fenders and transporting bikes

[bruno]

i have nice honjo fenders on my new long-distance road bike. how do
you transport the bike without removing the front fender (which can be
a pain)? can you put the bike on a roof rack with the fender attached?
it doesn't look like it to me. i don't have a van or an SUV--i have a
honda civic 4-door. do i just have to put it on a trunk mounted rack.
any ideas?

thanks!

[Chris Jackson]

I use a Yakima Boa roof mount--it's a two piece model, i.e., there's no tray.  On my wife's Civic it allows sufficient clearance between the roof and the front fender's mudflap.  If you have a very long fender/mudflap on a curved roof, I suppose there could still be contact, but as long as your mudflap is flexible, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Chris

 

[Peter Jon White]

bruno wrote:
> i have nice honjo fenders on my new long-distance road bike. how do
> you transport the bike without removing the front fender (which can be
> a pain)?

I don't see it as a pain at all. Just undo the two bolts holding the two
fender stays to the dropouts, and undo the bolt holding the fender to
the crown. Store the bolts on the fork in the same locations. Even if
you have caliper brakes, it takes only seconds to realign modern caliper
brakes when you put the fender back on. The job should take no more than
three minutes to remove the fender and at most five minutes to reinstall.

Only if you were to detach the struts from the fender does the job
become complicated because then you have to readjust them. Disconnecting
only at the fork requires no readjustment at all, except for centering a
caliper brake.

--

Peter Jon White

Peter White Cycles
24 Hall Rd.
Hillsborough, NH 03244
603 478 0900 Phone
603 478 0902 Phax
www.PeterWhiteCycles.com

http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle

[jake Kassen]

Alex Wetmore has an article on his site where he shows how he made
"quick release" fenders for his Swift Folder. This solution might work
for you.

http://www.phred.org/~alex/bikes/quick-release-fenders.html

Any of the roof racks that has the gutter bar cut to only support the
back wheel (instead of running the length of the car) would also solve
the problem.

Jake "Carless" Kassen

[bruno]

thanks guys. problem solved!

[Bill Gobie]

On Apr 25, 2007, at 6:34 AM, jake Kassen wrote:

> bruno wrote:
>> i have nice honjo fenders on my new long-distance road bike. how do
>> you transport the bike without removing the front fender (which
>> can be
>> a pain)? can you put the bike on a roof rack with the fender
>> attached?
>> it doesn't look like it to me. i don't have a van or an SUV--i have a
>> honda civic 4-door. do i just have to put it on a trunk mounted rack.
>> any ideas?
>>
>
> Alex Wetmore has an article on his site where he shows how he made
> "quick release" fenders for his Swift Folder. This solution might work
> for you.

I used Alex's idea but only for the stay attachments to the fork.
Usually I only have to release one fender stay and push the fender to
the side of the wheel tray.

Pic:

http://tinyurl.com/2kauzs

Bill

[Robert Magyar]

you have multiple options,
 
Thule and Yakima both have full length trays that allow you to keep both wheels attached,
 
or you can get some thing like the Atoc Tandem Topper, with has a raise post for attaching the front fork, (get one with a detachable tray section, see the tray length is short.)

No messing with the fenders,
 
 
Bob

---

> From: jro...@yahoo.com
> To: ran...@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [Randon] fenders and transporting bikes
> Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 12:47:28 +0000
>
>
> i have nice honjo fenders on my new long-distance road bike. how do
> you transport the bike without removing the front fender (which can be
> a pain)? can you put the bike on a roof rack with the fender attached?
> it doesn't look like it to me. i don't have a van or an SUV--i have a
> honda civic 4-door. do i just have to put it on a trunk mounted rack.
> any ideas?
>

> thanks!
>
>
>

[Bill Bryant]

I have gotten around this problem by using the Yakima fork mount designed
for bikes with Lowrider racks. They raise the front end of the bike several
inches and allow fenders with mud flaps to be used w/o problem. Mine are
pretty old and I don't know if Yakima still makes these parts. But if not,
perhaps they will show up at bike swap meets or on e-bay.

In any case, I agree with Jan that attaching/removing the front fender each
time you want to use the roof-top carrier hardly seems like a good solution.

Bill Bryant
Santa Cruz by the sea

>
> Taking the fender off each time you put your bike on a roof rack
> seems like an unnecessary pain. Imagine arriving at a brevet in the
> dark and having to fumble with small bolts and nuts.
>
> On most cars, using a two-piece roof rack attachment (without
> continuous tray) should allow you to mount the bike on the car with
> enough clearance. If you only have "continuous tray" attachments, you
> probably can modify them by cutting off the extra tray length. On my
> older Thule attachments, that is the only difference between the
> continuous model and the two-piece one.
>
> If your fender is barely too long, you may even consider shortening
> it a tad. (I rarely carry my bikes on cars, so I did not consider the
> roof rack when setting up the fenders. I was lucky that most fit with
> just 1/2" to spare.)
>
> Your mudflap is likely to rest of the car roof unless you have a
> _very_ short front fender. My mudflaps are made from rubber, as
> described in the Winter 206 Bicycle Quarterly (Vol. 5, No. 2), so
> they are very flexible. However, the flap will vibrate against your
> car roof at certain speeds. If you are at all concerned about the
> paint being rubbed (polished) and getting thin, I suggest putting a
> piece of clear plastic, like the stuff used for chainstay protectors,
> underneath. (I think you can buy larger sheets of this in car parts
> stores, as I have seen it used to protect the front of the hood from
> stone chip damage.)
>
> Jan Heine
> Editor
> Bicycle Quarterly
> 140 Lakeside Ave #C
> Seattle WA 98122
> www.bikequarterly.com
>
> >

[Bill Gobie]

On Apr 26, 2007, at 7:16 AM, Jan Heine wrote:

> Taking the fender off each time you put your bike on a roof rack
> seems like an unnecessary pain. Imagine arriving at a brevet in the
> dark and having to fumble with small bolts and nuts.

It is hardly a problem to release one fender stay and push the fender
sideways to clear the rack. The whole point of using wingnuts is
that they aren't fumbly.

Bill

[Peter Leiss]

Hi Jan, everyone

The Yakima Raptor should work just fine for fendered bikes. I use the
ATOC Tandem topper with the extended front tower as well as the
Raptor with no issues.

Peter

http://www.yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=17

On 26-Apr-07, at 10:16 AM, Jan Heine wrote:

>
> Taking the fender off each time you put your bike on a roof rack
> seems like an unnecessary pain. Imagine arriving at a brevet in the
> dark and having to fumble with small bolts and nuts.
>