Hi all.

I read a post about a boot mounted bike rack for sale at Moss Mini. This rack does not currently show up on the Moss Mini website.. but it does appear in the latest catalog. Does anyone have this rack, and if so, how is it?

Thanks!



_________________
Soon to be owner of an MCS! (BRG/W, premium & cold packs, front fog lights, aux input, leatherette.). Can't wait for June!!!!

 

wmba,

I dont have the moss mini boot bike rack - but I do have the yakima mighty jo boot rack. Its great:
- mounts nice
- dont have to worry about scratches
- stable at high speeds with one bike ( i took it up to 90mph )
- holds up to three 9 ( probably would drive much slower )
- bit more expensive but well worth it

:smile:
ugly _ duckling

 

Cool. Thanks for the info! Would this Yakima rack support 2 adult moutain bikes for a 4 hour drive at highway speeds?

And have you noticed any damage on the paint or body from the rack?

Thanks!

Bill

 

Bill,

I have a hard tail FS mtn bike (26 lbs) and my girlfriend has a bike which is a bit heavier (30lbs). Both fit fine, adding one more would be asking for trouble.

Though you can drive like normal with one bike on the rack, I would suggest taking a bit more care when driving with two (dont speed to bad or change lanes quickly). I noticed the extra weight seems to cause a bit of sway and little bit squeking. I've been on the highway a few times with both bikes and I drive much more conservatively (less then 70 mph). i always check the tension of the straps before and after every drive just to be on the safe side!!

The clips used to attach to the hatch are coated with a plastic that is friendly to the paint - just make sure the hatch is clean before you put it on. I have noticed no damage.

One more tip - load your gear in the hatch b 4 you attach the bikes!!

Hope that helps -

ugly_duckling

 

YEah, it'll handle two bikes. But you should stop every hour or so to check the tightness of the straps.

 

Hi guys. I got the Yakima boot/hatch mounted "Mighty Joe" today. I put it on for practice, and I noticed that the area where the bottom supports rest on the car (over the license plate) seems to bend in slightly. (the whole panel where the plate mounts). It is very slight.. but I am wondering if a 4 hour highway drive with 2 mountain bikes might cause some permanent damage there.

Can those of you who have this rack and have used it in a similar manner comment on this?

Thanks!

 

I'm thinking about buying the same rack for my MCS. I'm curious about the answer so I'm bumping this up.

I've also heard that the Saris Bones is pretty good. Anybody?

Cheers,

 

Don't mean to spam this thread but I just posted a Yakima Mighty Joe for sale in the marketplace forum.

 

checkout my Thule 965 backpack rack

http://on.miniusa.com/resume.jsp?use...ange=1&start=3

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see any straps on that. That's very cool!! Do the ends telescope out?

 

I have an MCS and purchased a Yakima Little Joe (pretty much their most basic trunk rack) ...and it works great! I recently took it from MA to Northern VA (450 miles), all highway, and averaged about 65 mph ack to the trip computer over the 8.5 hours of the trip. Given that that included about 45 minutes of idling in traffic (argghhhh, NJ.... ), you can pretty much see that rack is quite capable of moving along and holding on at sustained 80 - 85 mph clips.

I was carrying a single hybrid, AL frame bike. Secured with 2 bungies, the bike never moved a bit. The rack held rock solid to the boot hatch and did no damage at all. I could see the rack easily holding 2 bikes just as well. I may question loading it with the 3 that Yakima says it can hold.

I did worry a bit about the hatch itself staying latched given how it is often hard to close and latch solidly. But for both legs of the trip, I slammed it extra hard and the "hatch open" light was off. All seemed tight. 'Though I'd probably get my latch adjusted yet again if I did this type of thing daily.

Then again, if I transported a bike daily, I'd probably spring for a roof rack and suffer the holes...but for those relatively infrequent times that I need to take my bike in my MINI, the $50 Little Joe was a great deal.

ps -- for those times when you need to leave the bike on the rack on the car briefly unattended (e.g., bathroom break at a rest stop), a cable lock through the bike frame and through the MCS spoiler works wonderfully. It's nice of MINI to give us such a handy place to lock our bikes.