Preferred method to transport your Cruzbike?

I was reading the issue 6, 2019 issue of Bicycling magazine, the article: Your hitch rack might be damaging your carbon wheels.
Heat, chemicals, & torquing of the rims have been implicated as causing damage that can cause premature failure.

We had an experience this weekend at the Cruzbike Retreat. Look at Maria's photo of Jim Boyd rim that blew at 100 psi while Larry was seating a new tire. The explosion was scary. I think it's the same rim that took Jim across USA in the 2017 RAAM.
 

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GetBent

Well-Known Member
2017 Ford Escape

Fold down the back seat, push the passenger seat back forward, slide the V20 in. No disassembly required.
 

dule0911

Active Member
While on the subject of transporting it in the car - 2008 Ford S-max, just fold all the seats (in my case the second row, don't have 7 seats), fits without messing with the front seats.


But still, it's not practical when going on a trip with more then 2 people. So still in the hunt for a suitable roof rack, maybe a hitch rack if I find one localy which suits the Q45.

@Mathew Fy
Wow, that looks scary! Can't imagine if it broke like that during riding. Fortunately, I don't use carbon wheels, and if I did I would probably use some microfibre cloth between the rim and the strap, as the strap is more there to position the bike - the weight of it should be on the arm that holds the frame/wheel.
 

bladderhead

Zen MBB Master
I took my Silvio to a track event in which, in the end, I could not participate. I had a hatchback with the seats down. I had to take the wheels off the Silvio to get it in. When I got there the front wheel slotted in really easily and I closed the QR. Then I discovered that the derailleur was somehow round the wrong way. I took the wheel off and tried again. And kept trying. And kept trying. There was no way I could get the bloody thing to work. They all tried to help me. With the bike on its side, everyone was looking at it and turning their heads sideways trying to visualise how it was wrong. In the end I gave up. When I got home the front wheel went on and the gears went the right way round with no trouble at all.

I had the front wheel off loads of times before and after that and have never had any problem with the gears at all. Did the prospect of a track day give the bike an anxiety attack?
 

nplusone

New Member
I’ve got a saris bones trunk rack and my v20 fits on it pretty well. I just hang the bike from the boom and pop off the rear wheel. I tie the rear triangle to the car with some scrap nylon webbing so it’s not swinging back and forth and it works great!
 

benphyr

Guru-me-not
I’ve got a saris bones trunk rack and my v20 fits on it pretty well. I just hang the bike from the boom and pop off the rear wheel. I tie the rear triangle to the car with some scrap nylon webbing so it’s not swinging back and forth and it works great!
Do you have a 1000 word essay for us :emoji_book: ...er picture? :emoji_camera:
 

nplusone

New Member
The headrest and bottle cages stick out a tiny bit, but not more than an inch or so past the mirror on that side. And yes, the bike’s worth about 3x the car...
 

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dule0911

Active Member
Been to a Thule shop during the weekend. The seller didn't want to bother to mount the Q45 to a UpRide 599. I had the fenders mounted and tools near me to remove them and try to fit it, but he assured me it will not fit because of the front drive. He tried to mount it to a ProRide 598 - it doesn't fit. We tried it on some trailer hitch models, it fits.
Does anybody here know what this model of rack is? I can't tell from the video. Maybe @Robert Holler can help with this? :)

Not sure if that one will work with my Q45 riding position as the racks front wheel cage seems quite upright, but it's worth a try. I still think the Q45 will mount on a UpRide 599, just not by sliding the front wheel in the wheel hook like described here. My idea is to put the hook upright first, put the bike on the rack and the hook betweek the boom and the wheel, then put the hook down (near the front drive), then slide the bike forwards.
 

Seth Cooper

Well-Known Member
I don't subscribe to the magazine, what exactly were the ways the rack stressed the wheels? I have a thule hitch rack, and I can't see it putting anymore stress on the wheels than just riding the bike would do.
Matt Phillips of Bicycling magazine writes:

YOUR HITCH RACK MIGHT BE DAMAGING YOUR CARBON WHEELS

“Not long after my friend Gina outfitted her Pivot trail bike with a new set of DT-Swiss carbon wheels, she took it to a shop for a tune-up. During service, the mechanic noticed distortion in the front rim, so she emailed DT-Swiss’s USA office and was told it was most likely caused by exposure to exhaust while transporting her bike on a hitch rack.

