Originally Posted by
gg-madone
the most secure way to transport your bike is inside your car. the next best thing is roof rack fork mounted. the other types are for convenience. Thule Echelon is probably the best. I use Rocky Mounts. its low profile, its easy to mount and cheaper.
I tend to agree with you about the fork mounts. I use Yakima Vipers. I do worry about the stress it puts on the fork dropouts though when I see the bikes oscillating rapidly over bumps, etc. Also, I have the problem of what to do with the front wheels. I have some wheelforks on top of the car but then I have to use a cable lock with them.... and years ago before Yakima added tabs to the fork, I had a wheel fly off at 70mph on the freeway. Nowadays, if I see the shadow of my bikes/wheels, I can see those wheels fluttering int the wind up there because the yakima fork mount is relatively flexible. From the old fork I had (no tabs) to the new one, they have improved it by adding the lawyer tabs and the plastic thing that keeps the wheel from spinning but the fork itself is still flexible and roundbar mounts allow it to push back from wind so it contacts the roof of my car. I think my next rack will be aerobars of some kind.
Yeah, I could put the wheels inside the car but they take up a good amount of space and sometimes the car is loaded for a weeklong vacation.
I guess what I'm saying is there is definitely some appeal to the upright that let you keep the front wheel on. I've never used one though because them seem to allow the bike to sway a lot and I've seen them on the highway listing to one side like they're about to break.