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I'm looking at a cover for the bikes when they're on the car bike rack. Not particularly for driving with, but if they're left on over the weekend and it's driving with rain does anyone use/have recommendations for keeping them a bit dry.
I expect that answer will be that bungees/tarp can be readily made to do the job - but any other recommendations?
I'm kind of interested in this...been doing a bit of mileage with bikes on back of car and they do end up covered in road grime.
The Fiamma one is a good idea but won't work on a car as it will obscure the lights on the rack, but it looks like it should be good as it seems to seal the bikes inside, so road spray and grime won't be sucked in and around the bikes.
Taylor-made seem pricey and I can't work out if it encloses the bikes entirely or not, however, that might be the price needing to be paid if it keeps the bikes from the road spray and grime (probably also stops people nosing around and maybe seeing if the bikes are worth pinching and following you home).
https://taylormade-covers.co.uk/product-category/bike-cover//blockquote >
The site say "These are not intended for use with car-mounted tow balls."
and I was going to say this
The Fiamma one is a good idea but won’t work on a car as it will obscure the lights on the rack,
too about the Fiamma ones 🙁
The site say “These are not intended for use with car-mounted tow balls.”
I suspect the issue is that, used behind a car, it will be in the wind flow and will not withstand the buffeting. Behind a campervan/motorhome it will be much more protected.
I was looking at covers recently, not so much to protect or hide the bike, but so stop the disc rotors becoming contaminated. Having looked at a few options, I eventually took a punt on some Muc Off Rotor Covers. These are primarily aimed at keeping rotors contaminant free during bike maintenance but are working really well for my purpose too.
is disc rotor contamination a thing ? I've been using a towbar rack for the past year or so and can't say I have noticed ?
Yep - it certainly is/can be. Might be related to vehicle shape, exhaust position, road contamination levels (it's much worse in winter and/or when it's wet).
In the winter i normal just give the discs a quick splash of water when I take the bikes off the rack.
Then I quick pedal dragging the brakes to clean them off a little.
Anything else seems a bit overkill to me.
I saw some flash bike covers on a bike rack on back of a BMW on Tarbert ferry the other week - wish I'd read the thread in advance and clocked who they were by. Were like all in one motorcycle covers - but bike (hybrid..) shaped.
I'm not sure if the same would apply, but a lot of people shy away from putting covers on cars when they're outside as the covers often rub the paint. Amplify this by a significant factor with the masses of grit from a bike ride and the buffeting from the wind, and I'd be concerned about the paint on the bike/stanchion finish.
Taylormade and other motorhome ones will have one or two full length slots in the back to let the motorhome rack arms thru. (Check specifications)
I really like my taylormade (motorhome use) , solid, decent material , 5 years use and still good, not sure about on a car - lights/plate obscured, how low it would hang (dragging, exhaust) etc also would the extra drag add any ‘weight’ to the tow ball ?
As a cheap experiment could you try sewing a shower curtain up a bit so it is like an opened envelope, sit the bike in that and clip it best you can , that would protect most of it