Trunk Mount Bike Rack for MS- Any recommendations??

[Yarbi]

Any suggestions on a good trunk mounted two bike rack. I don't have a hitch and really don't want the bike on the roof. Thanks for any recommendations.

 

[deuskid]

i'm in for the discussion ...

My M3LR won't be here for months but this is a question I'll need to have answers.

 

[krsgio]

I'd prefer to have any other option than a trunk mounted rack tbh. I've been using a seasucker to transport my mountain bike for the last couple years but just recently installed a hitch so I can install a typical bike rack just for the sake of convenience. I have two of the seasucker talons just incase I have a riding buddy in town or we take my car to trailheads. Even though its on top of the car with 1 bike my typical energy usage is around 300-400 tops on higher speed stretches. Easily been 90 mph+ with the seasucker from Denver to Moab without issue.

SeaSucker Pros:
Non-Permanent
Portable
Diff styles to support 1-3 bikes.
Get lots of funny looks
Fairly cheap depending on configuration vs hitch+rack setup

SeaSucker Cons:
Slightly inconvenient to use regularly
No way to 'secure' it to your car if you leave it unsupervised


Trunk Mounted Con:
Can't access your trunk without removing bikes (while not always easy, can still access trunk with seasucker depending on where you mount it)
It's touching your car/paint all the time

 

[GuillotineBait]

How well does the Seasucker work for long trips and at highway speeds?

We're working on the logistics of using my Model S instead of a moving van to drop College Kid's stuff off at her new dorm. It ought to fit assuming the bike goes on the outside.... but it's a several hour drive on California highways.

I'm not worried about it looking weird but I AM worried about it flying off my car on I-5.

 

[krsgio]

How well does the Seasucker work for long trips and at highway speeds?

We're working on the logistics of using my Model S instead of a moving van to drop College Kid's stuff off at her new dorm. It ought to fit assuming the bike goes on the outside.... but it's a several hour drive on California highways.

I'm not worried about it looking weird but I AM worried about it flying off my car on I-5.

It's definitely not going to fly off your car unless you just don't take steps to mount it correctly. It's pretty straight forward and the nice thing about having a glass roof is you can see by look up or in the review mirror to see the suction indicators (on 3/4 cups using the talon). When you stop to charge just double check or give the pumps a few extra precautionary pumps, pull the pump out and push back in a few times. 90% of the time once I've installed it I don't have to mess with the pumps even over long distances. The first few times you use it you'll be paranoid and wanting to look at the indicators a lot but eventually you get confidence with the product and your install process to know you dont need to check it often. The good thing is you likely have autopilot so taking your eyes off the road briefly to look back and up at the seasucker is effortless. The rear one if you position the pump forward you can see in the review mirror. Driving at night is hairy because you don't have the confidence of being able to see the indicators.

This is typically my routine for installing on my mountain bike using the seasucker talon mount. I've done this routine so many times I can do it in a couple min.
1) flip bike over
2) remove front wheel, place brake pad spacer so you dont accidently hit front brake (prob only req for disc brakes)
3) mount the front talon mount where wheel was. 2 suction cups forward 1 back orientation.
4) place wheel and any other things you need in the trunk as in my case where I mount my bike further back on hatch it's tricky to access trunk once mounted. If you don't have a sunroof you can mount it further forward and it doesnt impact the hatch access as much.
5) close trunk
6) Clean off the suction cups. This isn't required everytime if you clean the roof prior to install but they still occasionally pick up some dust. If you're going to do a long trip just take the few extra seconds to clean up the cups with some soapy water and rinse them. Optionally, dry the cups but its not required. If you choose to dry them make sure you use something like a lint free cloth/towel as this could compromise the seal if you get any hairs or something on the cup during install. It will still seal but will slowly leak and the indicator will show.
7) use glass cleaner to clean your mounting surfaces of any dirt debris.
8) Mount the rear wheel mount suction cup. I already have an idea how long my bike is so I know exactly where to place it you don't need to fully suction cup it on in case you need to shift it until the bike is orientated.
9) Flip up and roll bike on rear wheel toward car. Lift bike on top of the car to your desired location and give the front two cups a few pumps to secure it slightly while you adjust the rear wheel if required. Typically how I lift my bike is one hand on the fork and the other on the seat tube placing my foot behind the rear wheel to keep it from rolling.
10) Pump the front cups until the pump is only slightly popping out. Then I typically will pull slightly on the front fork toward myself so the weight is on the closes cup and pull out the pump and push it in a few additional times to ensure its got a good vaccum. Push fork for other cup and repeat. Pump the additional cups pulling the pump out and pushing in a few times on each to get max vac.
11) Line up the rear wheel on the rear cup and tighten down the velcro or ratcheting strap. Try to get the wheel as centered on the mount as you can so that it doesnt want to bounce around. Additionally try to keep it in line with the front of the bike for the least drag.
12) Use the supplied crank arm strap to keep them from spinning when you're driving. Carefully spin the crank parallel with rear bike triangle and velcro them together. This velcro strap will need to be removed temporarily if you want to try to open the hatch since lifting the tailgate wants to naturally spin the cranks it will bind so just FYI.
13) give the bike a few push/pull on the fork and make sure none of the cups pump indicators appear to be losing air (essentially kicking the tires before departure)

let me know if you got any other questions. I've traveled over a couple states with this setup at highway speeds and significant winds without problem beside the hit to the energy consumption.