On 2018-09-14 10:36, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, September 14, 2018 at 9:25:55 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-09-13 18:03, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 4:29:35 PM UTC-7, Joerg
wrote:
On 2018-08-24 07:35, Joerg wrote:
Couldn't believe it. Those great agency folks obviously
didn't test the bike racks for our local buses before signing
the contract. Long story short my 29er bike didn't fit in and
neither did my friend's. Luckily the driver was patient and
helpful. We had to load the bikes reversed so the hook goes
over the rear wheel. Not easy because of my panniers but
worked, somehow. The front wheels now rode up on the other
side of the rack slot. We both had bungee cords with which we
strapped them down as hard as we could. Oh, and the slot
width barely fit my 2.25" wide MTB tires barely squeezed in
and I had to push down hard. The rack looks like this:
https://ixquick-proxy.com/do/spg/sho...8df2678ec2064b
When we arrived another rider put his 26" MTB on there on even that
barely fit in (rear wheel rode up half an inch).
Does anyone know a better "strap down" method that is faster
than wrapping a bungee around rim and rack numerous times?
Today I did a road bike trip where I also used the bus. The bus
had a 3-slot rack but only the innermost slot was designed
correctly with one end open.
The two outer slots were the same as before, bad design, too
short. I know that Jay and Sir won't believe this but I tried
and verified it: My road bike did _not_ go into those outer
slots. Luckily the inner slot was free.
Hey, don't use my name in vain.
IIRC you raised doubts in another thread about it and wrote that
you are 6'4", which is taller than I am.
I've never used a bus bike rack because I ride everywhere and do not
need to have my bike hauled on welfare-based mass-transit created by
nanny government. Buses are for loser proles who are sucking off the
public teat and not for real men like myself who live in the wilds of
Oregon.
Public transport can greatly increase the riding range. For example, I
could not finish a ride in time if I'd go all the way into Sacramento
and back. If I use light rail for some of the way back I can. And
there's a beer garden that has Kloster Andechs brews plus freshly baked
pretzels with Obatzda.
But now that we're going on about bike bus racks, I'll go to the
practice spot and see if my bike fits. I'm assuming Sacramento is
using a standard SportWorks model, which is basically the national
standard rack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avQ6ZHKvNgI That Trek
has a 41.7 WB. Go to :33 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETtnX_KScI8
A Volpe with fat tires.
Those aren't very fat tires. Also, look more closely and you'll see that
this bike already starts riding up at the ends. It does not sit firmly
on the bottom of the rail. That can make for an interesting scenario if
the bus has to suddenly swerve to avoid something (I always strap mine
down but never saw anyone else do that). My MTB was almost all the way
out of the slot with one wheel.
My MTB tires are 2.2" wire and they barely squeezed in. Most guys around
here ride on 2.3" or 2.4" tires which wouldn't fit. Newer 27-1/2" bikes
with 3" tires? Forget it.
At 0:50min they show a rack that's almost correctly designed. This is a
correctly designed rack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y56n-JPGJ6Q
... Maybe Sacto is screwing with you and sending
you buses with the super-short racks.
It is El Dorado Transit. They have different racks, some semi-ok, some
don't work.
The best is what I once saw in Europe. They simply hung a bike trailer
to the bus which could easily hold a dozen bicycles. That greatly
reduces the chance of being left stranded because the rack is already full.
--
Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/