Bike rack or no?
- Thread starter ghetto waggon
- Start date
ghetto waggon
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- 2003 Protege5, Yellow.
i thought about it, but i see cars with hitches and i figure they might as well be woody vans with bikes hanging from the back. Not to mention I scraped the s*** out of the back of my old car with the pedals that moved around.
I always thought a roof mount bike rack looked sporty, but I guess, sporty in a different way(dunno)
I always thought a roof mount bike rack looked sporty, but I guess, sporty in a different way(dunno)
i agree it does look sporty -- but in my case i just didnt want to put the bike on top because with my luck i would slip and get a nice peddle scratch down the whole side 
and with the hitch rack i have -- the bikes are no where nere the car -- no scratches -- so i vote my 2 cent -- i dig it
and with the hitch rack i have -- the bikes are no where nere the car -- no scratches -- so i vote my 2 cent -- i dig it milmoejoe said:
redwagon02
Member
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- '08 F150 FX2 screw - '06 G35 coupe - '06 GSXR600
looks sporty? yell yeah!
The car looks good the way it is (with the racks).
I have a similar setup (Yakima Q-Towers, 2 copperhead trays, ski mounts in the middle). It may be me, but it looks like your rear towers are a little too far forward. I diligently followed the fit guide with a tape measure, and here's the result:
Right now, i'm keeping the racks off because of the wind noise. Even with the fairing, it's a bit much for me. The car came with a hitch (previous owner), so i'm considering getting a hitch mount rack instead. The only catch is I don't want to leave it on the car (you DON'T want to get hit on your hitch mount rack), and all the designs seem to bolt to the hitch instead of using a quick release setup. Still reserching it...
I have a similar setup (Yakima Q-Towers, 2 copperhead trays, ski mounts in the middle). It may be me, but it looks like your rear towers are a little too far forward. I diligently followed the fit guide with a tape measure, and here's the result:
Right now, i'm keeping the racks off because of the wind noise. Even with the fairing, it's a bit much for me. The car came with a hitch (previous owner), so i'm considering getting a hitch mount rack instead. The only catch is I don't want to leave it on the car (you DON'T want to get hit on your hitch mount rack), and all the designs seem to bolt to the hitch instead of using a quick release setup. Still reserching it...
Canadian roof racks
There are more pics, I couldn't post them last night. Bloody computer crashed again.
These are my racks via Canuck style
Here is a close up of the feet that go into the next photo
A little tough to see, but there are 2 slots on each of the car.
There are more pics, I couldn't post them last night. Bloody computer crashed again.
These are my racks via Canuck style
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how did you get the wrong one? if you go to their website, yakima.com I believe, you can follow the links and it will tell you exactly what you need for your car....I think its a set of q towers(4), 2 bars, locks, if you want them, and a set of mounting clips, q102's I think......I had a yakima rack on my subaru, and when I got the p5 I just had to get new q102 clips and the old rack fit right on the p5.....the clips were only 22$ a set too, so it worked out good.....also, actually read the instructions, they give you measurements and you can pretty much put the whole rack together in your house, then bring it to the car and tighten it down....it was really easy......yakimas are a good rack..if you have a downhill bike I would get a cobra rack, its the only one that holds the big tires without taking off the front wheel(rockon)JV'sP5 said:
I actually had a discussion with him about this awhile ago. it seems that Yakima updated their fit-specs at some point. initially they advised to mount the rear towers the same distance back as they recommended for the sedans... Neither way is wrong, just the more stretched-out method is a bit more stable.dolanh said:
As far as my personal opinion, I REALLY like the looks of racks on cars, but perhaps that's just what I'm predisposed to... lets me know It's my kind of ppl.. And first and foremost it's about function. Hell I didn't eve have my car in my posession for 2hours when I had my rack up on it. I used to get PISSED when yuppiues came into the shop wanting to buy a yakima rack, and then when you asked what they wanted to carry, they'd just stand there looking confused... And of course, they'd balk at dropping near-$300 just to get crossbars and a fairing for their $40,000 car...
With the hitch-mount. There are some quickish release options out there. Yakima makes a ratcheting-threaded-pin style thing that's got a built in lever and works fairly quickly. Lockable though as well, so ppl don't go "quick releasing" it for you. Some other companies just use a simple pin-style setup thoughinstead of a threaded one, those should be fast enough. None of them really fit snugly, though. especialyl if it's a 1-1/4" reciever. those straightup scare me...
Asfor QR20's or thru-axles, Hurricane makes an adapter, it's prettymuch a tube welded to a pair of dropouts.. Works quite well. Let me warn against the cobras. I had one for awhile, it was nice, and easy to use and such, but My bikes kept "rocking" their way loose. Nomatter how hard you tighten those little bastards down, they'd inevitably be loose when I stopped. Most of that was just with my #24 XC bike, too. Scared me toomuch to put on anything bigger than my #33 slalombike... The way it's designed, I don't really think anything would ever actually come flying off the roof, just rock back and fourth alot, which never sat well with me. 2cobras and a copperhead for me...
Poseur said:
LOL -- are you sure you don't live in San Francisco? You'd be shocked at the number of Audi Allroads around here with rail riders and crossbars and no mounts. I still can't figure it out... why have a rack on your car if you're not gonna carry anything?
Also, I see loads of people leaving their Yakima ski mounts (on round crossbars) pointing straight up all year around instead of folding them down flush with the roof -- this drives me nuts. I have to resist the urge to go fold them down myself and save a few gallons of gas for future generations.
But then again I see people buy Hummer H2s with 20 inch chrome spinners, so I guess logic has nothing to do with it.
