Transporting bikes to Cornwall

tubbs_214

So I'm going to cornwall in a few weeks. I'm taking my bike down with me to sneak a few early rides in while the other half is in bed. I'm undecided as to how I'm going to transport my bike down. I have 2 options. I have a roof rack which is what I usually use for short trips I'm just worried about the impact on my fuel ecconemy as it's a 330 mile trip. My other option is a rear mount rack which I already have from when I used it on my old car. I will take the wheels of the bike to try and cut down on what is in the wind only problem with this is that my car is tiny so the wheels will take up probably half maybe more of my boot.

I have thought about hiring one but I'd rather have my own bike.

So what are your thoughts.

Cheers.

sloppyschleckonds

tubbs_214 wrote:

So what are your thoughts.

Cheers.

Post it

mamba80

tubbs_214 wrote:

So I'm going to cornwall in a few weeks. I'm taking my bike down with me to sneak a few early rides in while the other half is in bed. I'm undecided as to how I'm going to transport my bike down. I have 2 options. I have a roof rack which is what I usually use for short trips I'm just worried about the impact on my fuel ecconemy as it's a 330 mile trip. My other option is a rear mount rack which I already have from when I used it on my old car. I will take the wheels of the bike to try and cut down on what is in the wind only problem with this is that my car is tiny so the wheels will take up probably half maybe more of my boot.

I have thought about hiring one but I'd rather have my own bike.

So what are your thoughts.

Cheers.

Leave him/her behind, you can then ride all day, save fuel as the car will be lighter.

You are prepared to hire a larger car.... but wont take a roof rack because of the adverse fuel economy :shock: :shock: :shock:

Its gonna to be p1ssing with rain for the next few months (or years) down here, i d take a surf board or a kayak.

tubbs_214

I meant hiring a bike.

agentorange88

so 330 miles is an average tank of petrol for a small family car and at 40mpg is 9 gallons costing about £45.
If you take a 25% reduction to 30 mpg you are looking at 13 gallon costing £65 quid
Hardly a huge cost. Suggest you drive with the windows closed and the aircon off to save every drop.

Keep to 65 and that will have the least effect/ maximise fuel economy

shimanobottombracket

F' the fuel economy and just get on with it!

singleton

Put it on the roof - and don't go into any multi-storey car parks until you take it off.

kingstongraham

Ride it.

mouth

Whichever way you do it from your two suggested methods, the fuel effect will be fairly minimal, given that you're prepared to pay to hire a bike. A standard BSO (and probably hybrid or MTB) from a local hire place will likely be upwards of £15/day. Whichever way you do it, it'll cost you but I'd rather be on my own bike.

cougie

Rear mount for me. Keep the wheels on it'll make bugger all difference.

surrey_commuter

agentorange88 wrote:

so 330 miles is an average tank of petrol for a small family car and at 40mpg is 9 gallons costing about £45.
If you take a 25% reduction to 30 mpg you are looking at 13 gallon costing £65 quid
Hardly a huge cost. Suggest you drive with the windows closed and the aircon off to save every drop.

Keep to 65 and that will have the least effect/ maximise fuel economy

get close in behind lorries to maximise the drafting effect. They tend to maintain a steady speed which will help.

laurentian

What car is it?

Me and the Mrs always take our bikes when holidaying in the UK. Fold the rear seats of the Golf down, front wheel and saddle off, one bike each side tethered with a bungee to the handle above the door. Wheels and luggage sit between bikes.

No rack, no fuel implications, much lower risk of damage or theft of the bikes.

. . . the above of course assumes no children

defycomp2

400 miles each way Cornwall to Yorkshire this summer, two bikes on the roof, 5mpg less.

agentorange88

Surrey Commuter wrote:

agentorange88 wrote:

so 330 miles is an average tank of petrol for a small family car and at 40mpg is 9 gallons costing about £45.
If you take a 25% reduction to 30 mpg you are looking at 13 gallon costing £65 quid
Hardly a huge cost. Suggest you drive with the windows closed and the aircon off to save every drop.

