Who lost their bike on the M66 today?

[Globalti]

About level with Ramsbottom, at 08.00, looks like it came off a car heading north as I was in stationary traffic heading south.

This is why I transport bikes INSIDE the car, safe from theft, damage and road salt.

 

[PeteXXX]

Someone I knew lost two bikes, and the bike carrier, on a main dual carriageway.

On the other hand, she gained 3 points on her licence, and a £60 fine.

 

[Drago]

Alas, my car is barely big enough to contain me, never mind a bike!

I've picked up too many bikes off the carriageway over the years to ever risk those godawful strap things that clip to the boot and rest on the glass of all things. First sign of warm weather and 2 things would happen - elderly drivers in the heat would kark it, and rear windows would break and bikes would get squashed.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I was in stationary traffic heading south.

No change there then

 

[Globalti]

I can get 3 bikes + 3 adults inside my car and I've had 4 bikes + 2 adults + 2 kids inside. Far far safer than on the roof or the boot.

People on mountain bike forums complain that they've been driving around with their bike displayed like a trophy on the roof, then been followed home and burgled later.

 

[fossyant]

Roof bars, 4 bikes and 'sometimes' speeds in excess of 70 mph. Never had any problems.

 

[fossyant]

On my own, bike in boot. Family, then 4 on the roof, 4 in car plus luggage. Modern MTB's are big beasts, more than two, you are looking at a large MPV or estate at a push. Many MTB'ers go for vans !

Road bikes are a doddle to get in a car, much smaller.

 

[Drago]

People on mountain bike forums complain that they've been driving around with their bike displayed like a trophy on the roof, then been followed home and burgled later.

Attribution is the problem there. The mere act of riding a bicycle in public is sufficient to let other people know you own one.

I've a Smart Fortwo, so barely have room for a spare tube, I use Smarts own - and blummen painfully pricy - bike rack, which sits behind the car and bolts directly to the cars structure though 2 apertures in the back bumper. I would never use anything with straps, no matter how stylish it may be, or what clever name it gets given. Similarly, I don't want anything inside the vehicle with the capacity to cause injury in a collision, or impede my extraction - I have been hit by another car, rammed off the road into a ditch where the car came to rest on its side, and had to be extracted by Trumpton out the tailgate window - that might have been awkward with a Giant full squidger there, always assuming the Giant full squidger hadn't seriously injured me.

 

[byegad]

I've had two bikes on the back of an old style Yaris for an 800 mile each way holiday. The carrier fitted onto a towbar, to me this is the only safe way to carry bikes on the back of a car. I did used to carry bikes on a strap-on type of carrier, but not at speed on motorways.

 

[Drago]

Remember as well that sustained high speed can be sufficient to actually blow grease out of headset bearings very effectively. Seen it with my own eyes more than once. You can get neoprene boots that velcro round them, some of my fellow trainers tie rags around them instead. One chap made his own pboots out of sections of old inner tube, which actually looked pretty neat. I prefer just to keep the speed down a bit.

 

[Globalti]

When I moved back to the UK and started mountain biking in 1988 I decided I needed a roof rack for the new mountain bike. First trip out to the Dales, I looked up through the sunroof and was alarmed to see how much the bike was flopping around. It took some time for the penny to drop and for me to realise that when driving around alone in the car I could equally well fold the seats and hide the bike inside under a tarp, where it wouldn't get blasted with salty spray, stolen, damaged or fall off. Sometimes it takes a leap of imagination for people to realise things like that. The same thought strikes me when I watch those RNLI rescue programmes and you see dog walkers stuck on beaches with the tide coming in - they are so tied up in their predicament that they haven't even considered climbing out the back of the bay and walking back home, although of course sometimes the cliffs are steep and most people don't go climbing.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Attribution is the problem there. The mere act of riding a bicycle in public is sufficient to let other people know you own one.

I've a Smart Fortwo, so barely have room for a spare tube, I use Smarts own - and blummen painfully pricy - bike rack, which sits behind the car and bolts directly to the cars structure though 2 apertures in the back bumper. I would never use anything with straps, no matter how stylish it may be, or what clever name it gets given. Similarly, I don't want anything inside the vehicle with the capacity to cause injury in a collision, or impede my extraction - I have been hit by another car, rammed off the road into a ditch where the car came to rest on its side, and had to be extracted by Trumpton out the tailgate window - that might have been awkward with a Giant full squidger there, always assuming the Giant full squidger hadn't seriously injured me.

Amazing, but I know a big guy can fit in a Smart, a fellow from the corporate moving crew and I both fit in one on display at one of the offices, as a lark. Plenty of room for both, and a briefcase. I and he are both about 275 pounds and 6'3". I used to drive a Mitsubishi Lancer, deceptively large inside. Now have a Nissan Murano, a regular Panzerkampfwagen of a car. Just put the bicycles in the back.

 

[briantrumpet]

I've had two bikes on the back of an old style Yaris for an 800 mile each way holiday. The carrier fitted onto a towbar, to me this is the only safe way to carry bikes on the back of a car. I did used to carry bikes on a strap-on type of carrier, but not at speed on motorways.

First time I used the tow-bar rack, I was amazed at how little buffeting the bikes got (£10k's worth of bikes on a £200 car), and it's very comforting to be able to see them in the rear-view mirror. Have done 1000's of miles on motorways now with it.

 

[mgs315]

I better not say I’ve had just over a ton out of my Alfa with two £2kish bikes strapped to the back then?

I really do go to town strapping it all down mind. Usually loop some of the extra strapping round things like the rear window wiper too. Last minute check at the petrol station before hitting the motorway as well.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

First time I used the tow-bar rack, I was amazed at how little buffeting the bikes got (£10k's worth of bikes on a £200 car), and it's very comforting to be able to see them in the rear-view mirror. Have done 1000's of miles on motorways now with it.

I have one of these. The bikes are not buffeted around much because the car forms a aerodynamic tunnel (or whatever you call it) protecting the bikes, the fuel consumption is not really affected other than extra weight (no increase in the height of the car hitting the air). My rack holds 4 bikes. I always put the heaviest bike nearest the car and the lightest furthest from the car reducing hanging weight. My only issue was the plastic straps used to attach the bikes to the car. When the weather got colder, they snapped. Fortunately, this happened when I was putting the bikes on the rack before driving anywhere. I now use canvas webbing straps which are very secure. I can also use my D-Locks where one lock will secure two bikes to each other and the rack.