TomHudson

Hi All,

My wife and I have a Trek T900 which we really enjoy riding. We want to take it down to Missouri with us to ride the KATY Trail later this year, and our only vehicle option that could take it is our 1999 Saturn SL2 sedan. I've looked at several options for hauling it:

1) Inside the vehicle -- no way, it's far too big and I don't think we could strip it down far enough to fit.

2) Rent a minivan -- Probably not a bad option, but buying a rack would pay itself off after only a few trips.

3) Hitch receiver rack -- This could work if I add a receiver onto the car, but even if I take both the front and rear wheels off the bike, the remaining frame is about 6 feet, 6 inches long, which extends out past the left and right sides of the car. From what I've read, some states would not find this acceptable and I wouldn't want to spend the bucks on the car upgrades and rack only to find it isn't legal.

4) Rooftop rack -- Probably the best option, I've looked at some Thule models and it seems like this would do the trick. There is no roof rack on the Saturn right now, so I'd have to get one installed -- Has anyone here ever mounted roof racks on a Saturn for bike hauling? Just wondering if there are any show-stoppers or helpful hints about what will or won't work, and if the pivoting tandem racks work well.

Thanks!

Tom Spohn

Don't have a Saturn (anymore), but the Thule rack works great. Friends with Yakima pivoting racks also like theirs. Difference is that the Yakima grabs the bottom tube of the tandem where the Thule grabs the fork and rear wheel. The Thule is best for aluminum and composite frames that don't like to be grabbed by the tube. For a steel bike either will do. The Thule is actually made in Washington State by Tandem Topper and is identical except for decals to that model. so shop around both brands for best price. Since you need the rooftop rack you may want to be sure the crossbars are extra wide on the car as the pivoting feature works best by placing the rack all the way to the outside of the crossbars.

mwandaw

I don't know about adding cross bars to the Saturn, but here are a couple of other tandem racks you can consider:

Rocky Mounts TandemMount R4 (Swivel Mount) We have one of these, and it is well-made. It is adjustable, so it can be used for a solo bike, too.

Draftmaster (Hitch Mount) The tandem is mounted vertically, so width is not a problem.

Here's our Rocky Mount TandemMount in the wild:



On our Pontiac Vibe GT long-distance freeway fuel economy goes from about 32 mpg to 27 mpg when we have the rack and tandem on top.

If you choose a roof rack, PLEASE do something to keep your garage door opener out of reach when the tandem is on your roof. Otherwise, I promise you will try to open the garage and drive right in. That could cause thousand of dollars of damage.

By the way, we are riding our T900 (since sold) in our profile photo. It was a good bike!

Paul J

On longer trips we haul our tandem inside our 2005 Acura TSX (haven't tried in in the 2010 TSX yet) which has a fold-down rear seat. We take off the wheels and both seats off and it slides right in. Usually I put the back of the bike in first and keep the handle bars in the trunk. The rear derailleur is behind the passenger seat. I love the looks I get at the hotel when I fish the bike out of the trunk!

akexpress 

You might also look at the 1 upusa rack as they are very solid and fit on any bar. I have two of their single bike trays and they are the best made rack I have ever used.
https://www.1upusa.com/product-tandemroofrack.html

mercury168

If you're brave, here's another option: https://www.seasucker.com/product-category/bike-racks/

CaptainHaddock

My wife and I have our tandem mounted on top of our Honda Accord sedan. We are using the Rockymounts system, and it works great! I will say that rack mount systems are best used for trips under a few hundred miles, otherwise the mpg hit is rather stiff.

My only quibble with the system is related to the inability to remove the tandem single-handedly. The Rockymounts system has a pivoting fork mount system, which has a depressable button which acts as a lock. So to reach the boom-tube and at the same time depress the button is so far a challenge I have been unable to master. I.E. I cannot dismount my tandem single-handedly, where as I can mount the tandem to the car all by myself just fine.

mwandaw

CaptainHaddock: We also have a Rocky Mounts TandemMount, and we had a similar complaint.

Rocky Mounts suggests that you loosen the strap that keeps the handlebar from turning. In fact, our experience is that if you loosen it a little more than you think you should, it will still stabilize the handlebar enough to mount the tandem. Then, when it's time to dismount the tandem, you'll be able to turn the bars far enough to keep the depressable button from locking while you dismount the tandem.

We went one step further and stopped using the handlebar strap. With some practice I am able to tilt the tandem from side to side a little in order to keep the handlebar pointed in the right direction while mounting it. Then, when I dismount the tandem, I am able to turn the bars quite a ways, making it easy to keep the depressable button from locking.

TomHudson

Thanks for all the responses -- I did find a website with photos of a Saturn SL2 showing how the roof racks mount to it -- it wasn't really obvious just looking at the car: https://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68367

So I'm probably moving ahead with the Thule system and will price it out with the Thule tandem unit and the Tandem Topper and see what ends up being the best deal.

@mwandaw -- Thanks for the garage door opener tip! I had seen that mentioned elsewhere; fortunately this car doesn't get garaged so I think I'm safe on that point -- but I'll definitely measure the assembled stack and make sure I know what I can and can't fit under -- Like fast-food drive-thrus etc.!

jakewillson

Tom - I just posted an ad in the forum classified for our used ATOC Tandem Topper carrier. We've used it on our Subaru Outback, but I think it would be fine on any car that can mount a set of crossbars. This one mounts to Thule bars, but I believe mounting hardware is available for other rack systems. It has the pivoting fork mount, so one-person loading and unloading is a breeze. It has a removable tray extension for the tandem, so with the extension off it also works fine for a single bike. Asking $225 if you're interested.

PS - we rode our Tandem on the Katy trail some years ago - a great ride. Only complaint was that the trail is so level we found the lack of topography tiring - but good scenery and an easy enough ride for newbies.

Jake
jakewillson43@gmail.com
(505) 689-2354

TomHudson

Thanks Jake but I did go ahead and shell out for a Thule rack with their pivoting tandem carrier last week. Wheel & Sprocket, the local bike shop/Thule dealer in Milwaukee, cut me a great deal on the package. I helped install it and we got it on the car in about an hour total. Took my bike on it today for the first time; it works GREAT.

We did a little riding on the KATY Trail about 20 (!) years ago and are looking forward to going back. We loved the way it followed the Missouri river -- really nice and scenic.