Keep to 65 and that will have the least effect/ maximise fuel economy

get close in behind lorries to maximise the drafting effect. They tend to maintain a steady speed which will help.

Mythbusters showed you had to sit 30cm from the bumper to get any noticable diference to fuel economy. not sure id want to be that close!

mamba80

tubbs_214 wrote:

I meant hiring a bike.

ah i see. makes sense now... :oops: Cornwall isnt Mallorca, you d be hard pressed to find a range of decent road bikes for hire, i cant think of any tbh, Bike Ricci maybe?

Craig_Broadbent

The fuel burn on the single journey isn't an issue, but I see so many racks left on for the whole summer.
An empty roof rack affects fuel consumption by about 10%, according to RAC.
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driving-advice/fuel-saving-tips/
10% x 10,000miles @50MPG =20x4.54= 90Litresx£1.20/l = £100/year.
I wouldn't use a tailgate mount as that will stratch your paint, but that might be the least of your worries( security and safety being the others).
Best is invest in a proper rear mounted rack.

mouth

Craig_Broadbent wrote:

The fuel burn on the single journey isn't an issue, but I see so many racks left on for the whole summer.
An empty roof rack affects fuel consumption by about 10%, according to RAC.
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driving-advice/fuel-saving-tips/
10% x 10,000miles @50MPG =20x4.54= 90Litresx£1.20/l = £100/year.
I wouldn't use a tailgate mount as that will stratch your paint, but that might be the least of your worries( security and safety being the others).
Best is invest in a proper rear mounted rack.

My father in law wanted to get one of these kinda things for his X5. The £3500 quote to fit a tow bar was plenty enough to put him off.

pblakeney

agentorange88 wrote:

Surrey Commuter wrote:

agentorange88 wrote:

so 330 miles is an average tank of petrol for a small family car and at 40mpg is 9 gallons costing about £45.
If you take a 25% reduction to 30 mpg you are looking at 13 gallon costing £65 quid
Hardly a huge cost. Suggest you drive with the windows closed and the aircon off to save every drop.

Keep to 65 and that will have the least effect/ maximise fuel economy

get close in behind lorries to maximise the drafting effect. They tend to maintain a steady speed which will help.

Mythbusters showed you had to sit 30cm from the bumper to get any noticable diference to fuel economy. not sure id want to be that close!

Anyone who has cycled behind a lorry/bus/tractor will tell you that 30cm is bull...

prawny

I have mine of the roof when we go to Cornwall (and Scotland, and South Wales) doesn't make an appalling difference to fuel economy, about 250 miles each way and thats a mountain bike.

Don't think I'd bother taking a road bike to cornwall though, even out of season most of the roads are busy. I'd hire a surfboard and wetsuit instead. That's what I'm planning when we go in October.

Frank Wilson

Do all these variables only apply if going to Cornwall, what if you were going to Ipswich?

Matthewfalle

What if you lay the bike flat on the roof bars?

DavidJB

165 miles each way? Sounds like a good distance to ride there...

thomasmorris

agentorange88 wrote:

Mythbusters showed you had to sit 30cm from the bumper to get any noticable diference to fuel economy. not sure id want to be that close!

I didn't think that could be correct; and it isn't. 50-100 ft behind and you're saving 10-20%. I'd say 20ft is pushing things a bit, but you see people do it.

I used to tuck in on the slow lane when I was student in a ford transit van. Used to get 60+ mpg. The lorries also tend to be very smooth speeding up and slowing down, so if you keep to their rhythm then you save there too.

The best is a national express coach though. You get a few extra mph out of them!

Back to racks. Even a rack on the back can cost quite a bit in fuel. I have a one that sits quite high on my focus and drops mpg by about 10. I think it's worse than roof rack as the bike is broadside on to the wind. When I've borrowed a tow hitch mounted one which sits far lower the mpg was back to normal.

alan_sherman

My brother has a lovely back rack on a to bar. Trouble is it makes his car into a long vehicle! Seriously he couldn't park in one car park because it would stick out too far!

fenix

Quite frankly I'd not sacrifice safety in draughting a big truck even if it cut fuel consumption completely.

