Car roof carrying

sjs
Posts: 1362
Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 10:08pm
Location: Hitchin

Re: Car roof carrying

Post by sjs »

rjb wrote: 2 Sep 2024, 7:39pm Think outside the box and you can come up with several solutions and ideas. I used to transport our tandem on an aluminium ladder by clamping the front forks in a threaded bar attached by an offset to the rungs, positioned so the rear wheel sat between a pair of rungs and seecured with a toestrap. I could slide the ladder onto the roof bars and secure them with more toe straps. We travelled thousands of miles with it held securely. The weight on the roof was noticeable especially when high speed cornering or in windy conditions so no rallying around roundabouts. :wink:
Image
Couldn't resist posting this old video:

JD_bike_rider
Posts: 4
Joined: 3 Sep 2024, 4:47pm

Re: Car roof carrying

Post by JD_bike_rider »

Stating the very obvious...but as someone who has twice had their pride and joy driven into an overhead barrier (I wasn't driving either time!)...be careful! Very easy to forget.

The advantage of a titanium bike is that both times it's only been a carbon fork replacement with the frame completely fine.

This has justified the towbar installation option for me!
Jdsk
Posts: 27804
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Car roof carrying

Post by Jdsk »

JD_bike_rider wrote: 13 Sep 2024, 6:20pm Stating the very obvious...but as someone who has twice had their pride and joy driven into an overhead barrier (I wasn't driving either time!)...be careful! Very easy to forget.

The advantage of a titanium bike is that both times it's only been a carbon fork replacement with the frame completely fine.

This has justified the towbar installation option for me!
A very useful reminder. I once got close on a ferry but stopped in time.

Jonathan
jimster99
Posts: 353
Joined: 18 Jun 2012, 7:00pm

Re: Car roof carrying

Post by jimster99 »

Also worth noting that a roofrack costs you a massive amount in extra fuel (potentially 20-30% loaded, 5-10% unloaded). Towbar racks extract a much less ridiculous premium.

See e.g. https://www.consumerreports.org/fuel-ec ... l-economy/

If you're just doing a one-off trip unlikely to tip the balance in favour of tow bar racks, but if going to be a regular thing, potentially something to consider.

Also as already mentioned do not underestimate the likelihood that you could smack the bikes into something low hanging like a tree, bridge or garage roof. Everyone thinks this won't happen to them...until it does.
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