On 2018-09-15 12:36, jbeattie wrote:
On Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 7:44:38 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-09-14 18:00, jbeattie wrote:
On Friday, September 14, 2018 at 2:53:59 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-09-14 14:35, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, September 14, 2018 at 4:09:36 PM UTC-4, Joerg
wrote:
On 2018-09-14 12:28, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/14/2018 12:26 PM, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-09-13 18:03, jbeattie wrote:

[...]


... They work for odd shaped bikes around he
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/93/248...3cdf194b2f.jpg




https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rying_bike.jpg





My road bike measures 39-1/2" axle to axle. That is not
outlandishly
large and should fit. But it did not.

This sounds more and more like an operator problem.


If the bike doesn't go in then it doesn't go in. It's that
simple.

At the first time the bus driver (himself a cyclist) came
out and tried, then scratching his head what we could do.

-- Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

I'd like to see an image of the ACTUAL bus rack your road
bike won't fit into. Me long wheelbase 1980's MTB fits in our
bus racks without any problems at all and the wheelbase on
that MTB is longer than most modern 26" wheels MTBs. I just
can't imagine why you can't get even a 1980's road bike into
your bus rack.


It's not that easy. First, they seem to have a plethora of
racks, some partially good, some bad, and you never know which
one comes. Then the bus is on a hot schedule and loops, no end
points, so I'd need to have a buddy to take a pic, fast. And
carry a camera because my phone doesn't have one.

Look at the link Jay pointed out, that shows the problem. Even
a regular 26" bike started to ride up on the slot ends. See at
0:33min, front wheel rides up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETtnX_KScI8

At :33 is a road bike with 700C wheels, unless Bianchi is making
a Volpe variant with 650B. It does have flat bars. The rack
design undoubtedly requires that a certain percentage of the arc
of the wheel is within the tray, but the bike doesn't have to
drop to the bottom to be safe. The downward force of the
clamping arm holds it in place. That bike is fine. It's not going
anywhere.


The more the rear tire rides up the less safe the bike is held in
place if this bus has to make a sudden sharp left turn in an
emergency situation. At 0:35min you can see that the bike comes to
rest sloppily, with the rear wheel partially out.

What is so difficult to design a rack so bikes don't do this? It's
not rocket science, it's easy.

Go to the SportWorks catalog. There are many available designs, and
newer designs do have an open wheel tray, but keep in mind that it is
the front wheel that matters, and the short tray models probably
support an equal percentage of the arc of the wheel even when the
wheel rides up in the closed wheel tray.


The only thing that holds a bike with its rear wheel almost out of the
slot is the frcition of the hook and that material was a bit worn on the
racks I used. When I loaded my MTB "correctly" with front wheel hooked
and real wheel sticking mostly out of the slot I could easily cause the
whole bike to slip back out of the rack with one hand. Obviously not
safe. The driver came out and agreed. He said the only way might a
non-standard loading where the hook goes over the rear wheel and then
cinching down the front wheel hard. With the emphasis on hard, really
hard, something you don't want to do to a road bike rim and tire.
Luckily the hook could be pushed under the (solidly mounted) panniers
and I had a strong bungee. Without that I could not have used the bus.
Same for my buddy despite his bike being a frame size smaller.


... Have you seen bicycles littering the roadway?

No, but heard of cases where bikes flew out. A case that took the cake
was where the transit agency later told the cyclist that by placing a
bike in the rack the passenger assumes responsibility, so no claim (his
bike ended up under the bus).


... I rode home last night and saw dozens of
bikes of various shapes and sizes on the fronts of our local TriMet
buses. No complaints were heard, but then again, we're tough
Oregonians living in the wilds of Portland.


TriMet might have selected properly designed racks. Just like some rack
slots on our transit buses are perfectly ok.

Anyhow, we can discuss this until the cows come home. When the rear
wheel rides up out of the slot it's not safe.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/