Rack questions

"Jeremy M. Dolan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello, r.b.tech! First post here, as I've just started
cycling somewhat seriously (~100mi/week) this year.

It's come time for me to do away with wedging my bike into
the trunk/back-seat for road trips. Especially as my last
attempt smashed up a cable ferrule so bad the whole thing
needed to be rerun. I was hoping a helpful soul could
steer me in the right direction for a rack.

I'm currently driving a '98 Plymouth Breeze, but
purchasing a sun-roof equipped '04 VW Golf soon. Does a
sun-roof pretty much rule out a roof rack? I've heard
varying reports.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Thanks for listening, and extra thanks for any info you
can provide.

/jmd

I saw this in nl.fiets (the dutch cycle newsgroup) A very
creative guy made his own mobile "in car" stand. I don't
know if it will fit, but I like it very much. He put
pictures online:

home.planet.nlfietsstandaard001.Open ↗
jpg home.planet.nlfietsstandaardOpen ↗
002.jpg home.planet.nlfietsstandOpen ↗
aard003.jpg home.planet.nlfietssOpen ↗
tandaard005.jpg

Good luck

hAr

"Jeremy M. Dolan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello, r.b.tech! First post here, as I've just started
cycling somewhat seriously (~100mi/week) this year.

It's come time for me to do away with wedging my bike into
the trunk/back-seat for road trips. Especially as my last
attempt smashed up a cable ferrule so bad the whole thing
needed to be rerun. I was hoping a helpful soul could
steer me in the right direction for a rack.

I'm currently driving a '98 Plymouth Breeze, but
purchasing a sun-roof equipped '04 VW Golf soon. Does a
sun-roof pretty much rule out a roof rack? I've heard
varying reports.

If a roof rack isn't practical, any recommendations on a
trunk rack that would fit on both cars securely? (Key word
being securely, I suppose). As far as my typical usage for
it, a fair amount of 75-80mph highway driving, with 90-95%
of the time only a single bike on the rack.

I know my local shop stocks the Saris Bones rack, and
a quick check of the "Fit Guide" on their web site
shows that it would work for both cars. Any opinions
on this one?

My current bike is an '04 Giant Cypress LX, if that
matters. I'm wishing I'd gone with a full road bike at
this point, but oh well. Gives me an excuse to buy a brand
new one next year, and something to look forward to.

Anything else I should plan on buying? Straps and the
like... I'd like to be using it on the highway on 4th-of-
July weekend, so I won't have a whole lot of time to debug
the whole mounting getup and order extra parts.

Also, what's the deal with elements exposure? I normally
try to wipe down my bike after any ride where it gets wet
or dusty. But every bike I see attached to a car is out in
the open, taking all of the rain, snow, sleet, and hail,
dust and dirt, at highway speeds. That CAN'T be good, can
it? Why don't people use some sort of dust/rain cover? Are
any available?

Thanks for listening, and extra thanks for any info you
can provide.

/jmd

If I was you, I'd keep doing what your doing until you get a
new car, and then figure out the best way to transport bikes
in the future. Besides strap-on rear racks, all other
methods require some investment in specializing a rack to a
particular vehicle. If your going to get a new car fairly
soon, why make that investment for such a short timeframe.

The safest way to transport a bicycle is inside the vehicle.
All other methods of carrying a bicycle have compromises.
All other methods leave the bicycle vulnerable to weather,
increased risk of theft and potentially damage.

That being said, it not always practical to stuff your bike
into a car. If it's on the roof you have the hassle of
lifting it onto a roof (some vehicles have very high roofs),
you measureably decrease your fuel efficiency and run a very
real risk of accidentally smashing your bike into a parking
garage ceiling (I'll admit I've done it once in the 20+
years of transporting bikes).

The rear strap-on racks are OK for the person who only
transports bikes occassionally. I have a neighbor who has
one of the Yakima strap-on racks and they would generally
decide not to cycle rather than go through the hassle of
attaching the rack.

