What's the worst that could happen? (bike rack)

[Rialas]

Suction pads should only be used for repairing your bodywork.
"Ok as long as the body is clean"? No way would I trust them.

I have a sarris bones nearly new if anyone is interested, too fiddly, and I'm too lazy. North London. Half price from new. Bought from Evans.

[sticky]

That's EXACTLY the mount i'd invest in for a coupe if i had one. However, cant really tell from pic but is the front mount on the rear windscreen? If so, i'd suggest trying to configure between roof and metal part of tailgate for the rear mount. Have seen broken glass with different mounts that way!
What bike is that?
Currently using this for my own bike shennanigans..
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I came up with a different solution
IMG_1185.JPG
Rob

I wish there were such a thing as a foldup full carbon racing bike. I'd take mine absolutely everywhere!

Didn"t BMW do something like that few years ago ???

[Paulwirral]

Just remember it's up there , a good mate of mine went out and bought a new bike , put it on his new roof - bike rack and decided to take the bike out on a local track , he drove to the car park that had a height restriction barrier , you can guess the rest
One wrecked fork and wheel as well as a couple of ripples in the roof

[DMC63]

Waaaaay too risky. Suction pads holding on a bike frame at 60mph? Are you nuts! I don't care what the marketing schpeel says...The vibrations, change in temp and relative humidity along with forces caused by acceleration and cornering alone stack up to make this a real risk of winding up implanted in someones face along with their windscreen. I just about trust a suction cup to hold my phone to the inside of the screen, and that's fallen off a few times. Jeeeezzzz! They say one thing about common sense is it's not very common. Nothing personal, just my opinion. I'm sure you're a really nice bloke.

[Chris_D]

Waaaaay too risky. Suction pads holding on a bike frame at 60mph? Are you nuts! I don't care what the marketing schpeel says...The vibrations, change in temp and relative humidity along with forces caused by acceleration and cornering alone stack up to make this a real risk of winding up implanted in someones face along with their windscreen. I just about trust a suction cup to hold my phone to the inside of the screen, and that's fallen off a few times. Jeeeezzzz! They say one thing about common sense is it's not very common. Nothing personal, just my opinion. I'm sure you're a really nice bloke.

Bit harsh DM.
Common sense doesn't really figure in the choice to go with these. I was looking at buying them before I realised it wouldnt work on a roadster but now I'm looking for a coupe aswell I'll def be looking into buying a set if that happens!
My background is design engineering and I would have every confidence in this as a 'pneumatic support mechanism' if used within operating spec. It's actually probably safer in some respects than traditional 'strap-based' bike frames in that it relies on a strong seal to effect pneumatic compression between two already mechanically strong mating surfaces.
Products like these go through insane development and testing regimens before being released to market. No company wants to be held liable for the destruction/damage of 1000's of bikes, ergo they're designed to perform according to a strict design brief, one primary design criteria of which I would presume is 'must not fail by coming loose and destroying bike'.
Suction cups are nothing new and for a bike weighing around or less than 10Kg like mine, with little wind resistance when mounted, I would have no reservations using this whatsoever.
I think a nice 'lux version' development would be some sort of indicator, visual or bluetooth, to warn of any loss of suction. this has 3 mounting points which counts as a 'mechanical system' and hence giving a high degree of failure-redundancy - if 1 mount fails or is compromised then the other 2 take the strain.
Ofc there would be a user-phase of 'is this woking ok?' where you would probably be checking every so often if it's still secure. That's human nature and our own subconcious risk mitigation systems taking over. I'm sure that disappears over time though.
I think it's a well-designed, elegant solution to carrying a bike. A lot less faff than my current heavy strap frame!

[Chris_D]

I came up with a different solution
IMG_1185.JPG
Rob

I wish there were such a thing as a foldup full carbon racing bike. I'd take mine absolutely everywhere!

Didn"t BMW do something like that few years ago ???

I know they did some nice looking bikes but I don't think there were any folding racing bikes in the lineup.

[sticky]

I wish there were such a thing as a foldup full carbon racing bike. I'd take mine absolutely everywhere!

Didn"t BMW do something like that few years ago ???

I know they did some nice looking bikes but I don't think there were any folding racing bikes in the lineup.

