I think this will work just fine, seems very solid in this position-



I originally had it all on the glass like this, but quickly decided this was a REALLY BAD IDEA-



I have an old Cannondale M400 mountain bike that weighs about 22 pounds, and a Felt F4C carbon road bike that weighs a hair under 17 pounds, but probably will never carry both at the same time.

Thoughts?

 

Looks reasonable to me. The rack itself seems like it wouldn't be particularly stable with just one upper arm. I've used bike racks for non-recommended vehicles before with no issues - here's my '04 350Z ready to head to Pisgah.





The main things I look for are complete clip engagement and making sure the straps are taking the shortest route from the rack to the clip point - as in, make sure they won't wiggle off to the side of the tire or something and become loose in transit - never rely on friction.

Why wouldn't you just throw the bikes in the back though??

 

Yeah I used this rack on my GTI for a while and it is solid as long as everything is adjusted properly. I'm going to drive around for a couple of days before putting them on the rack for the weekend to be sure everything is solid.

Putting the the Cannondale in the back isn't a big deal, but I would never lay the Felt down for fear of components being damaged or coming out of adjustment. Plus it takes up valuable space for other stuff and bags coming along for a cycling trip.

Nice S-bike!

 

Thanks!

I'm not into road biking so I didn't think about laying it down. My old Specialized gets pretty abused.

Looks like you can still open the rear door with that on? That would be great.

 

Yes, door still operates normally, bike on or off.

I am looking to get a new mountain bike with suspension and disc brakes...My M400 is a rigid frame and fork (chromoly tho) and old pull cantilever brakes! Funny how that stuff was so state of the art back then.