$$$$ Expensive Bike - Roof Rack or Rear Rack or Inside Car???
Please let me clarify. I have a bike on order and was worried about the usual getting rear ended.
I have a hitch mount Thule 917XTR T2 where you set the wheels in place and bar over the tire. I drive a 2010 Toyota Corolla XRS. Interior is leather and the back seats drop forward but not flat.
The road bike costs $9,000!!! What would you do? I don't even know if a bike would fit in my car? I could try to get a road bike inside? Front wheel off of course.
Might be easier to keep the bike on the trainer....(
What would you do? I need to be able to sleep better. Roof, Rear, Inside (Assuming it would fit)? Look for a trailer?
Has anyone ever been rear ended bike totaled? What happens really? I just see lawyers and costs, how do I explain a bike that costs $9K?
Sorry, I just can't stop thinking about it. Oh, yeah the bike is a Project One Madone.
I've never heard of anyone getting rear ended with a bike at the back, but I've heard lots of stories of guys driving into garages with their bike on the roof. Not only does the bike get totalled but there is usually serious damage to the car roof as well.
Personally I use a rear hitch rack because, I'm short and I would most definitely scratch my car if I tried to mount/dismount a bike from the roof. YMMV.
Cancel the order and buy a bike that won't make you so anxious?
Barring that, inside is obviously safest. Certainly you can fit it with the seats down, if you take off the front wheel. You can probably fit it in the trunk with both wheels off, which isn't as hard as you think. When I worked at a suburban location where I could ride on my lunch hour, I kept my bike in the trunk of a Ford Taurus for years. Installing or removing both wheels took barely a minute. You trunk may be a little smaller, but I had lots of extra room.
You "explain" a $9000 bike by showing the receipt. You don't have to justify your lifestyle choices to the insurance company - you just have to prove your losses.
Personally, I'd use the hitch rack, depending on how far and where you're driving. I'd get a real hefty cable lock.
I think it's really just a matter of personal preference. I have a roof rack and like the way it looks, especially the Yakima fairing, but I don't really like the look of the hitch racks. But again, that's just my preference. Also, I don't park in the garage, but if I did I'd probably ditch the roof rack because I just know that I would forget about my bike on top and end up destroying it while pulling into the garage.
How far are you driving it? Most secure is inside a locked car with blanket to keep it out of view. However if you are just driving from point A to point B outside is a lot easier.
Joe
Road Bike - Trek 5200 | MTB - 2003 KHS Alite 4000 26" Hardtail
I prefer a roof rack. Others don't - the most common reasons I've seen are 1) potential for driving your bike into a garage door frame (reasonable), and 2) a hit to fuel economy (I'll add to this below).
Odds are probably better than good you can get your bike into the back of your car with the front wheel off. That's the safest way to transport it. I did that for a while until my gf and I both wanted to transport our bikes, so I ended up with the roof rack. My car has a panoramic sunroof, so I always know the bike is there, and I'm not worried about hitting it. As for the fuel economy, I track mine with every fillup. I drove with my rack on the car all summer last year, and took it off in the fall (from ~42,000 to 56,000 on the chart below; note my units are in Canadian English, so lower = better, and fuel econ is the bottom of the two lines). With all the vagaries of city/highway driving, stop/start traffic, variable road trips with and without the bikes on the car, back and forth to home depot, etc., I (and the data) would suggest that the fuel economy argument is a bit of a red herring.
As for what happens in a crash, it will probably depend on your insurance. Bike would probably be covered under house/contents insurance, separate from your car. For a bike like that, I'd probably get a rider on my house policy for full replacement coverage, same as you can get for expensive jewellry. Otherwise, you'd probably only get current value for it at the time of the crash. Keep your receipts for it - no need to explain why the bike costs 9K - it just does, and they'll either offer you the coverage or they won't.
The other bit to consider is that if you're rear-ended, it's automatically the other person's fault (at least, here it is). Your insurance company shouldn't have much of a problem paying you out, then releasing the hounds on the other company. You're really only out time on the bike.
Last edited by drussell; 01-29-2013 at 09:27 AM.
Reason: clarification of graph
Originally Posted by Kai Winters
It's all about the legs, lungs, heart and soul. The gear comes after that.
Might be easier to keep the bike on the trainer....(
Yeah, put it on the trainer. Not much else you can do with a $9k bike anyway, with your attitude... You know, there's pebbles that will hit and mar that precious paint, and I hear some people even crash with their bikes.
I would drive it home from the LBS. Then to places to ride or group rides. The rear mount carries two bikes. So I could always keep it close to the car.
My other bike is a FX 7.9 Trek. I could use it as an example to see if it would go inside the car. Toss in a few beach towels.
Yes, while I would lock it on the car and Thule has a lock I won't let it out of my sight. I agree in the car is safest, no advertising.
Put it inside!! If you're going to drop $9K on a bike then buy a car/truck that you can put it in...I did. However, it sounds like you posted just to let everybody know you bought an expensive bike.
