Roof rack affecting gas mileage/suggestions for a bike rack

Bastian

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2003 Mazda Protege5
so i'm looking into buying a roof rack for my P5 for my bikes, since they don't fit in the hatch by about an inch :( i was just curious as to whether anyone has noticed a significant change in gas mileage with a bike rack versus without a bike rack?

also, does anybody have any suggestions for a good bike rack that would let me keep my front tire on? i have a lefty fork so taking the wheel off is a pain.

thanks!
 
Per the laws of aero-dynamics you will get significant drag where you will notice some loss of mpg. As to what the number is with a bike rack I do not know. The best suggestion that would not affect aero too much and would be easy to load and unload would get a tow hitch/bike rack combo.
 
i thought about the tow hitch, but the car doesn't have a hitch on it right now, so i'd be looking at buying and installing the hitch too. i already have factory crossbars. also, i want to be able to open the tailgate with a bike on the car. i know, i'm picky :p hahaha
 
I definitely recommend the Yakima racks. if its a cannondale with a lefty fork i guess its a 26x2.3 tire? I have the Highroller and have no problem for my DH bikes and cross country bike. Easy loading system with a strap over the rear wheel, then a wheel mount for the front thats super simple. Definitely recommend Yakima to anyone that is interested in roof racks!

http://www.yakima.com/ Heres a link to there site and they have tab that lets you fit any rack to your car and it tells you everything you will need and part #'s so you can call a local shop and get them to order it for you!

good luck,
 
Did you ever consider laying the back seats down?

i tried that, but the bike didn't fit by about two or three inches. i would have to take the front tire off, which is a pain with my bike because i have a weird front fork.

I definitely recommend the Yakima racks. if its a cannondale with a lefty fork i guess its a 26x2.3 tire? I have the Highroller and have no problem for my DH bikes and cross country bike. Easy loading system with a strap over the rear wheel, then a wheel mount for the front thats super simple. Definitely recommend Yakima to anyone that is interested in roof racks!

http://www.yakima.com/ Heres a link to there site and they have tab that lets you fit any rack to your car and it tells you everything you will need and part #'s so you can call a local shop and get them to order it for you!

good luck,

yeah, i was looking at yakimas, they seem really nice. i thought i heard somewhere that the rack can interfere with the tailgate opening though?
 
The yakima roof rack is fine. I have 3 of their raptor mounts on it and have no issues with the tailgate.

But to the OP, I lost about 3mpg with the rack on 24/7 since i was too lazy to take it off. With three bikes on top its drops a bunch.
 
i tried that, but the bike didn't fit by about two or three inches. i would have to take the front tire off, which is a pain with my bike because i have a weird front fork.

Now im curious to what type of bike you hve that has a werid frotn fork... They all look the same to me for the most part. I was goign to say just take the frotn tire off and your good but then I read your post.
 
he could have a fork with a bolt on axle. I know one of my forks, to take off the wheel you need to loosen 4 bolts, unbolt the axle and slide it out to get the wheel out. Then you need an adapter to put it into a typical type of fork mount bike tray.

you can see the bolts on the axle clamp here
ShiverDC.jpg
 
He said that he has a lefty fork, but that is irrelevant to this post. Google it for pics. I have a top mount Yakima bike rack on my factory roof rack and have no complaints. My average MPG is around 30-32 depending on what my mood has been while driving around town. I don't ever take the rack off so I don't know how much it affects my MPG, but I don't really think that it would make a huge difference (maybe 1 or 2 MPG, maybe). As for the tailgate problem, it is only a problem when you have the bike on the rack, not all the time. My solution to this is put the bike on the rack after you have put everything you want in the car and then remove the bike when you get to the trail before you take things out of the car. It is a little annoying, but I can deal with it since I don't carry my bike around unless I'm going to a trail to ride.
 
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ok, i was just making sure it wouldn't do anything crazy to my gas mileage. the car gets great gas mileage as it is, so i really shouldn't be complaining about getting 28 mpg instead of 32 mpg :p hahaha

i found a used yakima raptor rack online for US $160, it is two rack held together with a bar. i guess it was originally made for subaru by yakima? i'm assuming it will work, but if anyone knows of any reason for it not to, please speak up :)
 
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That bar that is between the two racks looks like the front bar of a roof rack. If that is what that is, then it will come off and you wouldn't need that piece anyway if you have factory crossbars on your Mazda. My other concern would be the bolts that are sticking through the middle of the tray in the front right where your tire would be. I'm not sure why that is there nor why there are so many holes drilled through the rest of the tray.
 
FYI thats not how it comes factory. That is two raptors with some sort of cross bar. The raptor rack itself is just the tire tube with the claw for the frame. I have three of that model on the top of my car with 36" crossbars and 4 q-towers.

Just for point of reference, the crossbars + qtowers + 3 raptor mounts + front wind deflector + 7 locks (one for each qtower and one for each mount) was about 720$ with a 15-20% off sale they were doing.
 
^ agree to what was said above. Not super sure why the holes have been drilled into the rack but if the bolt sits flush within the mount i don't see the problem. make sure nothing sticks out when its mounted up to ensure you don"t end up with a flat tire. And also, if you haven't purchased it yet make sure to take the bike to make sure the wheels sit in the rack nicely and that you can use the buckles to tighten them up.
 
that isn't a picture of the actual rack that i am buying, it's just the same type. so i'm not sure if those weird bolts are there or not, i just googled it on images. the actual listing on the site i found it on expired, so no pictures anymore of the real thing.

it was a rack made for subaru by yakima, and it came in a set of two that was attached. i've heard of other people using them before on cars other than subarus. i plan on making sure it fits the car before i get it, but if anybody has tried this before with the protege5, it would be nice to be spared an hour long car ride.
 
that isn't a picture of the actual rack that i am buying, it's just the same type. so i'm not sure if those weird bolts are there or not, i just googled it on images. the actual listing on the site i found it on expired, so no pictures anymore of the real thing.

it was a rack made for subaru by yakima, and it came in a set of two that was attached. i've heard of other people using them before on cars other than subarus. i plan on making sure it fits the car before i get it, but if anybody has tried this before with the protege5, it would be nice to be spared an hour long car ride.


I guess I don't understand what you are getting at.

That rack picture you posted up won't work with the p5. "but if anyone has tried this before" - I have. I have 3 of the raptors on my car, but with another crossbar set.
 
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