Last year I got a trailer hitch put on my car, and went with
a hitch style rack (Sportworks TranSport model). So far,
life is good. Attaching or removing the rack takes about 1
minute vs. 10-15 minutes for a roof rack w/ 2 bikes. No more
worry about parking garages. Seems to be a bit more
areodynamic for slightly better gas milage. Easy to lift
bikes onto rack, and the Sportworks rack holds pretty much
any bike rock solid (they don't shift and bang into each
other). The negatives - it is possible to back your bikes
into something, or someone could hit you from the rear. The
other safety issue is that the bikes obstruct the clear
vision of your tail lights. Building an additional set of
tail lights into a rack would solve this problem, but I
don't know of any racks that have this feature (atleast in
the US). It might be worth getting a cheap trailer tail
light setup and mounting them to a rack.

Of course the best solution is to just ride your bike, and
not use the car at all.

In the Golf you can fold down the back seat and put two
bikes in the back. No rack worries and you don't risk a rack
failure at highway speeds.
-------------
Alex

Here's another vote for the hitch rack...

I got a rack that has a 1.24" foot, and an adapter for the
2" foot, so I can put it on my car (Honda Civic) or the
family truckster (Nissan Pathfinder). Sure, I would not
leave the bike on there for any duration while not in sight
of it (I have been known to take it off the rack, and bring
it into restaurants and the like, and leave it at the coat
rack.) but if there are situations where you can't keep it
inside the car, this, INHO is the best bet. No big lifting
onto the roof (or forgetting it when you pull into the
garage) and trunk racks tend to screw up the paint on the
car, whether from the rack, straps/hooks, the bike itself,
or just you being clumsy. Plus multiple bike hitch racks are
really handy (did an endurance race with a friend, and
between the two of us, we had 3 bikes and a driver for us -
none of this change a tire if you flat, just grab a new bike
(thankfully we didn't need it, but it felt nice knowing it
was there ;-)

"rosco" <reverse-the-following"ocsor_g"@hotmail.com> wrote
in message -"]news:[email hidden]-
rthlink.net...

Quoted message said:

"Jeremy M. Dolan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello, r.b.tech! First post here, as I've just started
cycling somewhat seriously (~100mi/week) this year.

It's come time for me to do away with wedging my bike
into the trunk/back-seat for road trips. Especially as
my last attempt smashed up a cable ferrule so bad the
whole thing needed to be rerun. I was hoping a helpful
soul could steer me in the right direction for a rack.

I'm currently driving a '98 Plymouth Breeze, but
purchasing a sun-roof equipped '04 VW Golf soon. Does a
sun-roof pretty much rule out a roof rack? I've heard
varying reports.

If a roof rack isn't practical, any recommendations on a
trunk rack that would fit on both cars securely? (Key
word being securely, I suppose). As far as my typical
usage for it, a fair amount of 75-80mph highway driving,
with 90-95% of the time only a single bike on the rack.

I know my local shop stocks the Saris Bones rack, and
a quick check of the "Fit Guide" on their web site
shows that it would work for both cars. Any opinions
on this one?

My current bike is an '04 Giant Cypress LX, if that
matters. I'm wishing I'd gone with a full road bike
at this point, but oh well. Gives me an excuse to buy
a brand new one next year, and something to look
forward to.

Anything else I should plan on buying? Straps and the
like... I'd like to be using it on the highway on 4th-of-
July weekend, so I won't have a whole lot of time to
debug the whole mounting getup and order extra parts.

Also, what's the deal with elements exposure? I normally
try to wipe down my bike after any ride where it gets
wet or dusty. But every bike I see attached to a car is
out in the open, taking all of the rain, snow, sleet,
and hail, dust and dirt, at highway speeds. That CAN'T
be good, can it? Why don't people use some sort of
dust/rain cover? Are any available?

Thanks for listening, and extra thanks for any info you
can provide.

/jmd

If I was you, I'd keep doing what your doing until you get
a new car, and then figure out the best way to transport
bikes in the future. Besides strap-on rear racks, all
other methods require some investment in specializing a
rack to a particular vehicle. If your going to get a new

car

Quoted message said:

fairly soon, why make that investment for such a short
timeframe.

The safest way to transport a bicycle is inside the
vehicle. All other methods of carrying a bicycle have
compromises. All other methods leave

the

Quoted message said:

bicycle vulnerable to weather, increased risk of theft and
potentially damage.

