Car roof racks, bikes vulnerable to damage?

brindlescoops
brindlescoops Posts: 465
edited May 2012 in MTB general
I might be a bit paranoid here, but I regularly strap my bikes to the roof rack to jaunt up and down the country riding. Recently One of the bikes magically appeared to have a disintegrated gear shifter when cleaning down, which I couldn't work out what had happened. Then whilst travelling in the car a few days later a big stone thwacked my windscreen and took a chunk out of it. so, I got to thinking, maybe a stone or bit of debris caused the damage to the bike in transit and then I got to thinking, what if even a smallish stone hit the stanchions on my forks, could be a very expensive day out! So now I am thinking to I move to a rear mounted carrier or take the wheels off eveytime and out it in the boot or grow some and stop worrying about it? Has anyone else suffered damage this way.? I know the bikes get natural damage through use, but they arent usually striking the objects at 70 miles per hour!
My biggest fear is that should I crash, burn and die, my Wife would sell my stuff based upon what I told her I paid for it.

Comments

  • Majski
    Majski Posts: 443
    Stick a piece of pipe lagging over vunerable forward facing parts and secure with a cable tie. I cover my stantions + fork lowers with pipe lagging - it's just the job
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    seen birds stuck in spokes.

    not bothered overly with stuff hitting the bikes. you get more crap on them on a ride.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • danlikesbikes
    danlikesbikes Posts: 3,898
    yeah they are more vulnerable to debris but its just down to the speed.

    Guess its personal choice as to wether you rack or rear rack the bike both have their good and bad points.
    Pain hurts much less if its topped off with beating your mates to top of a climb.
  • Majski
    Majski Posts: 443
    I found out that towbar mounted racks are more vunerable to old buttmunches that decide to drive into you at tesco!
  • danlikesbikes
    danlikesbikes Posts: 3,898
    Majski wrote:
    I found out that towbar mounted racks are more vunerable to old buttmunches that decide to drive into you at tesco!

    Not had that one happen to me yet, but the hitch on mine is pretty high.

    I did have someone trying to parallel park and they went into it. No damage to my car at all but they took some paint out of their lime green VW Beetle. Which when looking at the state of their bumper said a lot about their ability to judge any sort of distance as I don't think I was the first person to be hit by them.
    Pain hurts much less if its topped off with beating your mates to top of a climb.
  • Woody80
    Woody80 Posts: 324
    Mine travel hundreds of miles on the roof and I've never had a problem. Once left a bar mounted GoPro filming so decided to check the footage (cool viewpoint up that high!), it did get belted by a massive juicy fly right on the lense which ruined the film :shock: but dead flies are the worst I've ever encountered.
    Bludgeon
    Cider Rider
    Missile
  • Briggo
    Briggo Posts: 3,537
    Only thing I've encountered is the amount of bloody flies that stick to the forward facing parts of the bike.

    :evil:

Categories