MK1 Bike Rack

[stu4u3]

Originally Posted by 328FTW

Bike rack amidoinitrite?

http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/res...Civico_494.jpg

HAHA! That is the most jimmie rigged thing I have ever seen. What a loser!

[efx]

Well for the purpose of testing, I move/shake the rack before I drive to make sure nothing moves. The tire is tied with the strap if you look at it closer. So for our testing, I decided to drive like mad on the turns just to see how this bike held this time. Actually this bike held much better than the mountain back, which is heavier and looks weird when mounted since it doesn't have a straight frame like this one does. All in all, I think people thought I was nuts driving like I was with the bike on the back, but I had to prove that it worked. The bike didn't even flinched, so this bike is lighter, but it also depends on your mounting. If you get lazy, yeah, you will have problems. I like to make sure everything is on there nice and tight so I can drive as if it wasn't there. All in all, no problems other than me being sore and out of shape. Oh yeah and the only thing touching is the tire rubber which doesn' t hurt anything since I tied it. I also move the mounts a bit more away from the car to make sure the fram doesn't touch the car. Although I still would like to have a roof rack, I got this one so it's no big deal. The only down side here is that you have to keep mounting/dismounting it. Take your time and drive like a normal person and you should be fine. I gone on the freeway with my mountain bike before so far it holds up pretty good. There are some others that are pretty cheaply made so you should also take that into consideration. Mine is pretty sturdy, then they came out with a crappy one after mine. If anyone else is looking for one, I just saw a Thule that also looks pretty sturdy at a bike shop like two days ago. So you may also want to check those out. I have no idea what Yakima has now since I bought this one a few years back but have only used it like four or five times.

Originally Posted by stu4u3

^^^ Man... doesn't that front wheel flop around when driving - hacking up your bumper or spoiler? You need a top mount rack.

[bassman54]

Originally Posted by efx

Here are the pictures of my rack as promised. I usually use it for the mountain bike but since I'm way out of shape I thought I start locally again on regular roads. I started putting this one together last summer but didn't ride it. It was one of my older brothers bike. Interestingly enough, you don't get the same drag you get with the mountain bike. I don't feel anything with this bike on it which is really nice. Stays put nicely too. So the more I use the rack the better I get at installing it and taking it off the car.

Oh yeah, I bought this one a while back and this is for 3 bikes. I think I've only had two on it, but three would be pushing it on the weight I think. It's usually just mine so it works well for me. And this was taken when I got there so my straps stay where I put them. I don't let them fly all over the place. The first ride is brutal when you haven't gone out for way too long. Other than me losing my breath a few times, the bike worked great without any problems after cleaning and lubing a few things on it.

http://www.mr2.com/forums/images/smilies/rolleyes2.gif

Nice! That's about as good as it gets on a small coupe like ours. The key like you said is tight straps, then make sure there's no movement when you wiggle it, and strap the front wheel. I used a similar rack on my '82 Supra for years with no problems.

Efx, when I lived in L.A., I did group rides with the L.A. Wheelmen, a great club. Marriage and moving east changed all that, so now I ride when I can, and I'm always trying to get BACK in shape

[efx]

I hear you...thanks for the info. I'm way out of shape to ride with anyone. I can barely make it around a few long blocks, but I didn't know about the wheelmen. Sounds like fun.I finally figured out how my derailer works. I took off the rear wheel to clean everything, but the cable housing was gone so I had to get something back on there. Everyone told me that if I opened the cassette it would be useless after that since all the bearings would fall out. I took them all out carefully and cleaned and oiled the whole thing back up, works fine. The more they told me it couldn't be done, the more curious I got, so bought the tool to take it off. The guys at one store tried to help me take it off, but they were not able to, finally figured it out and it was the easiest thing ever.

Someone gave me a piece of brake housing which I know is different (5mm for brakes and 4mm for derailer for those who don't know), but I also got the metal caps there now which I like better and so I had to figure out how to adjust that thing. People told me it wouldn't shift right, and on and on, but it works great now. Took me forever, but got it shifting on all gears now so that was brutal learning it, but it's easy once you figure it out. I just sat there for over an hour or two and played with each screw to see what it did. Unfortunately I think the axle may be a little bent on the wheel, you can see the thing wobble a bit once it's on the bike. Rides fine, but I don't like that. Since I'm on a budget I'll leave it like that for now and change it later since I'm not riding that much anyway. Not sure how easy it is to change that since I didn't take that out. Then again it's just that and then the hub holding everything so I don't think it's much more after taking out the cassette.