I"ll have a sniff around, I was in BMW shop in Berlin ca 7 years ago they had some expensive bikes in there, folding, alu and other bits as well. It was aimed at "city" people and the shop was/is on Kurfurstendamm, money and more money

[Rialas]

Waaaaay too risky. Suction pads holding on a bike frame at 60mph? Are you nuts! I don't care what the marketing schpeel says...The vibrations, change in temp and relative humidity along with forces caused by acceleration and cornering alone stack up to make this a real risk of winding up implanted in someones face along with their windscreen. I just about trust a suction cup to hold my phone to the inside of the screen, and that's fallen off a few times. Jeeeezzzz! They say one thing about common sense is it's not very common. Nothing personal, just my opinion. I'm sure you're a really nice bloke.

Bit harsh DM.
Common sense doesn't really figure in the choice to go with these. I was looking at buying them before I realised it wouldnt work on a roadster but now I'm looking for a coupe aswell I'll def be looking into buying a set if that happens!
My background is design engineering and I would have every confidence in this as a 'pneumatic support mechanism' if used within operating spec. It's actually probably safer in some respects than traditional 'strap-based' bike frames in that it relies on a strong seal to effect pneumatic compression between two already mechanically strong mating surfaces.
Products like these go through insane development and testing regimens before being released to market. No company wants to be held liable for the destruction/damage of 1000's of bikes, ergo they're designed to perform according to a strict design brief, one primary design criteria of which I would presume is 'must not fail by coming loose and destroying bike'.
Suction cups are nothing new and for a bike weighing around or less than 10Kg like mine, with little wind resistance when mounted, I would have no reservations using this whatsoever.
I think a nice 'lux version' development would be some sort of indicator, visual or bluetooth, to warn of any loss of suction. this has 3 mounting points which counts as a 'mechanical system' and hence giving a high degree of failure-redundancy - if 1 mount fails or is compromised then the other 2 take the strain.
Ofc there would be a user-phase of 'is this woking ok?' where you would probably be checking every so often if it's still secure. That's human nature and our own subconcious risk mitigation systems taking over. I'm sure that disappears over time though.
I think it's a well-designed, elegant solution to carrying a bike. A lot less faff than my current heavy strap frame!

Chris, that's a good post, but never ever would you convince me these are safe. It doesn't take much to dent a panel on a car, if it's secure as claimed, but the biggest fear would be of hurting someone should it fail. Not worth the risk.

[beanitos]

Thanks DM!

I wouldn't be using it if I had any doubts. Two lads in work have these, one has the two bike version and has been using it for two years. Never have any of the vacuum cups lost suction. They are both 1st class engineers, best in their respective fields. If they're happy, I'm happy.

Chris - on your point about monitoring suction levels: Each suction cup has a visual indicator. When you install, the pump lever disappears once the required level of suction is achieved. If this drops below the threshold level the lever pops out - it has a bright white band around it making it easy to spot. Essentially an early warning system.

[DMC63]

Waaaaay too risky. Suction pads holding on a bike frame at 60mph? Are you nuts! I don't care what the marketing schpeel says...The vibrations, change in temp and relative humidity along with forces caused by acceleration and cornering alone stack up to make this a real risk of winding up implanted in someones face along with their windscreen. I just about trust a suction cup to hold my phone to the inside of the screen, and that's fallen off a few times. Jeeeezzzz! They say one thing about common sense is it's not very common. Nothing personal, just my opinion. I'm sure you're a really nice bloke.

Bit harsh DM.
Common sense doesn't really figure in the choice to go with these. I was looking at buying them before I realised it wouldnt work on a roadster but now I'm looking for a coupe aswell I'll def be looking into buying a set if that happens!
My background is design engineering and I would have every confidence in this as a 'pneumatic support mechanism' if used within operating spec. It's actually probably safer in some respects than traditional 'strap-based' bike frames in that it relies on a strong seal to effect pneumatic compression between two already mechanically strong mating surfaces.
Products like these go through insane development and testing regimens before being released to market. No company wants to be held liable for the destruction/damage of 1000's of bikes, ergo they're designed to perform according to a strict design brief, one primary design criteria of which I would presume is 'must not fail by coming loose and destroying bike'.
Suction cups are nothing new and for a bike weighing around or less than 10Kg like mine, with little wind resistance when mounted, I would have no reservations using this whatsoever.
I think a nice 'lux version' development would be some sort of indicator, visual or bluetooth, to warn of any loss of suction. this has 3 mounting points which counts as a 'mechanical system' and hence giving a high degree of failure-redundancy - if 1 mount fails or is compromised then the other 2 take the strain.
Ofc there would be a user-phase of 'is this woking ok?' where you would probably be checking every so often if it's still secure. That's human nature and our own subconcious risk mitigation systems taking over. I'm sure that disappears over time though.
I think it's a well-designed, elegant solution to carrying a bike. A lot less faff than my current heavy strap frame!