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I always go with a hitch mounted rack. Easy to load and unload, convenient, won't get the inside of my vehicle dirty or wet, and I can carry more stuff and people if it's not taking up the back of the car. You can also carry multiple bikes, try stuffing 3 bikes in your car with them rubbing or it taking you a lot of time to wrap every part where they touch.
I never worry about getting rear-ended if it happens it will happen regardless, I just worry about dinging the bike when I'm backing up. Cost of the bike is not a factor to me when I'm deciding things like this, but where I leave the vehicle parked with the bike on it is.
"I felt bad because I couldn't wheelie; until I met a man with no bicycle"
Please let me clarify. I have a bike on order and was worried about the usual getting rear ended.
I have a hitch mount Thule 917XTR T2 where you set the wheels in place and bar over the tire. I drive a 2010 Toyota Corolla XRS. Interior is leather and the back seats drop forward but not flat.
The road bike costs $9,000!!! What would you do? I don't even know if a bike would fit in my car? I could try to get a road bike inside? Front wheel off of course.
Might be easier to keep the bike on the trainer....(
What would you do? I need to be able to sleep better. Roof, Rear, Inside (Assuming it would fit)? Look for a trailer?
Has anyone ever been rear ended bike totaled? What happens really? I just see lawyers and costs, how do I explain a bike that costs $9K?
Sorry, I just can't stop thinking about it. Oh, yeah the bike is a Project One Madone.
Thanks
Bill
Not sure what relevance the price of the bike is to the question, but I put my $3,200 bike inside my $50,000 car because I don't want to damage either of them. If the bike was $900 and the car was $9,000 I'd do the same thing.
Though I guess if the bike cost $9,000 I would be sure to use lots of $$$$$ and !!!!! in my post.
Posted from my $699 iPad!!!!!!
"It ain't a teacup that the Queen gave you - it's a bike. Ride it!"
Seriously. It's a bike, not a painting. Ride it like you stole it. Hit some gravel roads, maybe even some smooth singletrack. Even... (shudder) some puddles! Mud!
The hitch racks that hold both wheels with top bars are fine.
I usually take my bike inside my car, but I have a big trunk, I take both wheels off, and I'm not worried if it gets scratched.
* posted by Creakybot 2013 all rights reserved.
* not actually waterproof.
Insurance companies know the price of bikes. I had an accident with a custom bike I bought in 1996. Though I am having it repaired (which I told the insurer), the insurance company paid replacement value under my home owners policy. I priced it out with the builder, including all new components, and was flabbergasted at the price - more than $9,000. The company paid it without any hesitation
I would drive it home from the LBS. Then to places to ride or group rides. The rear mount carries two bikes. So I could always keep it close to the car.
My other bike is a FX 7.9 Trek. I could use it as an example to see if it would go inside the car. Toss in a few beach towels.
Yes, while I would lock it on the car and Thule has a lock I won't let it out of my sight. I agree in the car is safest, no advertising.
If you have the option (it certainly will fit in the trunk and most likely in the back seat) why go with a rack? We used a roof rack when we had kids and tandems or singles pulling a trailer because there wasn't enough room inside the car. Once the kids moved on, the bikes go inside 100% of the time.
Roof rack for me, period. I haven't driven into anything with my bike on top yet and I've had a roof rack for 25+ years. Yes, I do park my car in my garage every night too. is it really that hard to remember that your bike is on the car?
This is the 1up USA hitch rack. You can load a bike in about 2 seconds and the unit that holds 2 bikes would have to be hit pretty hard to damage the bike closest to the car. If it gets smashed just have your insurance get you another one!!
2013 Pinarello Dogma 65.1 SR EPS
2012 Cervelo RS
2013 Felt F65X CX bike
2012 Cannondale Flash Alloy 1 29er
If you have the option (it certainly will fit in the trunk and most likely in the back seat) why go with a rack? We used a roof rack when we had kids and tandems or singles pulling a trailer because there wasn't enough room inside the car. Once the kids moved on, the bikes go inside 100% of the time.
I use a rack on the back of my truck! It has a carpeted bed but when you get more than one bike back there they can get beat up pretty bad.
2013 Pinarello Dogma 65.1 SR EPS
2012 Cervelo RS
2013 Felt F65X CX bike
2012 Cannondale Flash Alloy 1 29er
Nice Pic!
I could not agree more, and if hit that hard there might be other worries or injuries. I'll forget the worries and just ride using my rear hitch as I have it already.
Part of why I chose a ginormous gas-guzzling SUV when I replaced my car about a year ago was to fit my bike inside easily. Two people can load bikes in and out easily and stop for a burger on the way home without a lot of extra concern.
It's nice - a lot of my riding is mountain biking which is a real pain to ride to from where I live, so I drive that bike around a fair amount. I like not having to think about stopping for a victory coffee, or about whether or not my bike is adequately secured.
Someone could still break into my car. But then, someone can cut a cable lock, defeat the pin for a hitch rack, steal the whole car...
Guess you decided to go for it on the first bike. Good luck!
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Originally Posted by Kai Winters
