On the roof or the trunk, SeaSucker bike racks look and function unlike any other bike hauler. They rely on suction cups to attach to the vehicle.
The Mini Bomber is a two-bike rack that's loaded with some smart solutions to accommodate a variety of road and mountain bikes, new and old.
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Super simple installation
I used the Mini Bomber on two different vehicles; one on the roof, the other on the back hatch.
Installation was extremely easy. Each 15.24cm / 6in suction cup — the Mini Bomber has four — has a button, and pressing the button visibly adheres the suction cup to the surface. You can see the cup flatten out.
Each button has an obvious orange section to let you know if the cup is secure. If any orange is showing, more pumps are needed. SeaSucker claims a 210lb pull strength rating for each suction cup. Times that by four and it's not going anywhere. Yanking on the rack moved the whole car.
What about non-flat surfaces? The roof of my car has a bit of an angle, but the 19mm thick rack platform easily flexed to accommodate the roofline.
During testing, overnight temperatures dropped to -10°C / 13°F, and only one of the Mini Bomber’s four suction cups released enough to show a bit of orange at the button.
Bike loading
Loading bikes onto the rack was pretty straightforward. Remove the front wheel, place the fork dropouts in the fork mount and snug up the quick release.
The Mini Bomber comes standard with (now old school) 9mm quick release fork mounts. That means if your bike has any sort of thru-axle, an adapter is required. SeaSucker does offer various thru-axle fork mounts.
Rear wheels are secured using double-sided Velcro straps attached to the car by, you guessed it, another suction cup. The Velcro straps are wide and strong, and long enough for even fat bike tires.
So was it solid? Would I trust it with a $5,000 bike? Yeah, no question. The good old rock the bike back and forth test revealed the whole car moving.
Racking up the bikes
Initially, I expected it wouldn’t work well with two mountain bikes or any flat bar bike. Mountain bike handlebars appear too wide for the 37cm / 14.5in fork mount spacing.
SeaSucker has a solution. It's all about finding the correct angle of the fork mounts.
Each fork mount can be rotated to align flat bars so contact is minimized. With so many variables with regards to stem length, stem angle, bar width, bar rise, fork height, fork offset, etc., a bit of experimenting is required to figure out what works best for your bikes.
Having tried and successfully mounted six different mountain bikes of various sizes and handlebar widths successfully, the Mini Bomber should be able to haul your rigs.
Chainring clearance is also something to be aware of. Depending on the shape and angles of the vehicle, a big 53t road chainring could touch the vehicle’s paintwork.
SeaSucker does offer a 19mm riser block to alleviate both bar to bar and chainring to vehicle contact.
Attention must also be paid to your bike’s wheelbase. Longer bikes, of course, will need more distance between the rack and the rear wheel holders. This too can take some experimenting on some vehicles depending on the vehicle’s layout of edges, windows, bumpers and spoilers.
Of course, being a fork mount means the bike’s front wheel is removed. That requires the wheel being put inside your car or buying an additional front wheel holder. SeaSucker offers two versions that only work with quick release skewers.
Finally, the security of the rack and the bikes attached is minimal. SeaSucker does offer window and trunk/hatch anchors for use with a cable lock, but it's not as elegant or streamlined as the built-in locks from Thule and Yakima. And there's no way to lock the rack's rear wheel holders, but like the rack itself, they're quick and easy to remove.
SeaSucker Mini Bomber bottom line
The Mini Bomber is a unique bike rack with a rock-solid feel that rivals more permanent rack set ups. The benefit is that it’s super easy to install and remove.
Off the car, it’s lightweight and is the smallest bike rack available so storage is simple.
Hauling drop-bar bikes is relatively simple, especially those with open 9mm fork dropouts.
It takes some extra time (and possibly extra accessories) if you need to carry mountain bikes or thru-axle bikes, or lock it to your vehicle, but realistically they're not much beyond any other non-permanent bike rack.
If you travel a lot and have to rent vehicles but still haul your bike, the SeaSucker rack is in a class all its own.
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