Are there any plans to put bicycle racks on any zipcars? It would be very handy for intermodal travel, as well as for trucking a bike off to the shop from repair, and would further both the environmental and convenience agenda of zipcar's users.

Thule makes some very nice racks, both that go on the roof and that fix permanently on the trunk. They lock on with keys, so theft is not a problem.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2003

Answers

As always, the question is: did you send an email to info@zipcar.com? That is always the fastest way to get a response. The Thule racks are very clever (thanks for the link) and the locks also look good, but anything exterior to the car is yet another item to get vandalized, damaged or involved in an accident. I am not sure of this, but I believe that since Zipcar doesn't supply the rack, the use of one on a car does not impact the insurance rate, which would go up for all Zipcar members. My old Allen rack seems to fit on most Zipcars, and holds up to 3 bikes.

-- Anonymous, September 16, 2003

This probably doesn't help much if you've already got a bike, but another solution might be a folding bicycle. Dahon, Montague (also sold as a BMW, Mercedes) and other companies make full size bicycles that fold up and fit into a car trunk.

I've had a Dahon full size mountain bicycle for about 12 years now and it's almost as good as a comparable non-folding bicycle. The only difference isa little more weight. A folding bike is also the only way I can carry a bicycle on the Green Line.

Roof mounted bicycle racks don't appear to be a great way to transport bicycles, even though every bicycle race support van carries them that way. Just getting the bicycle up there takes practice, and a mistake could cause roof damage or injury to the person. And old people often don't have the physical strength or range of movement to use them, especially with a heavy touring type bicycle. Anyone can put a 15 pound race bike on the roof, but most people probably have the 30 pound generic bicycle loaded with 10 pounds of accessories such as parcel rack, kickstand, and lights. Lifting 40 pounds of bicycle up over your head and then at an arm's length away from you could be tricky.

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2003