Roof rack for recumbents

DIscuss anything relating to non-standard cycles and their equipment.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by [XAP]Bob »

100mm OLN, so the ‘non driving’ wheel - check that there is appropriate clearance with that wheel removed (you get about a 4” bonus from the rack etc.

Take the seat off and stow internally. Should be good to go
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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Cunobelin
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by Cunobelin »

They work

The only thing that you have to be careful of is the wheelbase..... Some recumbents have a distance that means you cannot secure both front and rear of the bike


I remember the guy in Halfords as I went back three times with three different recumbents to check they fitted!!!!
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Their confusion atbjust one bent is normally hilarious, for them to see three different styles...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Tangled Metal
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by Tangled Metal »

I've asked the retailer in that link for the maximum wheelbase their fork mount racks accept. IIRC the streetmachine has 1.04m wheelbase. Actually it's not much longer than my road bike (largest sized planetx London Road) I think. Although I couldn't find the wheelbase of my bike so based it on a similar type of bike (genesis cda or cdf IIRC).

I know my Halfords frame support rack easily fits my upright with a lot of extra adjustment for length of the support tray if needed. Only £15 each too, or was it the £30 ones? Unfortunately the horizontal frame of the bent doesn't fit with the angle of the support or actually inside the grip of the support arm.

I think the fork gap is the same as an mtb bike at 100mm. It has a bluemels guard on it, would that get in the way do you think? I reckon the downwards angle of the bike with the wheel out would rotate the bottom edge of the guard away from the rack a little, perhaps enough to work. Any views on that?

Corrected ridiculous wheelbase figure from 2.1m to the 1.04m listed on hpvelotechnik website. I thinl that makes it into normal bike territory for the roof mount racks. I think the 2.1m could have been overall length of the bent with the boom in the right position.

Reminds me, I need to book it in for a check over by a bike mechanic I know. Plus a lengthening of the boom, chain and cable inners. It's about an inch or two too short when fully pushed it as far as it will go with chain and cable. Plus I need the gears adjusted better than I can do with the amount of free time I have lately.
Last edited by Tangled Metal on 13 Feb 2018, 8:49pm, edited 3 times in total.
Tangled Metal
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by Tangled Metal »

Just checked the photograph of the bent and the guard easily clears a line from the centre of the fork dropouts to the bottom of the back wheel. That's not an issue.

I think I need a half hour drive to Tebay to check out the roof box company and try a rack or two. They offered to get a few out of the stores to try if I popped up. I think £80 isn't too bad fit a rack.
roubaixtuesday
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by roubaixtuesday »

I used to put an M5 'bent on the roof using a standard Thule rack.

It was a few years ago, don't recall details but it wasn't problematic. It's possible a little bodging was involved.
PDQ Mobile
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Tangled.
Many conventional roofcarriers could be adapted to carry SMGT.
The securing bars just need to be a little longer to reach the frame tube. Steel tubing is cheap and easily available. A vice will flatten an end.
The frame clamp needs to be large though, a small 531 sized one won't fit.

The front wheel out option is ok too I guess. Though you will change the angle that the seat back rest pushes into the air and make wind resistance, and strain on the rack, greater.

FWIW, with my conventional "wheel on" extended rack I leave the seat and "air flow" mesh on for shortish journeys but remove it on long ones.
I also remove one or the other if rain is threatening!!
Tangled Metal
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by Tangled Metal »

Foam on the seat, I'll be removing it no matter what. Not an issue with airflow then.

Just got length of fork racks back, longest is 135cm so the recumbent will fit.

The frame of the bent is very big compared to uprights. There's very few frame mounts that'll work. I think there's a Thule and another brand that do a large hook that clamps down on a tube. Unfortunately not height adjustable down low enough. Plus cables, chain tubes, seat brackets etc don't give many places with clearance to grip onto.

I could bodge (using workplace kit as I don't have the tools or workshop) but the risk of producing something that's not really safe is high. I know ppl who've picked up roof racks and kit from the middle lane of a motorway after it all came off. Risk of that is low but I've read at least one failed frame fit rack in the last year.

