oronzous

Do the racks work well with 20" wheels?

Also, stupid question: When arriving to your stop, how do you make the driver aware that he has to wait for you to take your bike off the rack?

enigmaT120

I don't know about 20" wheels. Before you get off the bus remind the driver you need to grab your bike. The Salem buses have a sign to remind you to tell the driver.

Dahon.Steve

I don't believe the rack will work with 20 inch wheels. If you watch my video, you'll notice the arm that locks around the front wheel is designed for a 700 or 26 inch wheel. It would not wrap around a 20 inch wheel strong enough or not at all.

Telling the driver to wait for me to take the bike off is easy. I just tell him to "Please wait while I take my bike off" and then step in front of the bus. It takes me less than 10 seconds to remove the bike. In fact, if there are other passegers boarding after you get off, he may not have to wait for you at all.

ro-monster

Yes. I've put my 20-inch wheel bike in them. Our local transit agency's rules say the wheels must be 20 inches or larger. Be careful with your rear derailleur if you have one, though. With the smaller wheel diameter it can get pinched between the wheel and the bike rack, and could possibly be bent.

Here they will let another two bikes inside the bus when the rack is full (which happens fairly often), as long as the bus isn't too crowded. This is left up to the driver's discretion. But you're right, as bike-bus travel becomes more popular, the system will no longer work unless buses run every few minutes. I think they will eventually have to design new buses with more bike capacity on the inside of the bus and bike-friendly doors.

Roody

I just saw that my bus company is now replacing the double racks with triples. Demand is intense on some routes.

Student Biker

I'm sorry but I fail to understand what you mean by "it doesn't scale too well".

fietsbob

BMX bikes get along fine . hook pulls down of the to of a Bare Front tire. racks over the front wheel complicate things.

Dahon.Steve

In other words, the scale being two bikes per bus does not look good in the future as demand will become greater.

I find myself using the bike rack each weekend. The lightrail is great but I discovered it gets packed on the weekends. As a result, I often have to give up my seat frequently.

The bus is different because the bike on the rack gets in on ones way so I can keep my seat!

Dahon.Steve

This is good news. I'm glad you corrected me!

JamesEnglish111

I see BMX riders in my area use them all the time so they should...

I also go to the front of the bus a few minutes before my stop, and exit the front door so the driver knows.

El Cid

I've been there before, and I was always paranoid that the driver would leave with my bike. Never happened, though. If it was really busy, I made sure I was off the bus and out in front before the people finished leaving/boarding. And if it wasn't busy, I was pretty sure the driver would remember me and my bike.

The real question is...what are they gonna do when fat bikes get really popular?

Dahon.Steve

I highly doubt those bike racks that cost over 1K are going to be replaced anytime soon!

I really am enjoying the bike racks and took my bike on two of them last Saturday. It was geat total cost over $4.00 dollars and since I'm using a monthly bus card, those rides were free.

Roody

They might be replaced. My bus company replaced double racks with triple racks on all the buses this summer.

Ekdog

I've never seen one of those bike racks in my area, but it's just been announced that all intercity bus companies will be required to offer free Wi-Fi and will be equipped with either exterior bike racks, back and rear, or with an area in the luggage hold big enough to carry at least five bicycles. Cameras will be installed on the buses with external racks so the driver can keep an eye on the bikes and the cyclists as they put them on and take them off.

Great news.

Dahon.Steve

That really is good news.

Why put the rack on the back of the bus? This doesn't make sense because it's more dangerous for the cyclist since the camera may not work and quite frankly, the bus just may take off with your bike while trying to unlock it. Furthermore, does anyone really think the driver is going to run after the bike crooks who take your ride off the rack even if he deos see them on camera? Quite frankly, I think the whole process will take longer overall. Make sure you bring a cable lock.

Dahon.Steve

That's good news.

Someone created a post asking the question, how close the market is from your home. I never tried it but the rack gives me ability to go shopping 5 or 10 miles (or more) away. I've never tried it but it's nice to have this option.

After Hurricane Sandy, I had to ride 15 miles to find a working ATM machine. Now with the racks, that trip would be alot easier.

Ekdog

Good points. You might be right about the racks at the back not being a good idea. As the bus companies will be given more than one option, they may well opt for the most logical and least costly one, which it seems to me would be to set aside an area in the luggage hold.

I-Like-To-Bike

I've never seen a U.S. intra-city (metropolitan area) bus service that used buses with a luggage holding compartment. I also have never seen an inter city bus line that used bike racks. Two different transportation markets, I would recommend not confusing the two; no U.S. city/local bus service is going to go to baggage service in the foreseeable future for bikes or anything else that requires the driver opening/closing a baggage holding area.

Walter S

In Atlanta the inner city bus service is MARTA and they have bike racks on the front of the bus.

I-Like-To-Bike

Yes that agrees with what I posted; bus bike rack discussion is all about inner city /intra-metropolitan bus service such as MARTA, not Trailways/Greyhound and other inter-city service where baggage holding areas might be found on the bus.

Walter S

Sorry - I read an "inter" as "inner" and should not have posted that. I need to get my glasses checked!

enigmaT120

The busses I ride are sort of in between, connecting the various rural towns in Polk and Marion counties, and they have 3-bike racks. Not for fat bikes though. It's hard enough getting a 29er in one.

Maxillius

I think every CATA bus has racks and the few occasions I needed the bus the rack was full so people are using them. I don't have a clue about driver attitude apart from the annoyed look I get when I beat the bus to every stop. I swear they think bike riders should use the bus so they can get your money. I don't know how that makes sense, but it's the attitude they have.

Ekdog

I used the term "intercity."

I-Like-To-Bike

That you did, in a thread that was until your post, all about transporting bicycles on bike racks on intracity buses.