Carrying a tandem?

[Frank Krygowski]

Our cars have always been small, so the only way to carry our tandem has
been on a roof rack. When we've bought a new car, I've usually been
successful in adapting one of the old racks to the new car.

For the past few cars, I've had a nice system. The rack hung from a rope
and pulley system directly above the car. To install it, I'd lower the
roof rack, fasten it to the car, attach the extension I made to support
the tandem's front fork, lift the bike into place and driver off. It
took only a few minutes.

Our new car (Kia Niro EV) has longitudinal roof rails, but no easy or
obvious way of fastening the previous old rack. But a friend gave me a
set of crossbars which I've adapted to fit. A rack that clamped to our
Pontiac Vibe's crossbars has now been adapted to fit. But this car is
quite a bit taller. My wife isn't able to easily guide the front fork
dropouts into the rack's quick release, and it's no picnic for me to
lift the tandem that high.

We could use some sort of stools, I suppose, but that seems a bit scary.
Yakima has, or had, a "Sidewinder" attachment
https://us.amazon.com/Yakima-SideWinder-Rooftop-Bicycle-Carrier/dp/B000674PXK
that allowed one to raise the front of the bike with the rear wheel on
the ground, clamp the front fork in place, then lift the rear of the
bike. It sounds nice, but it also sounds unavailable.

Has anyone used one? Does anyone have any other ideas that don't involve
falling off of a stool while lifting 45 pounds or more?

--
- Frank Krygowski

[John B.]

If it is one tandem then why not cross in the rear of the car...
which, I suppose, effectively locks the rear "hatch" but if it is just
you and the wife you can (we do) flip the rear seats down and throw
the bags in through the rear doors.
--
Cheers,

John B.

[Frank Krygowski]

I've carried it once that way, but didn't like it. It makes a very wide package, sticking out way beyond
the width of the car.

- Frank Krygowski

[John B.]

Ah... After I posted I thought of that. The answer to carrying
bicycles is, of course.... buy a pickup (:-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

[Roger Merriman]

Equally unhelpful my old Volvo just swallows such stuff, I’d assume wheels
off a tandem would fit.

Roger Merriman.

[AMuzi]

I have not used one but I do see customers using them in my
lot when bringing tandems for service. They seem easy to use.

Other people stand on those HDPE 'milk crate' things for
securing roof mounted gear, not only bicycles. They're
'general housewares' and are cheap in colors and sizes.
Throw your helmet and shoes in them while traveling.

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Thu, 19 May 2022 22:06:49 -0400, Frank Krygowski
<frkr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>We could use some sort of stools, I suppose, but that seems a bit scary.

I carry lumber on the roof of my Subaru Forester. To help, I use a
wooden step ladder. See if any of these look usable. I suggest
something with a large flat top suitable for standing on. Some of
them look like they fold flat, which would help conserve space in a
small car.
<https://www.google.com/search?q=folding+step+stool&tbm=isch>
I worry about the step ladder sliding out from under me while leaning
over the roof of the car. To prevent that, I have a short heavy rope
tied to the step ladder. I throw the rope into the car, and slam the
door on the rope. That's enough to keep the step ladder from slipping
on smooth concrete.


--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

[Frank Krygowski]

Throw my _what_ in them?? :-)

Thanks. Maybe a couple sufficiently stable stools are worth a try after
all. But I'more worried about my wife's stability more than my own.


--
- Frank Krygowski

[sms]

Years ago, at Interbike, there was a rack being marketed that had a lift
system for getting bikes on the roof. They were showing it with a
tandem. Both wheels stayed on.

The ATOC rack <http://www.atoc.com/tandemtopper.php> makes it easier to
mount a tandem, but the front wheel has to be removed.

VW has a rack with hydraulic lift assist
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eGLscriQAE>.

On my 4Runner I just used a step stool to put the tandem on the roof.

[AMuzi]

Sorry I did not mean that pointedly. oops.

[Tom Kunich]

Frank, I was finally stuck buying an ole pickup truck and a fork mount from Eureka, While a pain in the butt, a pickup also comes in useful for so many other things that it is not an entire waste of time and parking space.

[Ted Heise]

On Thu, 19 May 2022 20:33:32 -0700 (PDT),
Frank Krygowski <frkr...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 10:54:50 PM UTC-4, John B. wrote:
> > On Thu, 19 May 2022 22:06:49 -0400, Frank Krygowski
> > <frkr...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> >
> > >Our cars have always been small, so the only way to carry our
> > >tandem has been on a roof rack.

> > >Our new car (Kia Niro EV) has longitudinal roof rails, but

> > >[...] is quite a bit taller. My wife isn't able to easily

> > >guide the front fork dropouts into the rack's quick release,
> > >and it's no picnic for me to lift the tandem that high.
> > >
> > >We could use some sort of stools, I suppose, but that seems a
> > >bit scary. Yakima has, or had, a "Sidewinder" attachment

> > >[that...] sounds nice, but it also sounds unavailable.
> > >
> > >Has anyone used one?

I have not used one. On the old tandem list, the ATOC (discussed
elsethread) seemed to have a good reputation.

