Calvin27
Eats Squid
So I was looking for a roof rack solution for my car and didn't want to fork out more than a set of rebas. Some friendly forum prodding led me to Seasucker talons.
So first things first. They are a suction cup. People don't trust these things and neither did I. I read all the reviews and couldn't find any cases of bikes falling off. Then another forum member (not RB) pulled the trigger and raved about it so I was good to go. You can get these is 1,2,3 bike varieties but I picked the single as I mostly drive myself (or use my mates cars), I can also fit a second bike with back seats down if I really needed it. so the compact single talon was my choice.
Next up the purchase, I went through amazon because they were cheapest ($280 @ 96c exchange rate) I also picked up a 15mm adaptor while I was at it (not included). The adaptor decision is pretty important. Originally I was going to buy the 15mm plate that screws on but seeing I have a few QR bikes, I decided on the QR version with additional adaptor. It was a good choice in hindsight because firstly the adaptor means I have one extra degree of freedom to pivot around the QR.The second is because the actual plate that mounts to the other plate is a bitch to get on and I would hate to have to change it every time.
So here it is:
the first impressions are good. The QR lock is firm and has a massive cam. The whole unit is well built and sturdy. The only drawback was the suckers looked like they had been in storage and there was a lot of dust on them. I know the risk of a dirty surface and suction cups so I cleaned them briefly with water. The kit comes with 3 suckers on the main pod, a rear sucker, a spare sucker, instructions and lube.
The suckers:The rear sucker has a strap for the wheel but is pretty crap designed. You can pay more for a slightly curved version that holds the wheel better but there is a 1/4 screw at the top that I plan on using for a DIY bracket. the others are pre mounted to the main plate and the spare is just the same thing without the strap.
The main plate has 3 suckers and held with a 1/4 bolt each sucker. There are notches to make sure it holds really firm. Don't mind the marks, it's just the camera flash, it is actually a good finish.
So now chuck it on the car!
They tell you to mount it on clean surfaces so I did a crap job of wiping it and chucked them on. To get them on you press down and then start pumping the thing. It seats soon and it very strong. I am still not convinced at this stage because I know vibration and loss of pressure are the worrying factors here.
I put one on the suckers in the front pod on the glass initially just to test out. Unfortunately my car has really flimsy roof so I was worried it would distort my roof. It didn't but on the way there I did chuck it on the glass just to reduce the load a bit.
Because of the flimsy roof problem I was also reserved about the single back sucker. So I wedged it onto the shark fin. It made an some concerning noises but didn't do damage. On the way back I used the rear the normal way (with wheel on top of the sucker) and it was a ok.
So I took this baby all the way from Melb CBD to Buxton and no issues. I got a few concerned looks on the freeway but all was good. There was no damage whatsoever to my car and it all held together. However on the way home one of the front suckers lost a bit of pressure (still holding strong though - you can see the indicator). I put this down to an unclean surface and proceeded to clean the thing with a full strip down (easy to do and recommended periodically) It's now the strongest sucker of them all so I'd probably recommend some prior cleaning of all the suckers due to the possible issue of dust from storage.
The only criticisms I have are:
- That my car has a flimsy roof. This is the most wobbly roof of all cars I have ever owned.
- The absolutely shit back sucker (although it didn't actually 'drop' the wheel) which can be fixed with a cheap bit of plastic. How hard is it to add a bracket and not charge $20 extra for it?!!
- The cranks can hit the roof. It didn't on mine but I noticed this was possible so some Velcro was added to the kit.
- No lock mechanism means you can't just leave it there.
- Dust from storage has caught a few people out (no lost bikes) so clean them first before you use them).
Pros:
- Versatile you can bring this and have it set up on virtually any car in minutes.
- Pretty reliable. I still get jittery but it hasn't let me down even with my spirited driving. Some guy on another forum has it on and 86 and they do rallies in the promo video so it works.
- Cheaper than and roof rack system with half the fuss.
- You could probably keep one as a spare rack in case you are 1 bike rack short.