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LOL.....yes, the rocking.....I guess I never notice it being in the old car without a sunroof, but last year some of my teammates and I helped build the NH state race courses.....we went up early in the year to start cutting a course, and tried to drive up the mountain acess road...it was muddy and rutted, and my buddies were in a full size chevy 4x4 behind me...we couldnt make it too far due to mud and snow, and when we turned around to go park back in the lot, they came running up to my car and said my bike was rocking back in forth like this(nana) ......they said it was rocking back and forth like a foot in each direction, and they were pretty much horrified.......with that said, I never had a problem with it, but now it scares me.....been trying to think of another alternative that can hold a 55lb custom cromo dh bike....taking the front wheel out of the front fork is a major b**** so I am hoping to keep a rack that doesnt require taking off the front wheel..Poseur said:
redwagon02
Member
- :
- '08 F150 FX2 screw - '06 G35 coupe - '06 GSXR600
Yes, those were the intial specs I got from Yakima 2.5 years ago. Never had a problem with those measurements so I just left them at those specs.dolanh said:
I dunno on the upright mount thing. I've had every version of them, and they've always sorta made me leary... I think that Anklebiters were honestly the sturdiest, but then you had to listen to everyone telling you "hey dude, you're bike's leaning" Plus for anything full DH bike-sized, if you've got a high bb with short cranks, goodluck. Not to mention they don't like Profiles thatmuch. I actually made a mount for a friend of mine once. it wasn't lght, but It held a bike without swaying at all... We just used angle-iron and a cheap welder... put one piece that sat on top of the bar, and strapped down on the ends with pipe-clamps (could use Yakima mighymounts as well, but he preferred the ghetto approach) From there one piece went straight up, about 14" tall, and then one went back to hold the wheels. Essentially it mimics a truck-bed you then take a couple of straps to the end of each handlebar and crank 'em down. Loop something around the rear wheel to keep it down and you're good.
Fortunately I got out of DH, and then I got a Nice HT, and haven't looked back at suspension... A buddy of mine actually started up a frame company, and he's a Slalomracer/DJ fiend. worked out well for me. <img src=http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10867&stc=1> Actually, if any of your are interested. He's in Yakima, WA and will do custom anything as well. Works primarily in steel, but he's setting up for ALU. Building himself a XC HT right now and I'm hoping to get a new Roadbike from him soon.
Andyea, as far as H2's... believe it or not, the blingblingers spread uphere aswell... Don't evne get me started on the senseless SUV's... that or everyone thinking they need a F250 atleast for their commute to work. But damn a H2 with JUSt 20's they must get laughed off the road, You needta be rollin atleast 22's if they're spinners and like 26's straight-up if you really wanna be a balla, right? And here I am, annoyed with the mileage I get...
Fortunately I got out of DH, and then I got a Nice HT, and haven't looked back at suspension... A buddy of mine actually started up a frame company, and he's a Slalomracer/DJ fiend. worked out well for me. <img src=http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10867&stc=1> Actually, if any of your are interested. He's in Yakima, WA and will do custom anything as well. Works primarily in steel, but he's setting up for ALU. Building himself a XC HT right now and I'm hoping to get a new Roadbike from him soon.
Andyea, as far as H2's... believe it or not, the blingblingers spread uphere aswell... Don't evne get me started on the senseless SUV's... that or everyone thinking they need a F250 atleast for their commute to work. But damn a H2 with JUSt 20's they must get laughed off the road, You needta be rollin atleast 22's if they're spinners and like 26's straight-up if you really wanna be a balla, right? And here I am, annoyed with the mileage I get...
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Many people actually need an SUV or truck for work / huge families. But, when I say many, 1% of the population of the US is "many" people.Poseur said:
These monster SUV's piss me off too...until I pull up next to one at the gas pump and get the last laugh.
Threadjack over. Sorry.
I've got a few friends who have 3/4tons for work, but they ALL also have scooters they roll around when they're not on the company$ As far as families go... What the hell is wrongwith minivans??? Those things are DOPE anymore... And really, for that matter, 4ppl and gear fit more comfortably in my car than my friends' Pathfinder... *GRR* alright... It's not our fault everyone's stupid. Notmuch we can do either aside from pay more and more $ for the resource that they're contributing to the premature-depeltion of.
I actually bought the ankle biter before the cobra, because they said that the anklebitter would hold any bike.....well, not so....I couldnt get any of the three bikes to work on it, the mount that went around the crank wouldnt even fit over a crapy xt crank, and those arent even the kind I use....I brought the rack back to the place I bought it, and they couldnt seem to get it to fit anything but stuff with very skinny cranks....so I was stuck with the cobra or a fork mount, which I didnt want to get into....Poseur said:
oh and its funny that you have a friend who makes custom racks and lives in Yakima...could be confusing......I also have a friend who is now making killer frames out of cromo and am thinking about getting out of dh too...
http://bustedspoke.com/photo.php?ct=6&pk=3081
http://bustedspoke.com/photo.php?ct=6&pk=2904
http://bustedspoke.com/photo.php?ct=6&pk=2900
heres some pics of his work...sorry for the link and not actual photo, I gotta run(bike)
Actually I made the rack myself, the friend just makes bikes. Yakima DID start here in some dudes garage, though then they moved to Cali. Butyea, get outta dh and get a good HT man, it's amazing, mine made bikes fun to me again. DH got too hairy and just plain consiming. COme to thik of it with my anklebiter I was running nothing but RaceFace at the time... Here's more on Simple Bike Co. http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=15620&highlight=simpleMonsterB said:
