Date:         Fri, 03 May 1996 16:31:02 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         30erainey@sophia.sph.unc.edu (Eric Rainey)
Subject:      Re: bike racks

>Hey everyone!
>I posted a message yesterday asking about a bike rack for my syncro.  I got
>a couple responses, but would appreciate any more advice there is out
>there.
>Does anyone have a roof mount rack on their vanagon?  Would you recommend
>it?  Specifically, any clearance problems? (other than parking garages and
>burger king drive thru), noise or drag??, trouble throwing your bikes up
>there?
>I know there's other types out there, and am open to suggestions (the two I
>got already were pretty good)!  One particular concern is the ability to
>lock it, as the two bikes are worth more than the van, and i'd rather not
>have to sleep with them if we decide to camp.
>And again, if anyone has one for sale, let me know.
>Thank you very much!!
>
>HE WHO LAUGHS  LASTS
>
>
I found, what is for me, the perfect solution.  It's something called a
"hoop rack," which they hooked me up with at my LBS (local bike shop).  It
is like a big U, upside down, with the ends getting bolted on to the
bumbper with a neat U-Bolt and hook clamp type thing.  It works absolutely
wonderfully for what I need.  Mounts on the front without having to find
neat spots to weld, I think it will fit on top of a front-mounted tire.

It even (kind of) solves your locking problem:  If you lock your bike to
it, a thief would have to unbolt the sucker or beat your locking mechanism
(always a threat anyway).  Hope this helps.

Eric
Maggie (76 westy)