That being said, it not always practical to stuff your
bike into a car.

If

Quoted message said:

it's on the roof you have the hassle of lifting it onto a
roof (some vehicles have very high roofs), you measureably
decrease your fuel efficiency and run a very real risk of
accidentally smashing your bike

into

Quoted message said:

a parking garage ceiling (I'll admit I've done it once in
the 20+ years of transporting bikes).

The rear strap-on racks are OK for the person who only
transports bikes occassionally. I have a neighbor who has
one of the Yakima strap-on racks and they would generally
decide not to cycle rather than go through the hassle of
attaching the rack.

Last year I got a trailer hitch put on my car, and went
with a hitch style rack (Sportworks TranSport model). So
far, life is good. Attaching or removing the rack takes
about 1 minute vs. 10-15 minutes for a roof rack

w/

Quoted message said:

2 bikes. No more worry about parking garages. Seems to be
a bit more areodynamic for slightly better gas milage.
Easy to lift bikes onto rack, and the Sportworks rack
holds pretty much any bike rock solid (they don't shift
and bang into each other). The negatives - it is possible
to back your bikes into something, or someone could hit
you from the rear. The other safety issue is that the
bikes obstruct the clear vision of your

tail

Quoted message said:

lights. Building an additional set of tail lights into a
rack would solve this problem, but I don't know of any
racks that have this feature

(atleast

Quoted message said:

in the US). It might be worth getting a cheap trailer tail
light setup

and

Quoted message said:

mounting them to a rack.

Of course the best solution is to just ride your bike, and
not use the car at all.

Roof racks look cool but you risk serious damage if you
drive into your garage with bike still on. It happens.
People I know make sure they put the garage door opener in
the back seat or trunk whenever they have the bikes on top.

Trunk racks, where they contact your car's paint will
eventually leave a mark no matter what kind of pads
they have.

Hitch mounts are a good alternative if your car is amenable
to installation of a hitch.

I have a license plate mount
bdiracks.combdiplate.htmlOpen ↗ rack which works
pretty well but I only use it with one bike. Its best
features are easy mounting and removal of rack and lack of
contact with you car's finish except for the rubber-coated
hook that attaches to the lip of your trunk. It does have a
receiver (like a mini-hitch) that always remains attached
to your license plate backing plate. I use a velcro strap
to tie the front wheel to the downtube to immobilize the
front wheel.

"Ian S" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:yQGCc.20$Dp.10@fed1read04...

Quoted message said:

Roof racks look cool but you risk serious damage if you
drive into your garage with bike still on. It happens.
People I know make sure they put

the

Quoted message said:

garage door opener in the back seat or trunk whenever they
have the bikes

on

Quoted message said:

top.

If we have them on top, we put the door opener in the glove
compartment. The problem with us wasn't with our own garage.
I bashed them into a parking garage, and my wife did the
same on another occasion. Luckily, the racks took the brunt
of the impacts, and the bikes weren't fatally damaged (new
headset on one bike and a new front wheel on the other).

We have a close friend who also wacked her bike into a
parking garage on two different occasions. In her case
the bike didn't fare so well. She doesn't put them on the
roof anymore.

Yakima use to have an accessory called a Load Alert which
was a magnetic backed spring loaded sign that would pop-up
when you slowed down to about 5 mph. You could place it on
your hood and have it serve as a reminder that you had stuff
on your roof. Don't think they make it anymore.

On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 03:36:41 GMT, "rosco"

reverse-the-following'ocsor_g'@hotmail.com said:

"Ian S" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:yQGCc.20$Dp.10@fed1read04...

Quoted message said:

Roof racks look cool but you risk serious damage if you
drive into your garage with bike still on. It happens.
People I know make sure they put

the

Quoted message said:

garage door opener in the back seat or trunk whenever
they have the bikes

on

Quoted message said:

top.

If we have them on top, we put the door opener in the glove
compartment. The problem with us wasn't with our own
garage. I bashed them into a parking garage, and my wife
did the same on another occasion. Luckily, the racks took
the brunt of the impacts, and the bikes weren't fatally
damaged (new headset on one bike and a new front wheel on
the other).

We have a close friend who also wacked her bike into a
parking garage on two different occasions. In her case
the bike didn't fare so well. She doesn't put them on the
roof anymore.

Yakima use to have an accessory called a Load Alert which
was a magnetic backed spring loaded sign that would pop-up
when you slowed down to about 5 mph. You could place it on
your hood and have it serve as a reminder that you had
stuff on your roof. Don't think they make it anymore.

Dear Rosco,

Yakima may not make the Load Alert any more, but these guys
still claim to sell it:

usoutdoorstore.comistar.aspOpen ↗
url=%2Fistar.asp%3Fa%3D3%26dept%3D05%26class%3D07

Carl Fogel

rosco said:

"Ian S" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Roof racks look cool but you risk serious damage if you
drive into your garage with bike still on. It happens.

Quoted message said:

If we have them on top, we put the door opener in the
glove compartment. The problem with us wasn't with our own
garage. I bashed them into a parking garage, and my wife
did the same on another occasion.

After risking the same fate, once, I devised a wholly
different concept.

After removing the front wheel, I lay the bike horizontally
onto two wooden slabs tied to the roof rack and I secure it
with a couple of elastic straps. The slabs have indentations
just where the seat post, the stem and the left crank arm
lean on it; to prevent any scratching at points of contact,
three chuncks of rubber hose cut lengthwise and placed
around the aluminum parts do the job.

A tandem bike? You need only arrange an extra indentation at
the correct spot.

Two bicycles? You need to have three slabs and to place the
bikes 180 degrees out of phase.

Front wheels? Anywhere you like.

Sergio Pisa

Looks pretty scary to me.

Why not make your own, for <$30 in parts (if you have a
Class II receiver). One-inch square tube fits perfectly in
the receiver.

All the benefits of a rear hitch: on-off in seconds, no
overhead worries, bike in the low-pressure area behind
vehicle, etc.

... but absolutely no contact with the car's bodywork. This
hitch FIELD TESTED to well in excess of posted speed limit,
and the bike mounts/dismounts with one click.

home.mindspring.com~pennstarOpen ↗

Bernie (remove numerals to Reply)

"Ian S" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:yQGCc.20$Dp.10@fed1read04...

Quoted message said:

Roof racks look cool but you risk serious damage if you
drive into your garage with bike still on. It happens.
People I know make sure they put

the

Quoted message said:

garage door opener in the back seat or trunk whenever they
have the bikes

on

Quoted message said:

top.

Trunk racks, where they contact your car's paint will
eventually leave a mark no matter what kind of pads
they have.

Hitch mounts are a good alternative if your car is
amenable to

installation

Quoted message said:

of a hitch.

I have a license plate mount
bdiracks.combdiplate.htmlOpen ↗ rack which works
pretty well but I only use it with one bike. Its best
features are easy mounting and removal of rack and lack of
contact with you car's finish except for the rubber-coated
hook that attaches to the lip of your trunk. It does have
a receiver (like a mini-hitch) that always remains
attached to your license plate backing plate. I use a
velcro strap to tie the front wheel to the downtube to
immobilize the front wheel.

"Jeremy M. Dolan" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

Hello, r.b.tech! First post here, as I've just started
cycling somewhat seriously (~100mi/week) this year.

It's come time for me to do away with wedging my bike into
the trunk/back-seat for road trips. Especially as my last
attempt smashed up a cable ferrule so bad the whole thing
needed to be rerun. I was hoping a helpful soul could
steer me in the right direction for a rack.

If the seats in the Golf fold flat (I think they do),
sliding the bike inside should be easy. Keeps your bike out
of the elements and safe from sticky fingered people.

Quoted message said:

I'm currently driving a '98 Plymouth Breeze, but
purchasing a sun-roof equipped '04 VW Golf soon. Does a
sun-roof pretty much rule out a roof rack? I've heard
varying reports.

I had a '82 Audi, 4 door sedan with a sun roof. The Yakima
roof top rack worked fine. The car was an absolute POS
except for the sunroof, which I loved. I think it depends on
the individual car/rack combo. Also, you might be able to
slide the sunroof back into the car roof, but not pop the
trailing edge of the sunroof up for fresh air when it rains.
The nice thing about a roof rack is that you can still
access the trunk easily, a rear end collision won't hurt
your bike, and most good roof racks can be fitted with a
variety of accessories (skis, kayaks, luggage boxes, etc.),
and you can use the bare cross bars to transport furniture,
lumber, and other stuff that won't fit inside.

