[HandsomeRyan]

So I got the tandem hauler all set up...

2003 Mazda Protege5 (nice and small for whipping through DC traffic, manual trans)
Vintage (12+ years old) Yakima roof rack given to me by my dad.
Rocky Mounts tandem rail just picked up on craigslist.

[TxCyclist]

I have been thinking about getting a rack for my wife's Honda. Right now I just throw the bike in the pickup.

How long does it take to get the bike loaded?

[HandsomeRyan]

For the single bike on the Yakima rail, it takes about 30 seconds.

For the tandem, maybe a minute. The fork mount swivels so you clamp in the fork than swing the back tire up into the channel.

For low-roof'd vehicles a roof rack is a great (if somewhat expensive) method for transport.

[Industry_Hack]

Looks good.

[goldentouch]

Looks like you did a good job.

[Industry_Hack]

By the way, have you tried setting your timing 180 degrees out? It didn't work for us, but for more evenly-matched teams, it's supposed to be pretty smooth.

[HandsomeRyan]

Originally Posted by Industry_Hack

By the way, have you tried setting your timing 180 degrees out? It didn't work for us, but for more evenly-matched teams, it's supposed to be pretty smooth.

I've never heard of 180° out of synch...? I've thought about moving the captains pedals 90° ahead of the stokers but having them synched at the same place is working fine and since all we ride are short distances on the greenway it hasn't been a big deal to ride it old-school.

After mounting/dismounting the tandem a few times I like the rack pretty well. If you drive a tall vehicle I'm not sure how the swiveling into place would work since the front chain ring is pretty close to the side of my car and I don't think there are many cars out there that sit considerably lower than mine (i guess some tandems [road type] are longer though).

I'm quite happy having a car again and now the ability to easily transport my bike(s) or the tandem.