ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Yeah I was thinking that too but don't they have just one dirt road between each major city?
Suggestions for a new bike carrier
- Thread starter castlerobber
- Start date
super slim
Zen MBB Master
Having ridden a Cruzbike from Vancouver to the Mexico border, down the West coast, then 2 years later from Vancouver to Calgary, then Jasper to Whitefish, then Cycle Oregon, my observation from a city based "Aussie", is that Californians drive the biggest 4 T truck to go shopping, with Canadians driving 1.5T utes, and Washington state having the most 1.5T-2.0T 4wd utes! But ALL are very curteious country road drivers!!
quickbeam
Well-Known Member
The other thing is the F-series includes regular (2-door) and supercabs for F-150, F-250, F-350 which are really completely different vehicles. So when you group them all together, you have an advantage over competitors that have separate lines.
That said, way too many people in the U.S. buy pickups and SUVs just to drive to their office jobs and the grocery store. The roads are made big with large parking spots compared to the rest of the world, and gasoline is relatively cheap. It's not just farmers and contractors buying them.
You can put a Cruzbike in a Prius. Now that I have the Mazda3, this is what I've done. 1 1/4" Curt hitch I installed myself. Also a Swagman XTC2 bike rack. I had to put the hook for the top bar way down low and kind of scooch the bike in and slide it in, but it was secure. The pedals do stick out a little beyond the side of the car, so I put that on the shoulder side of the car.
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quickbeam
Well-Known Member
A little off-topic, but I agree entirely. I grew up on a farm, still visit regularly, and people in the city don't believe me when I say most farmers have a pickup truck (or two - one new and one beater) for work stuff, but easily most of their trips are made in small cars - Ford Escorts/Focus, etc. It's the suburban folks that like the big vehicles. I don't know of a single farmer that bought a Hummer.
I used to help a non-profit with an annual plant sale. We had to direct people down a slope onto a grass field for parking. Inevitably you'd get somebody in a large SUV looking at that and ask "can I make it down there?". I'd tell them that a Honda Insight just went there without a problem.
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Ha you just describe the vehicle profile of my 50+ cousins, hybrid for grocers; small truck for working the farms.
And that describes the Renaissance Fair that is permanently located down the street. Daily inseason in their parking lot the Hondas drive like Off Road Baha drivers; and the SUV crawl into their spots worried to scrap the paint.
ccf
Guru
We have a Thule T2. It works fine for carrying a Silvio S30 and Sofrider at the same time.
castlerobber
Zen MBB Master
One of my DF-riding co-w0rkers has a Thule T2 rack on her SUV. She let me try the Silvio on it Thursday afternoon. It looked like there'd be no problem fitting the Q next to it. Glad to have that confirmed in practice--thank you!
It was a tossup between the Thule and Saris racks, but I found a better price on a Thule on Amazon. It's supposed to arrive Tuesday.
Thursday was the first time I'd used the SportWing. It worked great for carrying just one Cruzbike. I liked the low profile and light weight, and had no worries that the bike might come off the rack.
castlerobber
Zen MBB Master
Update: I checked with my very young, green-behind-the-ears* Honda service advisor after a couple of days. He claimed that only the owner of the dealership, who was out of town for a week, could authorize restitution for the damage, and promised to call me back ASAP.
Two weeks after the carrier was damaged, having received no callback, I walked into the service department and found a more experienced employee to talk with. They were appalled at his poor handling of the matter, apologized profusely, asked me how much it would cost to make things right, and the controller issued payment immediately. No mention of the owner's having to approve the transaction.
The next day, the kid called to tell me the owner had been too busy to speak with him, but he was "still working on it." He had no idea the matter had been resolved. One wonders how much longer he'll be employed...
*I love mixing metaphors
castlerobber
Zen MBB Master
Following up after using the carriers for a couple of months:
The Thule T2 is great for transporting one or two Cruzbikes. The over-the-wheel hooks make it easy to load the bikes, and they attach solidly. What I didn't anticipate was that the bikes would sit up so high on my Honda Accord. It's about like driving with a drag chute--my gas mileage plummets. This would be much less of a problem on an SUV.
So for now, since I carry only one bike most of the time, I've reverted to the SportWing. It's light, and carries the bike low enough that only the handlebars and the very tip of the seat peek up over the trunk lid. It's easy to take the "wings" off and store them in the trunk when not in use. But the Thule will be indispensable for the times when I need to carry both Cruzbikes.
RojoRacing
Donut Powered Wise-guy
Anyone successfully mount a Vendetta to one of these style of bike racks?
castlerobber
Zen MBB Master
My Silvio 1.5 worked on one like that. I expect the S30 will fit, but I haven't tried it yet.
ChaleJake
Guru
For those that use the Sportwing carrier. I contacted Reese about replacement rubber straps. Mine had broken and I'd been using just some Velcro straps. I received the below info:
The Sportwing bike carrier is sold through our sister company Cequent Consumer Products. I will leave their information below for you to contact. Have a nice day!
Cequent Consumer Products.
Email: ccpordersandinquiries@horizonglobal.com
Phone: 1800-234-6992
I contacted Cequent via email and they are sending me replacements free of charge. Great customer service.
The Sportwing bike carrier is sold through our sister company Cequent Consumer Products. I will leave their information below for you to contact. Have a nice day!
Cequent Consumer Products.
Email: ccpordersandinquiries@horizonglobal.com
Phone: 1800-234-6992
I contacted Cequent via email and they are sending me replacements free of charge. Great customer service.
