Securing the bike to a bike carrier. Advice and tips please?

[KneesUp]

Am I the only one who takes the pedals off when putting bikes on a carrier, so you can put them closer together (if more than one) and so there is one less thing to scratch the car?

 

[mjr]

I have a Civic hatch. We're working with quite different sized boots!

Now try my glorified Punto! Two bikes and people will go in but you can't take much luggage.

 

[mjr]

....and one I haven’t seen mentioned. Slide a piece of cardboard under each of the metal clips which attach the frame to the car. If you don’t your paintwork will chip. I know!!!!

My hooks are coated with rubber. Was your rack cheap?

 

[mjr]

Am I the only one who takes the pedals off when putting bikes on a carrier, so you can put them closer together (if more than one) and so there is one less thing to scratch the car?

The distances between the bikes are fixed by the attachment points to the rack on mine, so there's no point doing that.

 

[mjr]

Somebody I used to know used to drive around with valuable mountain bikes on a boot rack and one day on the M6 the rear-most bike came adrift and fell off, still held on by the wheel straps so the handlebar scraped along for a few miles before they realised. By the time they stopped the bar had been neatly ground down to half way through the brake fluid reservoir.

How rarely do they check their mirrors?

 

[furball]

When I used a tailgate rack I put a child's plastic shoe over the pedal closest to the car to make sure the pedal didn't made contact with the car.
I don't think I ever strapped the bike up the same way twice. I always used additional foam coated metal bendy things to stop the wheels from spinning.

 

[fossyant]

Bikes on the roof here. Always done so. If a car run's into the back of me, at least it's the car and not the bikes that gets mangled. No issues other than shocking fuel efficiency over about 60 mph.. ahem. Keep the speed down with 4 MTB's on the roof. Looking at a big people carrier next, maybe ?

 

[Globalti]

I once followed a Golf down a Lakes pass that had two bikes on a boot rack, high up over the rear window. The driver was braking hard and suddenly the rack fell off depositing both bikes on the road in front of me. I stopped and between us we worked out that the weight of the bikes had loosened the straps enough for them to come unhooked from the hatch. The couple looked inexperienced and the bikes and rack were brand new.

 

[rivers]

We've got a rack that attaches to the boot, similar style to the OPs. My wife bike goes on first as it's massive and easier to get all the way to the back, then my winter bike (my summer bike is a) too small to fit on the rack and b) doesn't come on holiday anyway as it never leaves my sight when out on a ride). Both front wheels get secured with the strap that came with the rack. Then I have 4 bits of bungy that get looped through various bits of the frames and wheels to secure it to the rack. We nearly lost my bike one day when one of the securing straps on the rack let go. It was still attached by the front strap and the wheels. Hence the bungy. It's pretty solid now and the bikes aren't going anywhere.

 

[mjr]

I once followed a Golf down a Lakes pass that had two bikes on a boot rack, high up over the rear window. The driver was braking hard and suddenly the rack fell off depositing both bikes on the road in front of me. I stopped and between us we worked out that the weight of the bikes had loosened the straps enough for them to come unhooked from the hatch. The couple looked inexperienced and the bikes and rack were brand new.

For that to happen, the lower straps probably weren't tight enough. My rack's instructions say to stop after about 3km and retighten them, which I do.

Anyway, people can do anything badly. Shall I regale you with tales of bikes on roof racks with support clamps not tightened or in the backs of vans unsecured?

 

[Black Sheep]

....and one I haven’t seen mentioned. Slide a piece of cardboard under each of the metal clips which attach the frame to the car. If you don’t your paintwork will chip. I know!!!!

bit of felt like fabric does the job nicely also

 

[Katherine]

Well, the bike is on the car. Mr K has decided to ignore all your suggestions that I passed on but he's happy that everything is strapped up really tightly. There's just a bit of old car mat cut down to wrap around the inside pedal and chain rings.
Fingers crossed!

 

[mjr]

Whose bike is it anyway?

 

[Katherine]

Whose bike is it anyway?

His car.

 

[mjr]

His car.

Maybe, but the bike's clearly more important