I thought I'd report back on my first experience of using the trike rack from SeaSucker as when I looked all the reviews where from the US. Utah Trikes have a short review on their YouTube channel.
First off a warning. This is expensive with a full retail price of €490. (SeaSucker do a DF rack for a far more reasonable £120). Although, Swinnerton Bikes is showing it for £320 on special order. When I wanted one, there were none I could find anywhere in Europe and I had to wait for SeasSuckers European distributor in Hungary to receive a shipment from the US. For speed I ended up paying full retail as I wanted to avoid hiring a van or estate to pick up my new trike.
So why did I buy one? VW consider my Phaeton too 'posh' to take a roof rack. I have used a towbar rack with my Street Machine but the car is already too long to fit in some parking spaces.
The rack arrived in a box about the size of two shoe boxes. Easy to store in the garage or even keep in the boot.
Fitting the rack and trike on the car is straight forward. The two front holders have a hook which go through the front wheel and a further velcro strap. These are best put on each wheel (one holder faces frontward and the other backward) before lifting the trike on the roof. The rear holder is a simple velcro strap and can be put on the wheel once on the roof. This may make lifting the trike onto the roof easier as the wheel can touch the car before being in the final position.
Fixing the holders is a simple matter of taking off the protective plastic caps, moistening the rubber cup (a tub of wet ones is very hand for this and ensuring the car surface is clean) and then pumping the air out. This is a few pumps of the thumb until a white band no longer shows and there is sufficient vacuum. I've tried attaching the holders to a cupboard and can attest that it takes a lot of force (they claim a 100kg) to break the seal - I just ended up lifting the cupboard.
Below you can see the trike on the roof at the start of the journey (Black Panther you may recognise this as once your Trice). As I was going on the motorway, I took the seat off although I don't think I'd bother in future for cross town trips. I did coward out and before setting off added a strap around the frame and through the car windows. This did nothing to hold the trike steady but in case of a catastrophic failure should have kept the trike on the roof somewhere!
A 130 mile trip home wasn't the most relaxing way to test the rack. Had a vision for settinh the trike world speed record by launching it in reverse on the M1. There was a lot of anxious glances up through the sunroof for the first 30 miles until I could stop at a motorway service station and confirm no vacuum pressure was lost. SeasSucker have a promotional video showing a bike going round the track on top of a NASCAR race car but the instructions in the box say not to exceed 75mph. This probably sounds a lot faster to their US customers than someone used to travelling on UK or other European motorways. I drove steadily without fierce acceleration or braking (other idiots allowing) but it did stand up to real world UK motorway speeds.
When I got home, there was no white band (showing less than maximum vacuum pressure) on any of the holders. The rubber cups have a small 'lip' or tab which can be pulled up to easily break the seal. Second best news was that I got the trike off the roof and the rack put back in its box in about 10 minutes. One of my reasons for wanting the rack was to be able to make 5-10 mile short trips out of central London to where I could peddle without stopping constantly for junctions and traffic and not spending ages getting the car & rack set up etc.
Pros :
-quick to set up and put away;
- small storage space required in the garage or boot;
- no fuss to use on a hire car or friend's car (get a lift somewhere nice and cycle back opportunity)
Cons:
- the price !!
- again the price !!
- not as easy to lock the bike to the rack if stopped. SeaSucker do a metal ring which the window or boot lid
can be closed on and used to for a cable lock to attach to. This wouldn't meet my bike insurance requirements but would probably stop an opportunist thief at petrol stations. Think I would still be nervous at a motorway service station.
Don
First off a warning. This is expensive with a full retail price of €490. (SeaSucker do a DF rack for a far more reasonable £120). Although, Swinnerton Bikes is showing it for £320 on special order. When I wanted one, there were none I could find anywhere in Europe and I had to wait for SeasSuckers European distributor in Hungary to receive a shipment from the US. For speed I ended up paying full retail as I wanted to avoid hiring a van or estate to pick up my new trike.
So why did I buy one? VW consider my Phaeton too 'posh' to take a roof rack. I have used a towbar rack with my Street Machine but the car is already too long to fit in some parking spaces.
The rack arrived in a box about the size of two shoe boxes. Easy to store in the garage or even keep in the boot.
Fitting the rack and trike on the car is straight forward. The two front holders have a hook which go through the front wheel and a further velcro strap. These are best put on each wheel (one holder faces frontward and the other backward) before lifting the trike on the roof. The rear holder is a simple velcro strap and can be put on the wheel once on the roof. This may make lifting the trike onto the roof easier as the wheel can touch the car before being in the final position.
Fixing the holders is a simple matter of taking off the protective plastic caps, moistening the rubber cup (a tub of wet ones is very hand for this and ensuring the car surface is clean) and then pumping the air out. This is a few pumps of the thumb until a white band no longer shows and there is sufficient vacuum. I've tried attaching the holders to a cupboard and can attest that it takes a lot of force (they claim a 100kg) to break the seal - I just ended up lifting the cupboard.
Below you can see the trike on the roof at the start of the journey (Black Panther you may recognise this as once your Trice). As I was going on the motorway, I took the seat off although I don't think I'd bother in future for cross town trips. I did coward out and before setting off added a strap around the frame and through the car windows. This did nothing to hold the trike steady but in case of a catastrophic failure should have kept the trike on the roof somewhere!
A 130 mile trip home wasn't the most relaxing way to test the rack. Had a vision for settinh the trike world speed record by launching it in reverse on the M1. There was a lot of anxious glances up through the sunroof for the first 30 miles until I could stop at a motorway service station and confirm no vacuum pressure was lost. SeasSucker have a promotional video showing a bike going round the track on top of a NASCAR race car but the instructions in the box say not to exceed 75mph. This probably sounds a lot faster to their US customers than someone used to travelling on UK or other European motorways. I drove steadily without fierce acceleration or braking (other idiots allowing) but it did stand up to real world UK motorway speeds.
When I got home, there was no white band (showing less than maximum vacuum pressure) on any of the holders. The rubber cups have a small 'lip' or tab which can be pulled up to easily break the seal. Second best news was that I got the trike off the roof and the rack put back in its box in about 10 minutes. One of my reasons for wanting the rack was to be able to make 5-10 mile short trips out of central London to where I could peddle without stopping constantly for junctions and traffic and not spending ages getting the car & rack set up etc.
Pros :
-quick to set up and put away;
- small storage space required in the garage or boot;
- no fuss to use on a hire car or friend's car (get a lift somewhere nice and cycle back opportunity)
Cons:
- the price !!
- again the price !!
- not as easy to lock the bike to the rack if stopped. SeaSucker do a metal ring which the window or boot lid
can be closed on and used to for a cable lock to attach to. This wouldn't meet my bike insurance requirements but would probably stop an opportunist thief at petrol stations. Think I would still be nervous at a motorway service station.
Don
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