That got me thinking. I had noticed something similar happening to my carbon wheels. Twice, after just a 10-minute commute, the rim closest to my car’s exhaust was warped or buckled.

Until now, neither Gina nor I considered our car’s exhaust, specifically the location of it, to be the culprit. And if we didn’t know, it made me wonder how many other cyclists aren’t aware of this potentially dangerous issue. Gone unnoticed, a damaged rim could fail midride and cause a crash. With more riders using hitch racks and carbon wheels, it’s time to raise awareness about this possibly life-threatening combination. So I did some digging.

I reviewed several owner’s manuals and found nothing related to exhaust. I also reached out to wheel and rack brands to find out if they’re aware of the issue and, if so, what steps they take to warn riders. Mark Jordan, a representative for Reynolds, said, “I have not heard any buzz that it’s a common problem for Reynolds.”

And yet some wheel and rack makers do inform users about possible effects of exhaust heat. Enve warns, “Ensure that the rim is well outside of 18 inches away in any direction from the exhaust pipe of the car. Similarly, the rim must be out of the direct path of the exhaust, even if it is farther than 18 inches away.” Russ Fogle, Lead Product Engineer at Rocky Mounts, agrees that it’s a known problem with all hitch racks, but says, “Unfortunately for us as rack designers, each model of car has its tailpipe in a different location, pointed in a different direction. If we were to design a rack to avoid one car’s exhaust, that would just move the rack into the path of another car’s exhaust.” And yet, several companies stated it’s more of an issue with trunk racks or hanging a bike over a pickup’s tailgate.

But if there’s one common thread, it’s rear-facing exhaust tips. “Rear-facing exhaust tips that line up with the bike rack and lower portion of the rim can do the damage,” said David Agaptio, tech services and warranty manager at DT-Swiss USA. Fogle suggests adding turn-down tips to redirect heat away from your rack and bike. Another solution is to add a riser or swing-away kit that safely spaces the rack away from the exhaust. My solution? I switched to a rack that positions my bikes higher up and farther back. Gina was able to replace her rim at a discount through DT-Swiss’s crash-replacement program. One new rack and three new wheels later, the lesson wasn’t exactly cheap for either of us. But if our experience can help others avoid the same issue (or even prevent something way worse), then in the end, it’s pretty much priceless.”
The article includes a photo of an obviously heat-damaged wheel, and a few options for people to buy (of course.)
It had me wondering why Jim Parker's wheel would blow while seating a new tire.
It also has me wondering if my current rack or any other system where the wheels hang on hooks might cause premature failure.
 

Seth Cooper

Well-Known Member
@Mathew Fy well shoot, I am looking for excuses to by a Tesla Model 3, but unfortunately for me my car exhaust tip points down and it is well under the bumper, so not in a place that would be able to heat up the rim.

thanks for posting the article though.
 

dule0911

Active Member
Just a small update from my side. Bought a set of second hand Mercedes factory roof racks. Wasn't impressed with the Thule sales rep, so looked for other options.
Not sure about the model of the rack, but it's really sturdy and stable, even at 140km/h (about 85mph). The wheels straps are double for each wheel which is not that common. The main arm is huge and grabs the bike really firmly.
If you have a tall vehicle it might be a bit difficult to put the bike in alone, but that's true for any bike that is not featherweight. I didn't get a close-up pic of just the rack and bike mounted on it, but you will get the idea from the pictures.
On this pic, the ones on the left:

Here is the rack & Q45 mounted on it.
.
 

dule0911

Active Member
It stayed on, but I'm taking it off next time. It was full of bugs after coming back home in the evening. :)
 

benphyr

Guru-me-not
Your part of the world must have a healthy bug population. We don't hit many on the roads these days. Or do you mean they were attracted to the (sweaty back :eek::eek:) pheromones you left on the seat.
 

3bs

whereabouts unknown
@dule0911
Same racks I use. Be sure and shock cord you front wheel tightly to the frame if you travel over 80 or in bad weather
 

dule0911

Active Member
Thanks for the advice. I will do that for mounting reasons also, it will be much easier to lift the bike on the roof. Although I bought the cruzbike Voile Nylon Brake Strap, just forgot to use it on this occasion :)

@benphyr
The bugs are starting now. I think somebody told them that the curphew is on (no movement allowed past 6pm), so they switched the bugging time also, since usually I find them only past 6pm :)
 
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