Carbon Unit

It is seems a like a great concept but makes me a little nervous. Will the bike fly off the roof?

Here is a Youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBHN9...endscreen&NR=1

Christobevii3

I've gone on two 50 mile trips with mine and use it twice a week for about 5 miles. Been using it since march without issue.

aquito

How much are they?

Carbon Unit

They range in price based on the product. Here is their pricing page. https://www.seasucker.com/product-category/bike-racks/

Carbon Unit

Now that you have had it for while, would you still buy it again? I think I would take it over the roof racks that have to be permanently mounted on the car.

darb85

I use it on a 1965 Corvair. They are great. I kept them on during an autocross session, much to the annoyance of the tech guys, no bikes on them, but they didnt move. I love em. I just ordered the three bike one to replace my 2 bike unit.

BoomMcNasty

I've never used a set of suction cups that didn't eventually fail...

CrankAndYank

Another product those who love their cages more than their bikes.

If you really love your bikes, buy them an SUV to ride in.

Carbon Unit

Bicycle Mag tested them for several months and they worked perfectly. Because they have a pump they hold better. There is a video of a bike on the roof of a race car while goes at high speed. There is also a photo of a bike stuck to the back window of an SUV with a guy siting on the bike.

vesteroid

Sorry, no way I would ever trust those long term with my bikes. Too much chance for operator error, and I would have to wonder what happens when it goes from 60 in the morning to 100 at 3 pm here.

FLvector

While the company is less than an hour away, I know of only one person using this system. He had one vacuum pump fail, but didn't lose the bike since the other suction cups held. If these were so wonderful I'd expect to see more locally. The other issue is leaving the bike unattended. If you know how these work you could pop the mounts off the car and be gone in a minute.

Carbon Unit

I am not concerned about leaving the bike unattended because I never leave the bikes anywhere where I can't see them. What does concern me is any failure that would cause the bikes to come off of the roof.

kstephens

This. Too many variables (a slight bend in the roof, excess dust...). For the price a decent, roof rack or hitch can be installed. I have also never used a temporary rack (trunk rack or temp. roof rack) that didn't eventually leave marks on the car. It may not the first few times, but after extended use and the tendency to get careless after you are comfortable with the install, eventually there will be marks/scratches/scuffs from it.

I've still yet to find a rack that I like as much as my 1up.

Carbon Unit

The 1UP roof rack has been what I planned to get and this sea sucker came up and it caught my attention but I still think I would prefer the 1UP.

Looigi

I'm not particularly enamored of the idea, but if I were using them, I put them on before leaving and check them some period of time later to see how they were holding vacuum. If it looked good, I'd drive 15-20 minutes and check again. If it still looked good, I go for an hour or so, then check. etc. Each time you check, do pump them down again.

Jed19

Suction cups are made of rubber, right? Well, UV rays eventually are gonna gradually degrade that rubber. Then what?

Rewillia

Well that's easy; you'll buy new rubber or a new rack. Be reminded that all racks have some form of rubber, e.g. Frame straps, wheel straps, etc.. In fact, I'm more likely to remove my sea suckers when not in use more so than my Thule rack and bike mount on top of my Land Rover. Nothing last forever so it's about the utility and sea suckers do offer an option when other rack types won't work.

Cyclelogikal

Precisely. I was going to make that same statement. I could see those cups from the heat of the day and metal flexing on a vehicle from extreme heat to cold giving way. Don't get me wrong.............great idea but I will stick with my hitch mounted made like a tank bike transporter!

Cyclelogikal

Mine does not. In fact it is all steel construction even the wheel wells that the bike sits in and the frame lock down bar as well. I am not faulting anyone from buying this contraption but I see some issues for sure.

Rewillia

this thread is almost getting defensive tone while not adding any value to the OP's query

i say to each his own. in my case i own both, conventional Thule roof rack and the Seasucker SC each providing the mounting flexibility I needed when purchasing them.

IMO, the seasucker is a viable option when more conventional mounting systems will not work.

Silvercivic27

Or, if you have that kind of dough, you just buy a small truck or a Honda civic and don't have to worry about scratching your S class MBs.

Rewillia

OP (Carbon Unit); did you get the answers you were looking for?

fa63

Or maybe he doesn't care about scratching his Mercedes? Some people drive nice cars and not obsess over them, you know.

Anyways, I have a buddy who has been using Sea Suckers for a long time now (2+ years), and he still seems to be very happy with them. He has taken his bike on several trips from Florida to the north Georgia mountains with the bike mounted on the roof of his car that way, and no issues that I know of. That said, I personally do not feel comfortable enough with them so I bought a conventional roof rack instead.

Rewillia

Sivercivic; you mean like this (my LR3 with the Thule)




fa63; no scratches, dings, etc....always careful regardless of whether I'm throwing my road bike on the back of the SL, or the MTBs on the roof of the LR3. Just sayin.

Silvercivic27

That'll work.