Quoted message said:

If a roof rack isn't practical, any recommendations on a
trunk rack that would fit on both cars securely? (Key word
being securely, I suppose). As far as my typical usage for
it, a fair amount of 75-80mph highway driving, with 90-95%
of the time only a single bike on the rack.

A roof rack with a bike or two will increase your fuel
consumption, possibly reduce your high speed acceleration,
and possibly reduce your high speed hill climbing ability.
Travelling at these speeds will also sandblast your bikes
paint job. I've taken to putting the bike inside the car for
long trips at these speeds.

Quoted message said:

Also, what's the deal with elements exposure? I normally
try to wipe down my bike after any ride where it gets wet
or dusty. But every bike I see attached to a car is out in
the open, taking all of the rain, snow, sleet, and hail,
dust and dirt, at highway speeds. That CAN'T be good, can
it? Why don't people use some sort of dust/rain cover? Are
any available?

Colorado Cyclist (www.coloradocyclist.com) has a dust cover
or about $30. HTH,
--
mark

"baltobernie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Looks pretty scary to me.

Why? If you're referring to the license plate mount, it's
solid as a rock because the single strap hooked to the lip
of the trunk lid transforms cantilever forces into shearing
forces at the bolts attaching the receiver to the backing
plate for the license plate. I have no problem with its
stability at 75-80 mph on the Interstate. I have modified
mine slightly to keep the rear brake cable running under my
top tube from beingpushed into contact with the top tube
when the bike is resting in the rack. This was not an issue
with my previous bike. I have used this rack for 6 years. It
takes less than 30 sec to put the rack on the car and
another minute to secure the front wheel to the down tube
and secure the bike to the rack.

Quoted message said:

Why not make your own, for <$30 in parts (if you have a
Class II

receiver).

Big if. The part (Class II hitch) alone for my Audi A4 is
$250. Still, if anyone already has a trailer hitch on their
vehicle, then a hitch mounted rack is a great way to go.
However, I have noticed quite a bit of motion on some of
these hitches. Whether that's the rack design or improper
attachment of the rack and/or bike, I don't know. If I had a
pickup truck, I'd probably use a mount that fits in the
pickup bed.

I would also add that my license plate mounting
rack/receiver assembly is easy to remove completely and
transfer to a new vehicle. The same cannot be said for the
trailer hitch/rack combination.

"Ian S" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:x9_Cc.15737$rn1.14246@okepread07...

Quoted message said:

"baltobernie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Looks pretty scary to me.

Why? If you're referring to the license plate mount, it's
solid as a rock because the single strap hooked to the lip
of the trunk lid transforms cantilever forces into
shearing forces at the bolts attaching the receiver to the
backing plate for the license plate. I have no problem
with its stability at 75-80 mph on the Interstate. I have
modified mine slightly to keep the rear brake cable
running under my top tube from beingpushed into contact
with the top tube when the bike is resting in the rack.
This was

not

Quoted message said:

an issue with my previous bike. I have used this rack for
6 years. It

takes

Quoted message said:

less than 30 sec to put the rack on the car and another
minute to secure

the

Quoted message said:

front wheel to the down tube and secure the bike to
the rack.

I guess it depends upon the make and model of the vehicle
its used on. I suspect that auto design engineers do not
take loads of this magnitude into consideration when
designing license plate bracketry. The torsional forces
should be particularly huge; 70 mph of wind blowing on a
30" lever!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Why not make your own, for <$30 in parts (if you have a
Class II

receiver).

Big if. The part (Class II hitch) alone for my Audi A4 is
$250. Still, if anyone already has a trailer hitch on
their vehicle, then a hitch mounted rack is a great way to
go. However, I have noticed quite a bit of motion

on

Quoted message said:

some of these hitches. Whether that's the rack design or
improper

attachment

Quoted message said:

of the rack and/or bike, I don't know. If I had a pickup
truck, I'd

probably

Quoted message said:

use a mount that fits in the pickup bed.