Overall really happy with the product and would recommend to anyone who doesn't have a tow bar (tow solutions still rock I say but not forking out $1k for it).
Hope this helps.
So first things first. They are a suction cup. People don't trust these things and neither did I. I read all the reviews and couldn't find any cases of bikes falling off. Then another forum member (not RB) pulled the trigger and raved about it so I was good to go. You can get these is 1,2,3 bike varieties but I picked the single as I mostly drive myself (or use my mates cars), I can also fit a second bike with back seats down if I really needed it. so the compact single talon was my choice.
Next up the purchase, I went through amazon because they were cheapest ($280 @ 96c exchange rate) I also picked up a 15mm adaptor while I was at it (not included). The adaptor decision is pretty important. Originally I was going to buy the 15mm plate that screws on but seeing I have a few QR bikes, I decided on the QR version with additional adaptor. It was a good choice in hindsight because firstly the adaptor means I have one extra degree of freedom to pivot around the QR.The second is because the actual plate that mounts to the other plate is a bitch to get on and I would hate to have to change it every time.
So here it is:
the first impressions are good. The QR lock is firm and has a massive cam. The whole unit is well built and sturdy. The only drawback was the suckers looked like they had been in storage and there was a lot of dust on them. I know the risk of a dirty surface and suction cups so I cleaned them briefly with water. The kit comes with 3 suckers on the main pod, a rear sucker, a spare sucker, instructions and lube.
The suckers:The rear sucker has a strap for the wheel but is pretty crap designed. You can pay more for a slightly curved version that holds the wheel better but there is a 1/4 screw at the top that I plan on using for a DIY bracket. the others are pre mounted to the main plate and the spare is just the same thing without the strap.
The main plate has 3 suckers and held with a 1/4 bolt each sucker. There are notches to make sure it holds really firm. Don't mind the marks, it's just the camera flash, it is actually a good finish.
So now chuck it on the car!
They tell you to mount it on clean surfaces so I did a crap job of wiping it and chucked them on. To get them on you press down and then start pumping the thing. It seats soon and it very strong. I am still not convinced at this stage because I know vibration and loss of pressure are the worrying factors here.
I put one on the suckers in the front pod on the glass initially just to test out. Unfortunately my car has really flimsy roof so I was worried it would distort my roof. It didn't but on the way there I did chuck it on the glass just to reduce the load a bit.
Because of the flimsy roof problem I was also reserved about the single back sucker. So I wedged it onto the shark fin. It made an some concerning noises but didn't do damage. On the way back I used the rear the normal way (with wheel on top of the sucker) and it was a ok.
So I took this baby all the way from Melb CBD to Buxton and no issues. I got a few concerned looks on the freeway but all was good. There was no damage whatsoever to my car and it all held together. However on the way home one of the front suckers lost a bit of pressure (still holding strong though - you can see the indicator). I put this down to an unclean surface and proceeded to clean the thing with a full strip down (easy to do and recommended periodically) It's now the strongest sucker of them all so I'd probably recommend some prior cleaning of all the suckers due to the possible issue of dust from storage.
The only criticisms I have are:
- That my car has a flimsy roof. This is the most wobbly roof of all cars I have ever owned.
- The absolutely shit back sucker (although it didn't actually 'drop' the wheel) which can be fixed with a cheap bit of plastic. How hard is it to add a bracket and not charge $20 extra for it?!!
- The cranks can hit the roof. It didn't on mine but I noticed this was possible so some Velcro was added to the kit.
- No lock mechanism means you can't just leave it there.
- Dust from storage has caught a few people out (no lost bikes) so clean them first before you use them).
Pros:
- Versatile you can bring this and have it set up on virtually any car in minutes.
- Pretty reliable. I still get jittery but it hasn't let me down even with my spirited driving. Some guy on another forum has it on and 86 and they do rallies in the promo video so it works.
- Cheaper than and roof rack system with half the fuss.
- You could probably keep one as a spare rack in case you are 1 bike rack short.
Overall really happy with the product and would recommend to anyone who doesn't have a tow bar (tow solutions still rock I say but not forking out $1k for it).
Hope this helps.
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