I spotted this vehicle hauling bikes with what appeared to be foil covering the chains. The license plate is out of state so I presume they are traveling. I'm guessing the foil is to protect the chains from the elements. Is this correct? Have any of you done or seen this before?
by Jolly-Holiday819
9 Comments
That’s definitely a first for me but I live in the south. Maybe a salt barrier?
Salt, probably. Every other piece of steel js still exposed, but whatever
makes sense, I guess. which begs the question, why don’t we ever see bikes covered with a purpose-made cover? I’ve seen a minimal cover to protect against bugs when bikes are mounted to a roof rack but never a cover while on a hitch rack.
Yeah, cover the most replaceable and serviceable piece of steel on the bike, leaving everything else exposed. Total sense.
Probably to protect chains. Bikes on the backs of cars pick up a lot of fine grit. Pays to clean them up after a longish drive.
I drove from Berlin to Barcelona this winter, with a cover over my bikes but still arrived with rust on both chains.
Learnt a lesson and will be covering / removing parts for longer trips with saly roads in the future.
It astonishes me that you can drive with an obstructed licensplate and taillights in the us. Here in Europe all bike carriers have a licensplate holder and lightly like a trailer. In some countrys you can can have an duplicate licensplate for the Carrier mostly with a red background in some you have to have the original on the holder and the duplicate on the car.
In Italy the bikes must not be wider than the car at all
This is to protect against electrical infetterance from 5G.
A lot of people are saying salt, but:
* That location can also pick up grit and dust, which you probably don’t want on your gears & chain (but you can tolerate on nonmoving parts like frame, saddle, bars)
* If you’re taking a long drive through rain, you’re basically jetwashing all the oil and grease out of your bike. But you should cover more than just the chain if you’re worried about that. I accidentally damaged my chain *and bottom bracket* by doing this on the way to a big ride a few hundred km away, without a cover – the bike sounded terrible for the weekend, but I did the necessary ride with lots of crunching and grinding, then had some expensive repair work when I got home.