# Tandem Roof Rack



## Chain

Just bought a tandem yesterday. (Co-Motion Periscope with S&S Couplers)

I already have a Yakima rack on the car and truck. Looking for advice on which rack to go with. I've had good luck with the Yakima stuff over the years, but the Rocky Mount can telecsope for use with both the tandem or a road bike.

I also like the RockyMount because it's not resting(scratching) the frame.



Yakima Rack...










RockyMOunts Rack...


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## Keeping up with Junior

*Yackity Yack*



Chain said:


> ...I've had good luck with the Yakima stuff over the years...
> ...it's not resting(scratching) the frame...


I have used the Yakima rack for several years. It works as designed and last a long time. I can mount the tandem by myself on top of a Honda Pilot. Very secrure mount of the tandem and I have no qualms about driving down the highway with the bike on the roof. I think you are overthinking the scratching issue as it is one I have not really noticed although I have an anodized boob tube. Occassionally I have mounted a single bike on it using the fork mount and a small wheel tray beside the tandem rack (assuming your bars are the correct distance apart).


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## buck-50

Got a Yakima rack, but that was only because I got it really cheap on craigslist. 

Otherwise, I would have been all over the rockymounts thing. 

one thing that I like about the Yakima is that the way it straps to the boom tube (especially an ovalized steel tube) it's insanely secure- that bike isn't going anywhere. 

The RockyMount rack puts a whole lot of faith in that front quick realease, and I've seen enough of those fail...


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## Chain

buck-50 said:


> The RockyMount rack puts a whole lot of faith in that front quick realease, and I've seen enough of those fail...


How many of those have you seen fail?


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## MB1

I like the Rocky Mounts a lot.

Disclaimer-11 years ago we bought a minivan to haul the tandem around (inside the minivan) but we rarely do anything other than ride from home.


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## buck-50

Chain said:
 

> How many of those have you seen fail?


I've broken one from overtightening after seeing a couple bikes that weren't tightened correctly end up dangling off the side of a friend's car...

Just sayin...


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## rodar y rodar

*Toyota.*

It also works for singles.


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## Chain

rodar y rodar said:


> It also works for singles.


We have a Dakota Quad cab with a hard tonneau cover. Racks on top. That leaves enough room for all the other stuff in the "trunk". The tandem is too long to fit in the trunk without disassembely.


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## Chain

MB1 said:


> I like the Rocky Mounts a lot.
> 
> Disclaimer-11 years ago we bought a minivan to haul the tandem around (inside the minivan) but we rarely do anything other than ride from home.


We will do most of our riding from home. With a 7yo that will limit our route selection a bit. One goal of the tandem was getting her out for longer rides and do some exploring. "Expand her cycling horizons" as the case may be.

The tandem does present a dilema. We are planning a road trip in July. Usually we will take the cruiser bikes, her 20" kids bike and I will usually take my road bike. The cruisers are for wandering around town and out to dinner in whatever town we are in. Now that we have the tandem, we could go for longer rides, but it would leave us without our dinner transportation.  

I"m not sure how bike friendly our trip will be anyway. Heat of July and heading to Fruita, SLC, Yellowstone and Jackson. I'm not sure we would get in many road rides anyway.


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## rodar y rodar

rodar y rodar said:


> It also works for singles.


YMMV.


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## danl1

Atoc is another popular option.

http://www.atoc.com/

Available at nashbar. for $199.

I know several that have them, and like them, but I can't offer much detail.

Mine goes on the rear rack. With the wheels off, it doesn't extend beyond the mirrors.


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## danl1

Get a trailer bike and go three up.

Or, it was a terrible inpulse purchase. Mail me the periscope. I'll be happy to pay the shipping.

Which kinda begs a question - with the S&S, why are we talking about racks? Break it down, wrap it in a moving blanket or two, and put it in a yakima, etc. travel bag on the roof.


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## Chain

buck-50 said:


> I've broken one from overtightening after seeing a couple bikes that weren't tightened correctly end up dangling off the side of a friend's car...
> 
> Just sayin...


That's not bad. I've seen 3 bikes and the entire rack fly off the back of my truck. (Yakima paid for everything)


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## Chain

danl1 said:


> Get a trailer bike and go three up.
> 
> Or, it was a terrible inpulse purchase. Mail me the periscope. I'll be happy to pay the shipping.
> 
> Which kinda begs a question - with the S&S, why are we talking about racks? Break it down, wrap it in a moving blanket or two, and put it in a yakima, etc. travel bag on the roof.


No trailer bike. Had one, used it once. Too floppy.

We have been thinking and talking about the tandem for a couple years. Went and looked last fall. Daughter was about an inch short of it fitting. Saved our $$$$ over the fall and winter. Impluse was buying the one they already had built up...the rest wasn't.

S&S for traveling by air. Break it down and take it with us. Family cycling vacations just took a step in the right direction.

The rack is for short road trips and weekends in the mountains. Yes it only takes a few minutes to put it together, but much easier to load it and go. It also frees up the bed of the pickup for luggage. With the rack we don't need a travel bag on the roof, we just put it on the truck.


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## GeoCyclist

*Second Thumbs up for Atoc!*



danl1 said:


> Atoc is another popular option.
> 
> http://www.atoc.com/
> 
> Available at nashbar. for $199.
> 
> I know several that have them, and like them, but I can't offer much detail.
> 
> Mine goes on the rear rack. With the wheels off, it doesn't extend beyond the mirrors.


I have two Atoc tandem racks. My first Atoc was the roof mount that I used on my toyota Caribe in Japan, and Forerunner in Bahrain. Great rack that adjusted to fit singles with a removable tail stock; and built like a tank. My second Atoc was a draftmaster that I have rigged for one tandem and two singles to use on an SUV in the USA; great hitch mount rack, and good construction. The Atoc are a bit $$$, but good value.


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## DeLuz

I also have an ATOC that I have used for years for our Santana tandem.
It works on our Toyota Sienna minivan, but it takes two people to mount and dismount the bike.


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## Chain

Ended up with a Rocky Mounts. They had them in stock over in Boulder.

When the telescope is collapsed the tray only sticks a couple inches off the tonneau cover. I replaced the Rocky Mounts skewer with a Yakima long throw locking skewer. Much easier to load that way. (The Rocky Mounts guy said a locking skewer wouldn't work  )


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## thebucket71

Looked at the Yakima but it don't fit on Thule aero bars. Just bought a 1 up two weeks ago and used it three times. The quality is incredible and you don't need to pull the tire off.


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