first of all i would like to thank STR and to those people that posted the link and thread starter in regards to PVC bike rack. I have built it myself took me about an hour and it cost me less than 20 bucks. savde me hundred of dollars! you gotta love STR!
i made one awhile back and tossed it out. Dont get me wrong, for $20 it worked well but it flexes a LOT and if you dont glue it well it will fall apart and break (which is probably based on MY poor workmanship). It also slid around a lot when it was in the back of my truck. I went with the cheapy fork mounts instead that are like $10/each.
i said it was worth the $20... i guess what i forgot to say is that it's awesome for the garage/storage, i just wouldn't use it in back of the truck. good build though! :bang:
It was unstable? What diameter piping did you use? How long were your pipes? I created a workstand and found 1.5" piping with short (< 3ft) lengths to be very stable. You could spend a bit more coin and go the copper piping route. Same connectors exist for PVC and copper (for what you need, anyways).
woooot sand + glue = much more stable and pvc cutters instead of using a table saw would have worked much easier when cutting them all
The one i built was stable when it stood still in the garage, worked great. But once i had it on the truck the constant shifting from driving moved the 2 or 3 bikes back and forth and it slid around a lot. On one trip to the fullerton loop i had three bikes on it and the pvc snapped when I did the turn (loop) from the 57 to the 91 just going 20mph (which was freaking SLOW!). After that I just tossed it out and bought the fork mounts. I've seen people use it in conjuction with tie downs, that would probably work really well. I didn't use any tie downs, I just put the rack in the bed of the truck and put bikes in. Using copper piping might scratch your bike so i'm not sure if that would be the ideal material to use. I can't remember what size pvc i used, i think it was the one recommended in the how to.
Very true! Thanks David again for your specs, they worked perfectly (ones very simialr to the Utah MTB site). Though, I did use 3/4" Schedule 40 (The T's and the Elbow's were much more expensive for the 1" so I went with the cheaper ones, LOL). And pvc cutters would have been much easier but not 1)if you don;t want to spend the $12-18 on them and 2)if you don't have the strongest hand strength. It was sooooooo easy using my mom's chop saw!!! If you have one, I def. reccomend using that if you don't have a pvc cutter! Don't want to hijack the thread, so congrats Extinction! These PVC racks are so awesome (although my sis did say it was rather ugly)! :bang: I'll post my pics when I get home, I think my bikes match rather well with my tea cups in my dining room :-k:lol:.
my buddy who works at lowes (discount!) is coming by. DB or tara - what dimensions did you use? I'm bored, have beer, and... well i'm bored.
This looks like a really good fathers day project for Maddie and I - Ditto what Chewy said specs please??? heck I even have PVC cutters - We are ALL over this!!!
For anyone who wants the specs this is the place most people get theirs from: http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/bikerack/makerack.htm I think davidb made some minor adjustments that I used and they seemed to work out great so pm him if you want those. It's PERFECT for in the house or in the garage where you don't really have to worry about strength.
http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/bikerack/makerack.htm but I found the quanities to be off by one depending on what rack you make (the 3 bike or 4 bike version) It's pretty fun putting them all together, just takes more time cutting and measuring everything.
I built 2 of these a couple of years back, one 3 bike and one 4 bike, and I love them. One I use in my garage and the other I use for the truck. I'll bungee it in the bed of my truck for stability. Works very well and I get asked about it all the time. Good job!:beer: http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/bikerack/makerack.htm
I didn't know this was going in the back of a truck. Copper wouldn't be ideal, or as portable. You could use ridiculously thick PVC tubing diameter, or use the yakima fork mounts =). I should have known it was for a truck. I kept thinking, "Who would use a fork mount to store their bikes in their garage?" :lol:
i made one about 2 years ago and it works fine..... not too flexy, and great for 20 mm front wheels..... i'd like to make an 8 bike rack just to give myself an excuse to fill it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Use clean PVC, purple primer, glue the pipe and fitting, hold the glue joint for 30 seconds before moving on. Don't use copper, are you people stupid? We've had sketchy folks try to lift copper from our plumbing trucks, locking plumbing trucks. Forget an open pick-up bed. Now galvanized steel pipe is another story. Heavy? Yes, but much stronger, and more reliable connections.