No question; if you don't have a hitch, this is an expensive
proposition. And yes, there is some rocking motion on my and
similar hitches. The small amount of clearance necessary to
easily slide the hitch into the receiver translates into an
inch or two at the tips. I suppose I could minimize this
with two bungee-like cords, but that would defeat the quick
on-off feature I so like. BTW, another benefit is my ability
to lock the hitch to the car, but drilling out the clevis to
accept a small padlock in lieu of the cotter pin. Then it
becomes a simple cable lock of the bike to the rack. No, I
wouldn't leave a C40 on one overnight in Camden, but it's
great for a lunch stop.

I like the pickup mount scheme, too. But nothing is as
amusing as watching folks drag a stepstool or two out of
an Excursion, and wrestle one or more bikes seven feet
into the air!

"baltobernie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Ian S" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:x9_Cc.15737$rn1.14246@okepread07...

Quoted message said:

"baltobernie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Looks pretty scary to me.

Why? If you're referring to the license plate mount,
it's solid as a

rock

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

because the single strap hooked to the lip of the trunk
lid transforms cantilever forces into shearing forces at
the bolts attaching the

receiver

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

to the backing plate for the license plate. I have no
problem with its stability at 75-80 mph on the
Interstate. I have modified mine slightly

to

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

keep the rear brake cable running under my top tube from
beingpushed

into

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

contact with the top tube when the bike is resting in
the rack. This was

not

Quoted message said:

an issue with my previous bike. I have used this rack
for 6 years. It

takes

Quoted message said:

less than 30 sec to put the rack on the car and another
minute to secure

the

Quoted message said:

front wheel to the down tube and secure the bike to
the rack.

I guess it depends upon the make and model of the vehicle
its used on. I suspect that auto design engineers do not
take loads of this magnitude

into

Quoted message said:

consideration when designing license plate bracketry. The
torsional

forces

Quoted message said:

should be particularly huge; 70 mph of wind blowing on a
30" lever!

Except that those torsional forces are transformed by the
strap attachment into shear forces where the attachment
bolts meet the license plate mount. It's quite ingenious
actually - and I'm an engineer not easily impressed. There
isn't a trace of deformation around my license plate. That
said, I think the execution in this product leaves a bit to
be desired especially how the bike is secured to the rack.
That's why I've made a few minor mods in that area.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Why not make your own, for <$30 in parts (if you have
a Class II

receiver).

Big if. The part (Class II hitch) alone for my Audi A4
is $250. Still,

if

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

anyone already has a trailer hitch on their vehicle,
then a hitch

mounted

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

rack is a great way to go. However, I have noticed quite
a bit of motion

on

Quoted message said:

some of these hitches. Whether that's the rack design or
improper

attachment

Quoted message said:

of the rack and/or bike, I don't know. If I had a pickup
truck, I'd

probably

Quoted message said:

use a mount that fits in the pickup bed.

No question; if you don't have a hitch, this is an
expensive proposition. And yes, there is some rocking
motion on my and similar hitches. The

small

Quoted message said:

amount of clearance necessary to easily slide the hitch
into the receiver translates into an inch or two at the
tips. I suppose I could minimize

this

Quoted message said:

with two bungee-like cords, but that would defeat the
quick on-off feature

I

Quoted message said:

so like. BTW, another benefit is my ability to lock the
hitch to the car, but drilling out the clevis to accept a
small padlock in lieu of the

cotter

Quoted message said:

pin. Then it becomes a simple cable lock of the bike to
the rack. No, I wouldn't leave a C40 on one overnight in
Camden, but it's great for a

lunch

Quoted message said:

stop.

My rack locks into the receiver with a special locking pin
(included) and there is a hole on the rack that I have put a
locking cable through to lock the bike to the rack. Still,
like you, I wouldn't trust it much past a lunch stop.

Quoted message said:

I like the pickup mount scheme, too. But nothing is as
amusing as

watching

Quoted message said:

folks drag a stepstool or two out of an Excursion, and
wrestle one or more bikes seven feet into the air!

My back aches just thinking of it. I know my back
wouldn't take it.