Roof Racks

pkienert said:

Hello ladies,
Am considering a roof rack for my bike and was just curious to know how many of you think I might be insane! 😄

Wouldn't mind building upper body strength to get the wheels up there but am worried that even that might not be enough. I'm 5'6".

Thanks,
Paula

depends what kind of car you drive! my husband has a roof rack on his car - a subaru outback - so it's a little higher than a car but shorter than my explorer and I can get my bikes up on the car (I'm 5'2"😉. but I cannot get HIS bikes on the car because they weigh too much.

View the effort as part of your training regimen. Do a few push-ups. We should all be strong enough to put a single bike (w/o the front wheel) on the roof of a normal size passenger car. OK, at least a normal bike. Is your BF's bike a sherman tank of a bike?

Roof racks are great. Get one like the Yakima steelhead (or Thule equivalent). Do not get one keeps on the front wheel. The steelhead is rock solid and the bike doesn't take unplanned excursions off your car at freeway speeds -- I've seen the others allow for some major remodeling to both bike and car.

I recommend wrapping each wheel in an old towel to protect the spokes when you store in inside the car. The wheel mounts are a pain in the neck.

We travelling zillions of miles on long road trips and have never had a problem.

I have an 86 Escort which is tall for a car (but not like an SUV LOL). I have no problem lifting even my heavier MTB on the roof. Truth be told I fought the roof rack idea but didn't like putting the bike in the car (no security for items in the parking lot when the back seat is down) and once I started loading my 65 lb kayak by myself, all arguments went out the window.

You can do it! 🙂

Diane