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Feb. 16, 2018, 9:56 a.m.
brad-sedola
Posts: 2
Joined: Feb. 24, 2017
Re: Best roof rack for mountain bikes

Completely agree when there are bikes up there it totally kills mileage. This time of year, bikes on hitch racks get blasted with salt, sand, gravel. I saw somewhere that there are bike bags that are specially made to cover up the front wheel, rear wheel/drive train, with clear plastic centers so brake lights can be seen, but they are $300 US for each bike. I got the roof rack on a Ford Focus hatchback and the hitch rack on a Jeep Wrangler. Sadly, 2 bikes on the roof of the Ford reduces mileage to the point where 2 bikes on the back of the Wrangler makes them about equal for fuel consumption.

Feb. 15, 2018, 9:36 a.m.
brad-sedola
Posts: 2
Joined: Feb. 24, 2017
Re: Best roof rack for mountain bikes

I have the newer Thule Sidearms on my roof. Been deflating my fat bike tire to cram into the front over the last 2 years without issue. HOWEVER, 3 weeks ago on a 4 hour drive the front tire continued to deflate on me to the point where the hook had nothing to grab on to. Bike came off the roof rack at 120km/h. Luckily nobody ran it over nor did it go through anybody's grill. Tough bike though, all it needed was new bars, stem and grips.

I now add a toe strap to the front wheel as well as deflating the rear tire to the point where the stock strap works instead of relying on a toe strap.

That's what I get for using the wrong tool for the job.

I also gave up on continually removing the roof rails/towers from the car. I'll take the 0.5L/100km hit on the wallet vs. scratching up the door frames/roof.

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