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Turn your Vehicle into a Freeride Roadtrip Chariot Words and photos - Cam McRae

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Choosing a vehicle isn't a piece of cake when riding is your number one priority.  If you are most fond of big bikes with far too much travel the choosing gets even trickier.  I wanted a ride that could shuttle four bikes, hold enough gear for four stinky friends and run on almost any road.  One of my buddies has a Ford F350 crew cab and it does the job nicely but I didn't want to finance OPEC or the descendants of Henry Ford so I needed to find a more frugal approach.  I ended up with a 1999 Subaru Outback. It isn't huge inside like my old 1989 Volvo wagon so I needed to sort out my luggage needs as well as figure out a way to haul 200lbs worth of bicycles.

In the end I drove my new green beast down to Rack Attack in Vancouver and detailed my requirements.  They told me to pull my car into the shop and then they went to work.

I have used Thule Big Mouth rooftop bike racks until recently and they do a reasonable job for most bikes.  Lately I have been testing a Specialized Demo 9 and it is one of a few bikes that it doesn't work well with the Big Mouth so I was looking for a rooftop solution that would hold any bike. Mark Mayo tested the Yakima King Cobra for the site a couple of years back and was impressed - and the boys at Rackattack agreed that it would be a good solution for me. It holds the bikes far more securely than the Big Mouth and it's a piece of cake to use.   It truly will hold any mountain bike, racing bike, bmx or kids bike. Only tandems and some recumbents may present problems because the system uses the wheels to hold bikes in place. Thule was showing their own version of the Cobra, The Super G at Interbike but it isn't widely available yet. (Note - I had a message from Rackattack and the Super G is now in stock).

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The next problem was gear.  Cristina and I used to travel light but now that we have a baby we seem to always have enough gear to set up a daycare, a bike shop and a sporting goods store.  The Subaru wasn't going to hold all our stuff so a roof mounted box seemed like a good idea.  The Rackattack team tried a couple of different options and finally decided on the Yakima Blacktop Pro 16s.  This sucker is 34" wide so in order to accommodate the bike racks they used extra long cross bars.  I thought I might smack my fat noggin into these every time I got out of the car but they actually aren't a problem at all.  The box itself rules.  It's long enough for skis or snowboards (198cms/78") and the generous width and height (40cm/16") allows you to pack almost anything in there.  I have put complete bikes up there (wheels off but in the box), our Chariot Baby Carrier and if you are so inclined you could easily stash a couple of wise guys in there without much sweat. You can open the box easily from either side and the lid is spring loaded making it a breeze to open with one hand.  It's pretty much perfect really - I'm not sure how we survived without it before.

At this point two bikes and gear were accounted for but I wanted room for at least four bikes.  A hitch rack was too much commitment for me (there was no hidden hitch installed on the Subie) and I have had pretty good luck with a Rhode Gear rack mounted on the hatch of my integra so I wanted to try something similar. I was steered towards a Saris Guardian 2.

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The Rhode Gear rack I have been using until recently is a bare bones hatch mount.  It has nice long arms but there are no separators or anti-sway provisions.  This means you need to protect the bikes from each other and - on long trips - be very careful about strapping everything down.  I have found that racks with all the plastic mounting bits can be awkward when confronted with downhill bikes. Getting the bikes on these racks often feels a bit like going a couple of rounds with Andre the Giant, so I was sceptical about the Guardian.  Some of my misgivings were justified.  One day Colin Miller and I took the back road from Chase B.C. to Sun Peaks.  With two DH bikes on the back one of the mounting arms pivoted down part way into the trip. This was easily remedied but disconcerting nonetheless.  The Guardian is probably a great solution if you are mostly loading bikes under 40 lbs but for big bikes I would like to see a burlier solution and the Bones model might be more appropriate for larger bikes.

The Saris Guardian 2 does the job - for the most part.

On the weekend of Joy Ride at Sun Peaks I was going to stay at Shuswap lake and then head over to Sun Peaks for the day.  This meant I was going to need a park bike, my Demo 9 tester, and something to ride The Spanish Underpants, a nice stunty trail near Scotch Creek.  For that I wanted to take the GT Ruckus Flowta I have been testing - for a nice balance between weight and performance.  Along with my wife's bike we were at 3 when I received a call from Brett Tippie.  His bike was in the shop at Race Face getting some new treats installed and he was hoping I could deliver it to him in Kamloops.  I figured this would be a great test for the Rack Attack system; two 45lb rigs on the roof, a box full of gear and a pair of 35lb bikes on the back. 

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They system worked great along the highway and we never had a single worry about the big bikes on the roof.  The only issue was the slight problem with the Guardian I mentioned earlier.

I find that every little bit of hassle reduces the likelihood of getting out for a ride.  Once your ride is set up to carry your bike with ease you'll find yourself at the trailhead more often - and that's what it's all about isn't it?  The Rack Attack team in Vancouver was outstanding - I would highly recommend their services.  There is a location in Vancouver at 98 West 3rd Ave (604-872-7225) and in Coquitlam at Unit #5 - 1300 Woolridge Ave (604-526-7225).  There are also locations in Denver, Portland, Boston, Toronto and Mississauga.  Check rackattack.com for more info.

For product details head to these sites:
yakima.com
thule.com
sarisproducts.com

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