egnarobyrd

I just got an Electra Daisy for my birthday, and I want to take it on the bus to get to work sometimes. The trouble is, it's a pretty big bike and doesn't fit too securely on the front rack. How much should I trust those things? The back tire will squeeze in just enough, and the hook thing comes over the front tire, but it is a little wobbly.

Does anyone have experience taking a big bike on a bus?

mangosalsa

When you put it on the rack, the front swing arm can seem a bit weak at first. I always put the hook over the top of the tire and then rock the bike a little to make sure the spring inside the hook is strong enough. I've only had 1 issue where the spring was broken in the hook-arm [?] and the bike leaned away from the bus when the driver applied the brakes. She stopped so that I could put it on the other rack, and she wrote down her info in case anything was wrong with the bike.
If you are paranoid, you can carry a bungee cord and wrap it around the hook and tire.

kihu

If your bike is long, like it kinda sounds like from your description, try turning your bars around when you load it on the bike rack. This shortens the distance between the front and back and will make it fit into the rack easier. You'll just have to try it to see if it will work with your particular bike and the rack but it probably will.

sonatageek

I have a longer touring bike that I took on the bus for the first time (other bike is a mountain bike with slicks) and I had to lift the back wheel a little to get the bike settled in and to get the swing arm an on and off the front wheel.

Mauriceloridans

I have not used a bus rack but this thread makes me wonder whether a full fendered bike is compatible with the hook you describe. I hope it is not an issue because my cascadias ain't coming off.

J B Bell

I've never had a problem with front fenders and the hook-type bike rack.

Front rack, now, that can be an issue . . .

CB HI

On a rainy day, the hook arm walked it's way down my front slick tire until it no longer supported my bike, almost lost the bike. I always now take a toe strap and loop it around the hook arm and fork, so that problem can never happen again. It also fixes the problem of a weak spring in the hook arm.

Joker021971

A bus driver recently told me that it was "use at your own risk" when I asked him if he'd ever had one fall off. Of course, the only reason I asked the question was because he wanted me to check my bike since the other bike had just been taken off and mine was a little wobbly as a result. It's always a little nerve wracking watching my baby sway up there, but I've never had a problem on several bus rides.

On a seperate note, I like to U look my tire when I put up it up there. Afterall, I am in Fresno and I don't want someone running off with my bike. I'm a little paranoid, I admit.

JCFlack

I have a folder with 16 inch wheels. The first time I used the bus bike rack, I followed the directions, but the wheel was too small for the hook. The bike looked like it was about to fall off. The bus driver was gruff but kindly stopped, and I watched him move the hook over the top tube behind the handlepost. Worked like a charm, so now I do it that way too. Not that I bus my bike very often.

xenologer

Yeah, I hate those bike racks, always makes me nervous.
The fact that my bike is also heavier than average bugs me too; somehow I suspect those racks were designed with 'bikes as toys' in mind...mine's always the only one on the rack with actual cargo capacity, and always the biggest.

I usually wedge that support arm Under the front end of my fender, hope that this helps keep it from wiggling around.

Other annoyances...
when the bus driver insists that I take my patch kit/tools out of my milk crate; seriously I have that stuff tied down and it's not going anyplace...

And when there are 6 bikes that want to get onto the bus, yet the racks only hold 3.
I kinda wonder what the future is going to be like for that, since more people are likely to ride and use public transport as oil dissapears...

Barrettscv 

I've had this happen also. I now attach a bungie cord from the hook arm to the bike frame to keep it in place. I also run a second cord from the base of the bike carrier to the seat rails to keep the bike from bouncing on every bump.

Michael

benda18

I commute daily rain/shine/snow via bike/bus, and i also work for a transit agency that has had bike racks on buses for the last 2 years. my comments:

1. Our agency has never had a single bike fall from a bike rack that i know of. (700 bus trips daily)
2. I've never had a problem with any rack i've used, even when the rack isn't in the best condition.
3. the "hook arm" shouldn't slide along the tire in the rain as long as you secure it as close as possible to your head tube.

Good luck

edit:

trust the rack. your bike will rarely ever look or feel secure, and it will bounce all over the place when the bus is in motion, but the chances of it falling off are very very slim, if any.