Geekzone Cycling Thread

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#2903734 19-Apr-2022 11:21

Technofreak:

This is what we have now but am looking for something better.

.

I have one of those too but modern bikes just don't play ball with their frame shapes and tube diameters.

The ones where the bikes rest on their wheels look like they should be pretty much immune to bike design changes as well as easier to use - just too spendy for me.

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#2903736 19-Apr-2022 11:22

mudguard:

Handsomedan:

I have one of these: Torpedo 7 4 bike channel rack

I love it. I also have an older style 2 bike rack that is just awkward to use with full suspension MTB's with sloping/curved top tubes.

I think that's a better design, as there is a vertical pole for each bike, so there is more flexibility with the clamp.

Trouble is most of these racks only fit a 50 mm ball. Our cars have 1/ 7/8" balls to fit the coupling on the trailer. 7/8" is so much more common in New Zealand I don't understand why most of these racks are 50mm.

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#2903741 19-Apr-2022 11:30

mudguard:

I need to look up which model mine is, I have the one with the lights and number plate holder. 925 maybe. My thoughts on it are that I like it in principle over the traditional two prong downhill rack. The bikes block less of the rear view and it's easy to lift them only a foot or two onto the rack. They are well made and as you've noted, quite heavy.

Mine must've done 30,000kms on the back of my car (I take my bike when I work) and it's not remotely come loose on the towbar. That said, there are a few things I don't like about it. Mine is for three bikes, but there is no way you would get three adult bikes on it, the only chance is if you had three traditional shaped bikes (double diamond hardtails) or a child's bike. I took the middle trays out so that mine and my partner's bike have plenty of room.

The clamps are a bit crap, you can actually slide them off whatever tube you've clamped them around if you push hard enough. And there is an element of tetris required to actually line the clamps up. It's fine if you are always using the same bike or two, you kind of get the hand of it. But if you have full suspension bikes with non traditional tube shapes it can be awkward to feed the clamps through to grab the rack. I would much prefer they replicated the roof rack where they had the clamp lift up from the bottom and grab the down tube.

I've also had the clamps let go twice, at 100kmh. The first time the wheel tethers held, but the bike still fell over and grazed the road before bouncing back up and the tethers held it off the road, result was new grip and handlebar. Second time was slower and the bike never touched the ground. In both cases it was a non traditional shaped frame, the clamps really only want to grab oval or round tubes. Since then I've run a bungy over the bikes.

If you are in Auckland I'm happy to show how they work, they have multiple variations but they all seem to clamp the bikes the same way.

The same key works for the lock to the towbar, and for the clamps, so I leave it on my car key ring. I also have an extremely heavy motorcycle lock that I use on longer trips to lock the rack, and the bikes to car chassis due to the ability slip the clamps off.

I think the clamps may have been improved. The one I saw in the video looked pretty good and I think would be hard for them to come loose.

The spacing between the bikes is something I've yet to figure out. I'm away from home and when I get back I need to look at how the spacing between the bikes will work. It's possible a 3 bike frame might be the way we need to go and just not use the middle position. I'd prefer to stick with a 2 bike frame to keep the size and weight of the frame down.

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#2903743 19-Apr-2022 11:31

elpenguino:

Technofreak:

This is what we have now but am looking for something better.

.

I have one of those too but modern bikes just don't play ball with their frame shapes and tube diameters.

The ones where the bikes rest on their wheels look like they should be pretty much immune to bike design changes as well as easier to use - just too spendy for me.

Hence the reason for looking for something else. Yep, spendy for sure, but worth it long term for us I think.

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#2903794 19-Apr-2022 12:56

mudguard:

Sheesh what did you do to your old brakes? Most modern brakes will take whatever you can throw at them short of dragging them down a whole ski field.

10 year old brakes and rotors. A bit of contamination on the rotors and they burnt out, while I was dragging them on a long, gnarly downhill (poor form).

They weren't great anyway and I was really taking my life in my own hands doing DH park riding on them.

Now have Shimano 4-pots with Ice Tech rotors, so a lot more stopping power for a beefy chap like myself.

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#2903812 19-Apr-2022 13:48

4 pots?! Amazing to see how tricky technology gets.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

MikeAqua

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#2903821 19-Apr-2022 13:59

Can anyone recommend a hitch receiver compatible bike rack suitable for couple of e-MTBs? Needs to be suitable for an SUV with a rear door mounted spare wheel.

