Quest for the ultimate kayak/mountain bike shuttle rig

[midnighthunder89]

Ya you told me it was northern but it is still close and i have seen the games. I don't have the kayak yet but it is this one http://www.cbssportsstore.com/sm-pelica ... 31665.html cheap is good i was thinking something that i could just bolt to the factory rack i do have a thule rack it is really old but still works just dont have an attachment for a kayak. I have seen foam pad things for kayaks and you just use tie downs. have you heard anything about these do they work? http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/produ ... age=family some thing like this. is there an advantage to mounting positions like horizontal or vertical

what do you think? also is there a way to put a skeg on the kayak, i heard it might not track straight. I am just planing on using this while in college I love the water as long with any out door thing so this will keep me busy for a while up here.

[T.Low]

Foam blocks are fine.

These are for the factory crossbars: http://www.rei.com/product/672423


These are for the Yakima bars: (round cut out on bottom) http://www.rei.com/product/672422

Can't find a picture, but Thule bars, of course, are square, so the bottom of the foam block will be cut out square for a Thule set.

Experiment with your set up to carry it right side up, or upside down. Can depend on how strong the deck is. You want to snug it down, but don't dimple the boat too much. At freeway speeds I reccomend putting a 3rd strap over it or a bow strap (from the bow toggle, if it has one, down to the bumper or? ) Don't bother buying stackers or regular saddles yet.

Is "Quick Stop Bike and Kayak" still in town? They should have them. I can't remember the name of the store that gal owned but they should have them too.


I can't get to it today, but maybe this weekend I'll post a pic of my set up.

[midnighthunder89]

thanks take your time with the pics i am in no rush. I dont know of a kayak place around here. I thought of making my own if i run out of things to do over the summer. So what is the purpose of the sideways type rack? thanks for all the help.

[T.Low]

thanks take your time with the pics i am in no rush. I dont know of a kayak place around here. I thought of making my own if i run out of things to do over the summer. So what is the purpose of the sideways type rack? thanks for all the help.

The sideways type rack is called a stacker; the kayaks are stacked next to each other on their sides. It allows you to carry more boats at once. It is mainly used by white water kayakers because they don't put in and take out at the same spot like sea kayakers or rec boaters tend to do, so they need to pile a bunch of dudes into the shuttle rig, and pile a bunch of boats on top and go back to the other vehicle at the other end of the river.

Another benefit is that it is quick; one strap can be looped thru the stacker and around three or four boats at once, (then another for the other end of course) instead of having to tie down each boat individually.

Downside is that the boats touch each other and will rub and leave scrathes or scuffs. It doeasn't matter on plastic white water boats; they are meant to beat on anyway. But nice expensive fiberglass, kevlar, or wood seakayaks you would want to put foam to act as spacers to seperate them.

Of course the stacker can be used for sea kayaks as well. I stacked 5 sea kayaks across my Dodge Dakota for a Michigan to Florida trip; two boats were ours that we were going to paddle and 3 boats were for delivery to a shop. Personally, I would carry your boat upside down. I wouldn't stack it due to the width; it will catch a lot of cross wind and be less secure and the actual stacker itself may not be tall enough to to give good security across the wide hull. Upside down keeps stuff out of the cockpit, keeps wind resistance lowest and maximizes overhead clearence.

The Subaru with the nice wooden boat in your picture is using a J-cradle; nice, secure way to carry pretty boats to keep them from touching anything else. My boats are vessels, not fine china so I don't worry that much about them. If I built a wooden boat like that, maybe I'd seperate it from the rest of the boats in my rack too, though.


White water boats stacked. If they were on flat, I could only carry two of them. When stacked side by side, I can carry six.

bike carrier.jpg (68.62 KiB) Viewed 4184 times

On the flat for distance and less wind resistance

cascades highway.jpg (52.69 KiB) Viewed 4183 times

[T.Low]

"what do you think? also is there a way to put a skeg on the kayak, i heard it might not track straight. I am just planing on using this while in college I love the water as long with any out door thing so this will keep me busy for a while up here."





Yes you can put a retractable skeg in the boat, but skeg kits may cost half as much as your boat. If you want to fiberglass on a fixed skeg to help it track, start with something small, so you can still turn the boat. That boat is designed for intial stability and manueverability, not tracking. In other words, it turns easy and can be difficult to make it go straight. That just means that you need to learn the different strokes and learn how to combine the strokes to make it respond. Once you really learn how to paddle, you can make any boat go straight.

Do keep in mind that rec boats such as that one are not really designed to deal with the weather and conditions of Lake Superior. It will be ok in the bays and protected areas in the lee, great for inland lakes, and classI-II rivers, but it is easily effected by wind and pushed around by waves, so be wary of off shore winds or you'll get blown all the way to WaWa.

You're a biker so think of it like this:
white water boats=mountain bikes
sea kayaks=road bikes
rec boats=townie bikes

Nothing wrong with that, and you got a great boat to get on the water with, but realize its design intentions and limitations. Lake Superior is one of my most favorite places in the world to paddle, and due to its temperature you need to learn about hypothermia and cold water shock.


A decent website for everyting paddle related.

http://www.paddling.net/message/

[midnighthunder89]

I have always wanted to go to WAWA but I am fairly confident with going I will mostly stay on campus there is a lake/ river. I scuba dive so I am familiar with hypothermia and cold shock along with current. I have kayaked alot before usually in sea kayaks or rec boats never done whitewater even though that is also on my to do list. So i should be ok without a skeg. Thanks for all your help with the mounting and stuff.

[midnighthunder89]

ok low one last question. how do you get spray paint off of the poly the guy spraypainted his name or something and some has stratched off so i though it there was a way to get it off i would try also is there a poly filler like there is for skiis and snowboards for big cuts there is only one but I just would want to fix because I am anal about looking new ish. thanks for all your help still have to find the foam for the racks might use a noodle like for the pool and tie downs.