> > >Does anyone have any other ideas that don't involve falling
> > >off of a stool while lifting 45 pounds or more?

> > If it is one tandem then why not cross in the rear of the
> > car... which, I suppose, effectively locks the rear "hatch"
> > but if it is just you and the wife you can (we do) flip the
> > rear seats down and throw the bags in through the rear doors.
>
> I've carried it once that way, but didn't like it. It makes a
> very wide package, sticking out way beyond the width of the
> car.

I've done that too with my previous tandem (when I drove a Honda
Accord), and it stuck out too far for my taste. My newer tandem
is a fair bit longer, so it would be even worse. On top of the
width issue, a bike hanging off the back of the vehicle seems to
pick up a lot of road grime if it's at all wet.

On one longer trip, I discovered I could thread the tandem through
the back seat pass through on the Accord (with the wheels off, of
course), and still get the trunk closed. Brilliant! I'm pretty
sure that only worked because that old tandem had a quite compact
stoker configuration.

Today we have a Santana with couplers, and if traveling anywhere
it's a simple matter to split the bike into two pieces and put it
in the back of our SUV (an Acadia with the rear and middle seats
down). The two pieces stack on top of each other (with a quilt
between them), and there's room to pack suitacases and bike gear
around it. Takes me less than five minutes to take it apart and
pack it, and not much more to get it reassembled. I'm not sure
how big your SUV is, but I've also fit the split tandem into the
back of a Nissan Rogue with no problem. And yes, I realize you're
not likely willing to consider a new tandem--just adding the info
for general awareness.

--
Ted Heise <the...@panix.com> West Lafayette, IN, USA

[Frank Krygowski]

No apology necessary. I was joking.

But I'll sadly report the stools didn't work. She just had too much
trouble guiding the front dropouts into the rack's quick release. She's
gotten less steady.

Looks like I'll have to either buy or fabricate a pivoting front fork
attachment to allow me to mount the bike alone.

I tend to get suckered into such fabricating jobs by a "Heck, I can do
that!" mentality. When it takes three times as long as I thought, I
regret my ambitions. :-/


--
- Frank Krygowski

[sms]

On 5/20/2022 8:35 AM, sms wrote:

<snip>

> The ATOC rack <http://www.atoc.com/tandemtopper.php> makes it easier to
> mount a tandem, but the front wheel has to be removed.

I believe that Thule resells that ATOC rack
<https://www.thule.com/en-us/bike-rack/roof-bike-racks/thule-tandem-carrier-_-3286>.

Also Rocky Mounts <https://rockymounts.com/products/tandem-mount-r4.html>.

The Sidewinder is still available from Thule.

Often you can find these tandem mounts on the used market for 1/2 to 2/3
the new price, they hold their value pretty well. Closest one to Frank
that I saw was:
<https://pennstate.craigslist.org/bop/d/state-college-tandem-bike-roof-rack/7468989865.html>

<https://newyork.craigslist.org/stn/bop/d/staten-island-yakima-sidewinder-tandem/7485772479.html>

<https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/bop/d/san-francisco-tandem-bike-rack/7475869456.html>

<https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/bik/d/palo-alto-yakima-sidewinder-tandem-roof/7481694424.html>

Lots of homebuilt tandem racks around. I adapted a long discountinued
Graber tandem rack to fit my Thule crossbars. If I had to adapt a rack
again I would probably use parts from a hitch rack like
<https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/427081573> and use a long piece of
steel square tube (in place of the two folding short tubes that it
comes) with with the wheel platforms positioned close to the crossbars
(since they bear all the weight) and the upright somewhere in the center
(since it just holds the bicycle upright.

The Sportworks U2 is probably the best tandem rack ever made, in terms
of securely holding the bicycle and not putting undue stress on the fork
and headset, but Thule bought the company and discontinued the product
<https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/0711/19/sportrack-u2-roof-rack-tandem_1_ec3003e3a484b10ff8316d90f9e852dc.jpg>.
But this rack required lifting the tandem up, no pivot.

[Radey Shouman]

Mr. Krygowski has frequently lauded his utility trailer as an
alternative to a pickup, perhaps that could be adapted by bolting a fork
mount down, and some other means of stabilizing the bike.

[John B.]

Yes, and I have seen a "motorcycle trailer" designed to transport
motorcycles. The reference below is not exactly what I saw but give
sufficient detail to be understood.
https://hackaday.com/2021/08/02/single-wheel-motorcycle-trailer/
--
Cheers,

John B.

[Frank Krygowski]

I've considered that. At present, the new car does not yet have a
trailer hitch. But more seriously, my utility trailer is stored in a way
intending only occasional use. To access it, I first have to move my
motorcycle, camping trailer, lawn mower and snow blower. It's not what
I'd want to do before rushing off to an early morning bike club ride.

The potentially good news: Yesterday I phoned some tandem riding friends
to ask their advice. They think they have a SideWinder rack or something
similar that they say they won't be using and might sell to me. It will
be a couple days before they (or we) can confirm, but it gives me hope.

--
- Frank Krygowski