Mike

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#2903947 19-Apr-2022 16:02

MikeAqua:

Can anyone recommend a hitch receiver compatible bike rack suitable for couple of e-MTBs? Needs to be suitable for an SUV with a rear door mounted spare wheel.

You'll have to spend a bit of coin, but I'd say it'll be either Yakima or Thule.

https://www.yakima.co.nz/products/activity/bike/bike-hitch/onramp-2-inch

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MikeAqua

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#2904213 20-Apr-2022 10:48

Handsomedan:

MikeAqua:

Can anyone recommend a hitch receiver compatible bike rack suitable for couple of e-MTBs? Needs to be suitable for an SUV with a rear door mounted spare wheel.

You'll have to spend a bit of coin, but I'd say it'll be either Yakima or Thule.

https://www.yakima.co.nz/products/activity/bike/bike-hitch/onramp-2-inch

Thanks, Thule make some nice hitch receiver units, but not sold in NZ. That Yakima unit looks good.

My partner has been circling an e-bike for a while, so I feel there are e-bikes in our future and I'm not at all keen to lift them on and off the roof racks!

Mike

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#2904251 20-Apr-2022 11:32

MikeAqua:

Thanks, Thule make some nice hitch receiver units, but not sold in NZ. That Yakima unit looks good.

My partner has been circling an e-bike for a while, so I feel there are e-bikes in our future and I'm not at all keen to lift them on and off the roof racks!

Ah that's interesting. I bought my Thule (tow bar) rack when I had my Camry, which had a normal tow bar. Oddly my Corolla has come with a two inch receiver so that style of rack would have been useful.

I wonder if they would bring one in? I'm sure other manufacturers will do them. Mine would probably clear a spare tyre as it's designed to tilt.

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#2904257 20-Apr-2022 11:48

elpenguino:

4 pots?! Amazing to see how tricky technology gets.

i bought the most powerful 2 pot Shimano XT brakes and down a steep fast 200m stretch it struggled to stop a 72kg person on a 14kg bike.

i did not feel in control whatsoever

not sure if we are thinking the same things just to confirm

ie 4 pots means two bit on each side

my 2 pot means 1 bit on each side

mudguard

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#2904261 20-Apr-2022 12:02

Pots equals pistons.
I had Shimano SLX which had two pistons, one per side and they were awesome. I have Shimano Saint now, four pistons, two per side and they are excellent. They are so good that the Saint Groupset is coming up a decade old and it hasn't been changed. That kind of longevity is almost unheard of for mountainbikes.

You could get six piston brakes for awhile. Hope made them, they are a little sought after now.

elpenguino

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#2904282 20-Apr-2022 12:19

Immediately started thinking of motorbikes, double discs, 6 pots per side and so on.

Found a video online of a fella who's custom made a double disc setup for his MTB.

On mobile so can't add the link but I'm sure there won't be too many search results returned.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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#2904358 20-Apr-2022 13:53

elpenguino: Immediately started thinking of motorbikes, double discs, 6 pots per side and so on.

Found a video online of a fella who's custom made a double disc setup for his MTB.

On mobile so can't add the link but I'm sure there won't be too many search results returned.

That's just bonkers!

I have to say - moving from standard (old) SRAM rotors to Shimano Icetech and going from 2-Piston to 4 has made an incredible difference.

Bought the brakes second hand as a take-off, then the bike shop up-sold me onto the Icetech rotors. It was that or go 200f/180r from my current 180f/160r set up.

Went from this:

Avid Elixir 5 Disc Brake - Reviews, Comparisons, Specs - Mountain Bike Hydraulic Disc Brakes - Vital MTB

To this:

Shimano XT-Saint RT86 Ice-Tech 6-Bolt Disc Rotor + Universal Cycles -- Shimano BR-M6120 Deore 4-Piston Disc Brakes [EM61201JLFPMA100, EM61201JRRXMA170, EM61201JLFPRA100, EM61201JRRXRA170]

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mudguard

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#2904408 20-Apr-2022 14:21

elpenguino: Immediately started thinking of motorbikes, double discs, 6 pots per side and so on.

Found a video online of a fella who's custom made a double disc setup for his MTB.

Yeah there were some really early dual disc setups around, but for a total system weight (push bike plus rider) one disc is plenty strong.

Looks like the six piston brake could be making a comeback.

Hope Six Piston

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