Transporting a Recumbent Road Bike!

May 19, 2013 1:42 PM

I have a specific question about transporting my Rans Tailwind Recumbent Road Bike in my trailer using fork traps that I attached to the trailer myself. My question is whether or not I need to take the seat off the bike before I transport it at highway speeds. See inside for more details and pictures.

I have this bike. The seat is like a small sail. I have a light weight metal trailer. Yesterday I attached fork traps to it like this.

My question is this: I know these fork traps work well with normal bikes but I've never transported a recumbent like this before. It seems to me that the mesh seat on my bike will collect a heck of a lot of wind, acting like a sail. I don't think it will damage the bike (the wind will cause less stress on it than I do when I sit on it), but I worry about the extra pull on the fork traps and the DIY attachments to my trailer.

I could take the seat off every time I transport the bike anywhere, but that would be a hassle and I don't want to if I don't have to.

Does anyone here have experience transporting a recumbent on a rooftop or trailer? Do you remove the seat?

Thanks.

posted by crapples to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

Best answer: I never trust the fork clamps alone, just because they are a single point of failure and the results of failure are disastrous. They can fail for a reason as simple as user error (didn't quite put enough pressure on them, didn't quite push the lever to the point of security, etc).

Just find some backup system that will hold the bike in place even if the fork clamp fails. It might be as simple as a rope tied securely or a couple of bungy cords.

FYI I have transported a couple of different Rans bikes similar to yours, other recumbents similar to those, and other non-recumbent bikes using fork clamps and I have had a couple of them come loose over the years due to various causes. I don't think any of them had anything specifically to do with the recumbent seat, but it doesn't really matter what the cause is, you need some kind of backup to keep it from being disastrous if it does happen.
posted by flug at 2:13 PM on May 19, 2013

Best answer: Just find some backup system that will hold the bike in place even if the fork clamp fails. It might be as simple as a rope tied securely or a couple of bungy cords.

Mount an eyebolt on the trailerbed so that you can u-lock the frame of your bike to the trailer?
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:41 PM on May 19, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks - I think that answers my question. Apparently you can transport a bike like this with the seat up without a problem in normal cases. This was my main question. And, message heard loud and clear that I need a back up system in case of failure. I definitely don't want my bike flying down the freeway. I like the idea of an eyebolt. I could also just use canoe roof straps to tie the frame of the bike to the frame of the trailer.

Thanks.
posted by crapples at 6:50 PM on May 19, 2013