Since the bike was invented people wanted to carry things on it. The invention of the car, people wanted to take their bikes with them to explore new roads.
On the bike
Racks to go on your bike don’t vary much, you can put one on the front or the back (or both) of your bike and you can put bags or panniers on the rack, top bags or side panniers are very popular for bike tourists, to go away on your cycle for the weekend or longer.
You can go camping with tents and sleeping bags; in fact, you can take everything you’ll need for an outdoor life holiday, and afterward store it back home by using racks for bikes storage.
It’s easy to take things on your bike, but remember the weight, you will have to carry it and push it up hills, if you’re on holiday and have all day with no rush then there is no problem, but it could take you a lot longer than you thought to get where you want because of all the stuff you are carrying.
Your bike on your car
It’s a bit more difficult to carry your bike in your car, with modern cars many don’t have gutters to fasten a car roof rack too.
Special fittings can be bought from the carmaker or from the rack company, but you will find there is a long list of different fittings.
How do you want your bike on your car?
There are different ways to attach the bike to the car, with a barrack you have many choices, you can have the bike up-right with the front forks and the rear wheel fastened to the rack, the front wheel goes in a separate wheel holder or in the boot.
The other method is to have the complete bike, with front-wheel in, up-right and held by a clamp on the down tube, this is great for muddy mountain bikes after the ride as you can stop at a garage and jet wash the bike and the car at the same time.
You can always put the bike on a rack up-side-down, resting on the handlebars and the saddle, the bike can be complete or with wheels out.
Racks cause drag!
As with anything extra you put on your car, it will cause wind drag, slow you down and cost more money in fuel.
Many people now prefer to use a rack that fits behind the car, this can save you fuel as the wind drag isn’t so bad because the car breaks the wind first and you also don’t have to lift the bike onto the roof, the bike can be put on with or without wheels.
Some of these racks fit on to the boot or the hatch-back with straps and clips or if you have a tow ball, can be fitted or clamped to the back of the car securely and will take up to four bikes.
Safety first
Whatever kind of car bike rack you go for there is one very important thing to remember, make sure it’s fitted securely and all the bolt are tight and also check the bikes on your rack not going to fall off.
There is nothing worse than seeing your prized bikes bouncing down the motorway in your rearview mirror, so make sure everything is safe.
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