The bent has front shock forks that look sturdy and I reckon it's OK for fork fit rack. Seat and front wheel off too. In fact the retailer supplies with wheel bag too.
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NUKe
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by NUKe »

You have considered the logistics of lifting the bent on and off the roof?
My own car is too tall, but I think I would be hard pressed even with a normal hieght car, to lift and hold the hopper whilst I secured it. I know you are tall, from your other posts., which will make it easier, but they are still quit cumbersome.
NUKe
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Tangled Metal
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by Tangled Metal »

No harder than existing bikes. Mine is light enough but my partner's got a very robust mtb that's actually a pain for me to get up there. There's not as many handholds. The recumbent without front wheel and seat isn't as heavy or doesn't feel as heavy. It also seems better balanced to me.

I have a tall car already. Roof is about eye level for me but I've got good balance so can lift bikes above my head and step up onto the door sill. Once one wheel was on the tray I free up a hand and use the bars for support.

Having said that, I would certainly prefer to fit it inside a car or van. I don't like rear mounts of any kind as well. Hitch mount would be better for my partner but they're all frame mount which doesn't work with my bent. Plus I am not sure the length will work without extending beyond the sides of the car. Wheelbase is similar to my bike (xl size) but the front boom extends a lot more. Even reduced to its shortest it's long. Plus fitting a seat is bad enough, add in adjusting beam length after each journey.

As I said I'm fussy, but it's worth sorting out right because I'll be using car and bent a lot given the chance.
PDQ Mobile
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by PDQ Mobile »

Tangled Metal wrote:The frame of the bent is very big compared to uprights. There's very few frame mounts that'll work. I think there's a Thule and another brand that do a large hook that clamps down on a tube. Unfortunately not height adjustable down low enough. Plus cables, chain tubes, seat brackets etc don't give many places with clearance to grip onto.

I could bodge (using workplace kit as I don't have the tools or workshop) but the risk of producing something that's not really safe is high. I know ppl who've picked up roof racks and kit from the middle lane of a motorway after it all came off. Risk of that is low but I've read at least one failed frame fit rack in the last year.

All you need is a carrier that has a separate (plastic?) clamp moulding at the top.
IMHO hook type less useful than a simple pinch type.
You can then use a longer pinch bolt if necessary, though obviously the clamp must be big enough. Plenty mountain bikes with large tube diameters.
Then a couple of steel pipes to the clamp head, cut to perfect length, and drilled through for the long bolt.
The channel ends of the cut to length tubes are flattened in a vice and again drilled to form the swinging pivots.
Mine has carried SMGT many many miles across continents.

The extra tube length does not compromise using the rack on a conventional bike either- fits fat tubes without issue just clamps higher up onto the down tube.
Smaller diameters require a turning of the clamp head on the bolt - the moulding has two sizes. It's a very big plus to be able to carry any bike.
Tangled Metal
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by Tangled Metal »

Read on the HPV website that fork mounted carriers put undue strain on the bike. Something about dropouts or forks. Although I can't see how it's much different than upright bikes on that track. So do I really want to go against the designer's recommendation?
Tangled Metal
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by Tangled Metal »

I've got back pinch mount rack the end bolt has a pivoted bolt that's not replaceable. The pinch area is too short to go around the boom and there's not enough gap between various parts of the frame and components to allow such a pinch mount to attach.

Right in the middle of the frame there's various seat brackets welded to the main boom. Bolted on chain pulley, etc.

I looked at the Thule hook mount and that looked like it was closest to fitting but when I saw one on a car in a carpark once I realised the hook was too big.

The boom is a 2" diameter underneath the seat. A lot of pinch mount racks don't have a big gap between the two bolts. Deep in the sales blurb you often find the maximum tube diameter or size if it's not round. Usually a bit shy of 2" IIRC especially when your take into account they're designed for pinching onto a diagonal tube not a near horizontal one that's so close to the rack. The arm has to be used at an acute angle making the effective diameter that it's usable on a lot less.

The hook type ones could work if the bar they're on adjusts down far enough. Need to check that. Also the hook might hold it even if it's hooking onto a set of brackets, perhaps.
Tangled Metal
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Re: Roof rack for recumbents

Post by Tangled Metal »

Just been playing around with my £30 Halfords roof carrier. The pinch clamp would fit the frame at one point a little bit behind the USS bars and in front of the seat brackets. The gap between the bolts fits without much of a gap and the bolts opened up right to the ends will allow the clamp around the main boom. The only issue is the clamping arms are too short and they only just come up around the front wheel and mudguard.

So I know a pinch clamp would work if the arm is long enough.

Does anyone know if there's any long clamp arm carriers out there?
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