fully exposed to the wind, generated by the motion of the vehicle, baby seats, panniers, and clip on fenders, or covers at highway speeds in excess of 80km/h (50MPH) could be torn off by the wind generated by the moving vehicle.

I doubt that even at 160km/h (100MPH) the wind could tear off a bolt on fender, but the rack makers legal department, probably doesn't want to differentiate. This is less critical with racks that are trunk, hitch or otherwise fastened below the vehicles roof level, as the bicycle is mostly within the vehicles airflow. If you just bought the rack at a LBS, maybe you should try and swap the rack for a rear mounted rack.

bout 2 weeks. I just bought it. but I'm keeping it. I need the rack for more than my bike since the truck is gone. Canoe for one. I already have a hitch mounted rack for the Isuzu Ascender. I agree that a rear mount is safer all the way around. Which movie was it where the Grizzwalls loaded up the station wagon to head to Wally World and right off the bat he backs out of the garage but forgets the luggage on top and scrapes it all off backing out? The first on I think. But my garage is full of junk so no danger on that front. drive troughs etc might bear watching. Oh and they make a bra that fits over the bike to protect it from wind and bugs but the ones I saw fit after removing the front wheel.

I have had and used a Roof mounted carrier for my bikes since 1988. One reason is some of my odd fit cycles with #1 being an Off-Road Tandem. These are obviously too long to mount on the back of the car or minivan. Please remember that this was before there were specialized (and expensive) Rear Tandem carriers.

My other odd fit cycles are my Recumbents. I only take those for short drives to the one trail head I enjoy, and have not had an issue with the width of the seat acting like a sail.

As to added maintenance, I have NOT seen an increase with having the bikes on the Top of a vehicle. I take care that if the bikes have gone through a rain shower, that they are checked over and lubed before any issues come up.

The ONLY damage I have ever seen is from a neglectful driver not paying attention to the added height , and cleaning off the bikes as stated. Knock on wood, I've never done this myself.

I think that this is a choice one makes when you have to transport many bikes. A Rack system is an investment, and one that can be transfered from car to car which makes good sense to me. If you have $500 invested in the Kids bikes, a grand or so in your MTB and then a few grand invested in the Tandem, then what is $400-500 invested in a rack that you can use for other things? My initial investment back in 1988 has paid off in many trips with the family transporting our bikes with us for use when we got to the final destination. I never once had a problem with theft or damage while transporting the bikes.

My .02 cents

There is one thing, measure the full height, vehicle plus rack, plus bike, now make up yourself a sign, that says "CAUTION: HEIGHT = height, WATCH FOR OVERHANGS" Where height is the actual height plus about 6". If your ever in Canada or Mexico heights are often given in metres, so include both us and metric measurements.

Not my idea, saw it in a natural gas bus, where the fuel tank was on the roof, knocking a bicycle off the roof, is a drag, knocking a tank with 300kg of compressed natural gas in it, off the roof, is a good way to get your name in the paper, of course after the explosion and fire, your lucky if your name isn't in the obits. :eek:

The wheel covers the warning is reffering to are those faux areo wheel covers that were somewhat popular in the 80s. Those can be hell in a crosswind. You will be fine transporting your bike with fenders.

I have transported bikes with fenders, BMX bikes with number plates, kids bikes, bikes plus roof boxes, bikes plus skis, etc. on my Yakima rack at highway speeds in all seasons for years and have never had a problem. I use a couple Yakima Raptor racks for the bikes and they have held up well. I have never even come close to wiping them off the roof as they make enough noise that I don't forget they are there, plus I am really attached to my bikes. The only thing that happens to the bikes is that they get splatted with bugs.
I also have a hitch mounted rack (Yakima Kingpin) so that I can carry more bikes or carry bikes plus a large roof box. I find with the hitch mounted rack the bikes get really dirty and it is much harder to get odd frame sizes (like BMX race bikes) onto the rack.

I use the Yakima Viper and transport my bike w/ the PB Freddy fenders all the time. The only problem is sometimes I have to make a slight adjustment to keep them from rubbing the front tire when I put the tire wheel back on.

the last three replies make me breathe a little easier. The wheel covers they refer to is now clearer. And obvious that a full bike cover would only be worse. I was concerned mainly because I have abserved a little distortion on the front fender when riding off the mountain at only 44 mph. I was white knuckling by this speed so didnt let myself get any faster... Hopefully I wont have to readjust them much. Maybe if I keep my speed under 55 mph it wont be a problem at all. Hard to do when traveling on an interstate.

I still like the idea of putting a note on my visor with the hight of my bike + 6 inches (and in metric) even though I doubt I will forget I have one up there either. Hopefully the noise want be too bad...

Very hard to keep it under 55 mph which is why I don't bother and drive normal highway speeds (70-80+ mph).

And definitely don't drive into any low garages or low hanging signs.