Chris, that's a good post, but never ever would you convince me these are safe. It doesn't take much to dent a panel on a car, if it's secure as claimed, but the biggest fear would be of hurting someone should it fail. Not worth the risk.

Sorry to be harsh.. It wasn't intended as a slight of any kind, not my style.
I understand these inventions are subjected to rigorous testing prior to market release. I'd assume they've created the 'system' to take loads based on leverage under g force and so on. I'm sure every possible scenario has been thought of and the product is working well within the limits it's capable of..
I'm not an engineer, my main interest is creating music, though my business at present is within the construction industry. I'm always looking at the risk factors, and removing them completely or minimizing them to an acceptable level. A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. I'd never use one of these because I see the glass as the weakest link, (and it looks silly ). The rear glass is not designed in any way to bear an additional load. It's designed to be a rear window of a car. The designers would have looked into the specs of the glass 10kg isn't a lot of weight but you've only got to hit a low drain cover or pot hole and the transfer of weight could well crack the glass and a whole new ball game kicks off. Then again the other suction cups would hopefully hold out. So probably no more than a few quid to replace the window.
Being an engineer the 'figures' and 'stats' are enough to put your mind at rest. Me, my mind would always be thinking, is the window gonna hold out? Tbh I've found this thread entertaining. I'd never heard of or seen a bike rack on a sports car and it makes me chuckle, nearly as much as a baby seat in a roadster . Live and let live. Whatever you buy, enjoy yourself

[beanitos]

No worries. Stick #seasucker into instagram to see some ridiculous bike/sports car combos!

[MDUBZ]

the roadster isn't the car of choice for lugging bikes about but i have done it: I just stuck mine in the boot (large frame & so is the bike ). I put some pipe lagging around the frame to stop any damage occurring in transit.

• wheels off
  handlebars off
  forks out
  seat post out (mark the seat post for easy height adjustment (making tape, dab of paint etc)

it's just 2 quick release skewers 1 bolt out and 3 loosened; it all fits back together in less than 5 minutes: portable bike stand, track pump and tool kit behind the passenger seat

it's less faff then putting on the cycle carrier tbh
you don't have to worry about leaving the car parked up with a bike on display
and no issues about watching your speed, well not with regard to carrying a bike anyway...

[m635dude]

First post here, so that means I have zero credibility, but I have a Seasucker rack and it's been amazing. The beauty in it is the flexibility of the rack. I've used it on my e46 m3, i3, alfa spiders, audi s6, and a defender. To buy racks for all of those cars would probably be thousands, and they wouldnt be half as good. There are two problems with this rack. First is that you have to take it off every time you ride. As it takes 5 seconds to remove, and about 45 to put back on, this isn't a big deal. The other is when it's cold, its sometimes hard to start suction.

If you experience this rack first hand, you will know that it's not going to fly off... It just isn't haha. One suction cup could easily hold a bike by itself (you could literally hang off of one and do pull ups on it). My rack as 5. I'm not trying to say it's the best thing since sliced bread, but if you think it's kind of neat, don't listen to the folks saying that it wont work or they wouldn't trust it. Not that their opinions don't mean anything, they just happen to be wrong in this instance.

I did 100-120 mph for 50 miles with my mtn bike on the roof of my m3. It was just as secure when I arrived as when I left. This of course was on a closed racing track..... Video for doubters that this rack is stable at those speeds....

http://www.imgrum.net/media/12808881103 ... _145070970

Now I just need to buy a z4 coupe so I can use it on that next!!

[TomK]

Quite tempted by one of these I must say. The saris bones is about half the price though, but a bit of a faff I think having seen my mates one briefly (but I guess they both are really).
Any further reports OP?
Seems to stay on well enough an f-type, plus my bike only weighs about 6kg so it's not got a lot to keep hold of!

[beanitos]

Hi TomK

First time took quite a while as I experimented with all the possible locations to mount it. The channel down the center of the Coupe roof limits the options but still plenty to play with. Now that I'm happy with where to put it, I can get from everything off to rack on and bike attached in less than 5 mins. Removing takes literally 30 seconds.

Used it three times so far. Very stable, very useful and I'm sure the flexibility to transfer to any car will come in handy.