Roof mount with fork clamps - any ideas or suggestions

01-07-2007, 01:46 PM

I have a Grand Caravan with two sliding doors, roof rack, and have four
bikes to travel with.

Our old van we had a hitch mount four bike carrier and this van we put
the smaller kids bikes in the van and two adult bikes on a carrier on
the back. Now we have four adult bikes. We go in and out of the back of
the van too much to put something on the back.

I was thinking of mounting the bikes on the roof using Delta Bike Hitch
locking fork mounts (search Amazon to see what I'm talking about). I
was going to drill holes in the cross members of my current roof rack
and mount the hitch right to the vans roof rack. Two facing forward and
two facing backwards. Every other one forward then backwards so that
the handlebars don't get into the way.

What kind of wind resistance do the bikes produce on the top? What do
the bras do for the bike and are they necessary? Will the bikes facing
backwards cause issues? Is four bikes way too much?

Let me know your ideas and thoughts?
Thanks.

01-08-2007, 12:12 AM

In article <1168210005.251286.167760@51g2000cwl.googlegroups. com>,
"Fred" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> I have a Grand Caravan with two sliding doors, roof rack, and have four
> bikes to travel with.
>
> Our old van we had a hitch mount four bike carrier and this van we put
> the smaller kids bikes in the van and two adult bikes on a carrier on
> the back. Now we have four adult bikes. We go in and out of the back of
> the van too much to put something on the back.
>
> I was thinking of mounting the bikes on the roof using Delta Bike Hitch
> locking fork mounts (search Amazon to see what I'm talking about). I
> was going to drill holes in the cross members of my current roof rack
> and mount the hitch right to the vans roof rack. Two facing forward and
> two facing backwards. Every other one forward then backwards so that
> the handlebars don't get into the way.
>
> What kind of wind resistance do the bikes produce on the top? What do
> the bras do for the bike and are they necessary? Will the bikes facing
> backwards cause issues? Is four bikes way too much?
>
> Let me know your ideas and thoughts?
> Thanks.

How are you going to secure the rear wheels? Other than that, this seems
like a workable idea.

Regarding your previous hitch mount, though, there are swing-away racks
that allow access to the rear door:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
A

That one being reasonably representative.

Otherwise, bikes on the roof are an aerodynamic drag, no doubt about it.
the bras you see on roof-mounted bikes are just to keep rain, mud,
stones, and road grit off of shiny and expensive bicycles.

Don't forget the standard knock on roof-mounted bicycles, which is that
the owners of such exist in two states:

1) having knocked bikes off the roof while driving into their garage
2) about to knock bikes off the roof...

Which is not to say it has its merits. I have a VW Beetle, which doesn't
take well to a strap-on rack (contours of the rear bumper, et cetera).
Rather than install a hitch, I bought a roof rack.

Roof racks have a rep for being more "pro", but I suspect that in most
cases, if you can get by with a hitch-mounted rack, it's the better
choice. In the van, mind, is the best choice...

--
Ryan Cousineau [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos