Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Advocacy & Safety
Reload this Page >

Seasucker Talon Rack Failure

Notices
Advocacy & Safety Cyclists should expect and demand safe accommodation on every public road, just as do all other users. Discuss your bicycle advocacy and safety concerns here.

Seasucker Talon Rack Failure

Old 08-04-20, 08:50 PM
  #1  
NYCSilverBike
Newbie
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 1
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Seasucker Talon Rack Failure

Has anyone had issues with the Seasucker Talon bike rack? In late June 2020, the rack failed causing my bike to fall off my roof at highway speed, damaging both my bike and car, but fortunately not injuring anyone. At the accident scene, I noticed the velcro of the rear suction cup of the Talon bike rack was ripped away from the base. Before use, I carefully followed and double-checked the instructions, and checked that the bike was secure at each mounting point several times before driving. I drove for approximately 80 miles on a smooth interstate highway, below the speed limit, and in clear early summer conditions, before the bike crashed off my car’s roof. I only used the product twice since I bought it in 2016. It failed on the second use and caused about $1000 of damage to my car and another $1000 to my bike.
NYCSilverBike is offline  
Old 09-09-20, 12:46 PM
  #2  
Erzulis Boat 
Le Crocodile
 
Erzulis Boat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Santa Barbara Calif.
Posts: 1,873
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 367 Post(s)
Liked 771 Times in 311 Posts
Bicycle rack for a moving motorized vehicle. You had me laughing at "velcro" and "suction cup". Are you kidding me?

You might have had that one coming.
Erzulis Boat is offline  
Likes For Erzulis Boat:
Old 09-09-20, 01:23 PM
  #3  
livedarklions
Tragically Ignorant
 
livedarklions's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613

Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM

Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,094 Times in 5,053 Posts
Originally Posted by Erzulis Boat
Bicycle rack for a moving motorized vehicle. You had me laughing at "velcro" and "suction cup". Are you kidding me?

You might have had that one coming.

It's a rather expensive, highly marketed rack, but you might have a point. There was another thread on here where someone cracked the glass on their Tesla roof by affixing one of these to it.
livedarklions is offline  
Old 09-09-20, 01:45 PM
  #4  
Milton Keynes
Senior Member
 
Milton Keynes's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3,947

Bikes: Trek 1100 road bike, Roadmaster gravel/commuter/beater mountain bike

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2281 Post(s)
Liked 1,710 Times in 936 Posts
Yeah, any bike rack that relies on velcro and suction cups is not one I'd want to use. Velcro doesn't last forever, it's only got a limited number of uses before it wears out. And I don't trust plastic suction cups to last forever either.
Milton Keynes is offline  
Old 09-10-20, 07:59 AM
  #5  
indyfabz
Senior Member
 
indyfabz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,059
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18320 Post(s)
Liked 15,298 Times in 7,231 Posts
Wouldn’t use one if it were the only rack on the planet.
indyfabz is offline  
Old 09-14-20, 05:48 AM
  #6  
downhillmaster
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 1,682
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 980 Post(s)
Liked 776 Times in 402 Posts
Originally Posted by Erzulis Boat
Bicycle rack for a moving motorized vehicle. You had me laughing at "velcro" and "suction cup". Are you kidding me?

You might have had that one coming.
Spot on.
And I’m thinking he forgot to mention the duct tape...
downhillmaster is offline  
Old 09-14-20, 06:29 AM
  #7  
kingston 
Jedi Master
 
kingston's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Lake Forest, IL
Posts: 3,724

Bikes: https://stinkston.blogspot.com/p/my-bikes.html

Mentioned: 42 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1759 Post(s)
Liked 488 Times in 313 Posts
I wouldn't buy a car that didn't have roof rails or a hitch receiver.
kingston is offline  
Old 09-14-20, 06:47 AM
  #8  
Marcus_Ti
FLIR Kitten to 0.05C
 
Marcus_Ti's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Posts: 5,331

Bikes: Roadie: Seven Axiom Race Ti w/Chorus 11s. CX/Adventure: Carver Gravel Grinder w/ Di2

Mentioned: 30 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2349 Post(s)
Liked 406 Times in 254 Posts
Well this thread dredge from last month was worth it just to be hard on a guy with a damaged car and bike from using a well-reputed car bike rack.
Marcus_Ti is offline  
Likes For Marcus_Ti:
Old 09-14-20, 06:51 PM
  #9  
Erzulis Boat 
Le Crocodile
 
Erzulis Boat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Santa Barbara Calif.
Posts: 1,873
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 367 Post(s)
Liked 771 Times in 311 Posts
Originally Posted by Marcus_Ti
Well this thread dredge from last month was worth it just to be hard on a guy with a damaged car and bike from using a well-reputed car bike rack.
It's physics. The very design will "work" within pretty narrow parameters. Surface finish (host), expansion/contraction of automotive surfaces, shear and tensional forces exerted on the rack by basically a sail (the bicycle) etc. etc.

A suction cup is optimized on a flat surface, and any curvature will have an effect, as to what degree is conditional. The surface must be non-porous and smooth enough to minimize any pressure equalization. Once it's equalized..........boing! there goes the system. Not only do you have a design that relies on some pretty ideal conditions, you also have to factor in end user error.

No thanks. From experience, I will stick to the classic mechanical means of securing my expensive bicycles.

The marketing sure is slick though!
Erzulis Boat is offline  
Old 09-15-20, 05:26 AM
  #10  
livedarklions
Tragically Ignorant
 
livedarklions's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613

Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM

Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,094 Times in 5,053 Posts
Originally Posted by Marcus_Ti
Well this thread dredge from last month was worth it just to be hard on a guy with a damaged car and bike from using a well-reputed car bike rack.
Well, one post was kind of harsh towards him/ her. But I took the whole point of the OP to be questioning whether the product deserves its well-reputed status. OP is describing a total product failure while it was subjected to normal use.
livedarklions is offline  
Old 09-15-20, 05:29 AM
  #11  
livedarklions
Tragically Ignorant
 
livedarklions's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: New England
Posts: 15,613

Bikes: Serotta Atlanta; 1994 Specialized Allez Pro; Giant OCR A1; SOMA Double Cross Disc; 2022 Allez Elite mit der SRAM

Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8186 Post(s)
Liked 9,094 Times in 5,053 Posts
Originally Posted by Erzulis Boat
It's physics. The very design will "work" within pretty narrow parameters. Surface finish (host), expansion/contraction of automotive surfaces, shear and tensional forces exerted on the rack by basically a sail (the bicycle) etc. etc.

A suction cup is optimized on a flat surface, and any curvature will have an effect, as to what degree is conditional. The surface must be non-porous and smooth enough to minimize any pressure equalization. Once it's equalized..........boing! there goes the system. Not only do you have a design that relies on some pretty ideal conditions, you also have to factor in end user error.

No thanks. From experience, I will stick to the classic mechanical means of securing my expensive bicycles.

The marketing sure is slick though!
I think OP isn't describing a suction cup failure. Sounds more like a failure of the strapping system. Either way, I'd avoid this product.
livedarklions is offline  
Old 09-15-20, 08:14 AM
  #12  
DrIsotope
Non omnino gravis
 
DrIsotope's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: SoCal, USA!
Posts: 8,553

Bikes: Nekobasu, Pandicorn, Lakitu

Mentioned: 119 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4905 Post(s)
Liked 1,731 Times in 958 Posts
The only times I've witnessed Seasucker racks in use have been on cars that would tend to indicate that the owner could afford to cover the costs of any catastrophe, if you get my drift. Like, that kind of incident would barely put a dent into their monocle and top hat budget.
__________________
DrIsotope is offline  
Likes For DrIsotope:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.