Anyway - is the OP there yet ?

thomasmorris

Fenix wrote:

Quite frankly I'd not sacrifice safety in draughting a big truck even if it cut fuel consumption completely.

2 second rule at 60mph is 88 ft. And you should easily out brake a lorry in any case. So, you'd hardly be sacrificing safety at 50-100ft.

Not saying it's right, but you regularly see cars within 25 ft at 70 mph + and there is a good chance a car could out brake you.

Not that it helps the OP particularity, but just saying you can certainly get significant benefit in fuel consumption by drafting a lorry at a safe distance. Coupled with the lower speed and smoothing driving style that following trucks encourages I think it's a perfectly valid way to reduce fuel consumption.

mamba80

thomasmorris wrote:

Fenix wrote:

Quite frankly I'd not sacrifice safety in draughting a big truck even if it cut fuel consumption completely.

2 second rule at 60mph is 88 ft. And you should easily out brake a lorry in any case. So, you'd hardly be sacrificing safety at 50-100ft.

Not saying it's right, but you regularly see cars within 25 ft at 70 mph + and there is a good chance a car could out brake you.

Not that it helps the OP particularity, but just saying you can certainly get significant benefit in fuel consumption by drafting a lorry at a safe distance. Coupled with the lower speed and smoothing driving style that following trucks encourages I think it's a perfectly valid way to reduce fuel consumption.

Given the numbers of people who ve been killed by Lorries on the m/ways recently, i guess staying the xxxx out their way is very good idea, i ve never heard anything more stupid in my life than drafting a lorry on a m/way, moron.

pblakeney

mamba80 wrote:

thomasmorris wrote:

Fenix wrote:

Quite frankly I'd not sacrifice safety in draughting a big truck even if it cut fuel consumption completely.

2 second rule at 60mph is 88 ft. And you should easily out brake a lorry in any case. So, you'd hardly be sacrificing safety at 50-100ft.

Not saying it's right, but you regularly see cars within 25 ft at 70 mph + and there is a good chance a car could out brake you.

Not that it helps the OP particularity, but just saying you can certainly get significant benefit in fuel consumption by drafting a lorry at a safe distance. Coupled with the lower speed and smoothing driving style that following trucks encourages I think it's a perfectly valid way to reduce fuel consumption.

Given the numbers of people who ve been killed by Lorries on the m/ways recently, i guess staying the xxxx out their way is very good idea, i ve never heard anything more stupid in my life than drafting a lorry on a m/way, moron.

Have you driven on a motorway in the past 10 years?
Leave a gap of 100 ft+ and someone will fill it. You'll go backwards to maintain 100 ft!

mamba80

No i havent i manage to drive 20 to 30k per year without ever going nr them or DCs like the A30 or A38 either! not.... and have done so for many years, say since 1989.

tailgating lorries (or anything else) is moronic, you cant see anything ahead an are totally reliant on the lorry drivers reactions or not of any evolving traffic conditions, the lorry driver isnt going to know you r tucked up behind him either... and what if its raining? you ll not see a thing.

almost all accidents on M/ways are made far worse by the drivers who plough into the original collision or who cause secondary accidents by hitting those who have stopped.

but you carry on saving fuel.....

haydenm

Mouth wrote:

My father in law wanted to get one of these kinda things for his X5. The £3500 quote to fit a tow bar was plenty enough to put him off.

Rather amusing that it doesn't have a towbar fitted as standard being a 4x4, and that it costs anything like £3500 to have one fitted! Great racks though, after using strapped rear ones for years they are a welcome relief.

thomasmorris

Got my maths wrong. Two second rule at 60 mph is 176 ft, not 88. So only leaving 50-100 ft to get the benefit is closer than i thought.

Still, not many people actually leave that distance. So if you're going to drive closer than 176 ft, you might as well do it behind a lorry which won't be able to out brake you.