REVIEW: SeaSucker Hornet Stick-On Bike Rack

[IN CARS]

Just thought I'd post on my experience with the Seasucker Hornet. You know, that suction cup bike rack that no one really trusts to hold a bike on the back of a hatch. Well let me tell you, IT DOES!

Hornet | SeaSucker

Bought mine from PROEDGEBIKER.COM | SeaSucker Bike Racks | Drift Innovation Cameras | LED Lights for $169 shipped.

First thing I did was stick my 30+ pound full suspension mountain bike to the window in my garage. Left it there for two days, and it never budged. Didn't even slide down the glass. When I took it down, the suction cups were still at full vacuum.

Needed to take my bike to the shop for some routine maintenance, about a 30 mile trip. Before I attached the mount, I measured the separation on the handlebars based on where the clamps would be placed. Then I eyeballed how far up the glass on the hatchback I wanted to place the cups.

There is quite a bit of leeway, but you wanna find a balance whereby the handlebars and cables don't touch the rear hatch visor, and where the bike seat hits the bumper. I picked out where I wanted them, and then placed two small "dots" of black tape on the glass. Now, next time I load it up, I know right where to situate the cups.

Actually mounting the bike is effortless. Just lift up the bars and place them in the holders. Close them, insert pins, and you're pretty much done. One thing that did slow me down was the safety strap install. This safety strap utilizes a captive end that gets trapped by the hatchback as it is closed. Problem is, when the hatch is up, you can't just drop it down behind the third brake right/hinge area. The gap is too tight. You have to start at either edge (out by the hatch hinges) and slide it in that way. No biggie. I actually think that strap is more piece of mind than functionality, but I like piece of mind! Wrap the strap around the bike frame, loop it back and tighten up. Done.

I made the trip at Interstate speed to the bike shop with no problem. Only thing I noted was the bike seat, which kind of just lays on the back of the bumper, did slide about eight inches to one side as I rounded a curve kind of sharp, but that didn't create any problem. One could easily add a second tie down strap to prevent this.

Another concern was possible damage to the paint because of action of the bike seat sitting on the bumper, and also the safety strap. Both of these fears were unfounded. The bike seat doesn't look like it will get any more wear than my fat as imparts upon it. Someone said a cheap Walmart bike seat cover would solve this fear, especially for those riders whose bike seat costs more than their bike... But I find this unnecessary anyway.

Since the Hornet allows very little bike movement (aside from the seat sliding side to side some) I wonder if you could mount it on top of the car anyway. Not that you would want to, but I think you could. If you had a sun roof, you could probably even use it to hold the safety strap. Just thinking out loud.

Anyway, this is the PERFECT solution to adding a bike rack when you don't want to add a hitch (yuk!) or worry about dropping the bike down the side of your roof when lifting a heavy mountain bike an a top mount rack. It's inexpensive, disappears when you're done using it into a nice case that you can drop into the trunk, and is safe and effective. What more could you want?

CG

 

[HADES20]

I'd prob be to scared to mount my trek on the back my sonic bit that's amazing it didn't slide or budge, I usually put mine inside the car can it hold more than one bike

 

[Maddog2020]

Pretty cool! Seems a little expensive to mount 1 bike. Is there enough room for 2 bikes on the back of the Sonic? My wife and I are vacationing in the Keys and would have loved to have our bikes with us.

 

[Javiero]

I was putting my remedy inside my car before my gf got me the gm roof rack. I took the rack off and noticed that the dealer had overtightened it and dented my roof panel. They are gonna fix it, but I'm considering returning the gm rack and getting something different. Thanks for the review! I'll will take this product into consideration.

 

[IN CARS]

Only room for one bike aft. SeaSucker does make single, dual, and even triple (I think) suction cup roof mounts. I agree a bit pricey for just one bike, but that's all I own. But, you can fit one in the back and one on the hatch if need be. I have been putting the bike inside, but gets the interior muddy, and it is only a matter of time before I scratch something heaving it into the rear...

 

[dvn]

Glad you are happy with it but that is definitely not for me. I would never trust suction cups to carry my $3k mountain bike. The potential is there for the rear glass to break and if the seat is resting against the bumper it IS scratching it. I'll stick with my hitch mounted rack where nothing touches my car!

 

[sonic hotness]

Awesome review


Iam sure this company like many other companys do r&d

Iam sure its safe

 

[IN CARS]

Yeah, it isn't going anywhere. There is a greater chance, IMHO, of your 3K bike getting destroyed in a car crash, but I definitely appreciate your concern! Kind of like firing a 30K Thompson, but I digress...

Yeah, I've read all the reviews from those who were in on the development. No issues with the cups failing... CG

PS: I'm more worried about the bike damaging my Sonic!

 

[ChrisJ]

First thing that comes to mind is how does the window like all of that pulling force on it being its not designed to be a supporting structure. Not sure how the glass is mounted but if its only glue I would question it. How does it effect the hatch and weather stripping as well over time.



The next is how does DOT like something sticking out from a car like that without a visible flag of any kind. That is user error in my opinion but still dangerous either way.

 

[ChrisJ]

Awesome review


Iam sure this company like many other companys do r&d

Iam sure its safe

You do realize not everything sold is automatically safe, right?

Heres a question in regards to how safe that mounting method is ignoring the fact the window isn't designed or intended for such a load.

What happens if you snap those suction cups on at say, 5 feet above sea level and then drive to say 5000 feet above? The suction will be greatly reduced and at one point that bike probably would have fallen off. This not only poses a risk for the bike, but what about drivers behind you? What about in a few years after weather and sunlight age those suction cups to the point where you *think* they are ok, but are not?

Seems like a company waiting for a lawsuit to put them out of business to me.

*shrug*

 

[seasucker]

From the manufacturer...

We just received a video from one of our customers today that attached his camera to the outside of an airplane and it worked great (should be on our FB soon). We have done testing at high altitudes and have designed the extra power needed into our vacuum cups to work at altitude. One of my personal favorite applications is a camera mount on a snowboard on my trips to Aspen. Here is a chart of the effects of altitude for those interested:

Atmospheric effect on vacuum cups at Altitude | SeaSucker

We don't spend a lot of time on forums but someone brought it to my attention so thought I would give you more detail.

The Hornet is actually our only rack designed with a strap and this rack has the least amount of cup redundancy built-in utilizing only 2 cups. This was done to make the smallest rack in the world a reality and fit in a travel case. Even if a cup fails the strap plus one cup will hold the bike in place. See our other racks as well if you don't care a lot about travel size and don't want any straps as even our other racks are the most compact in the industry.

There are plenty of videos of our racks on race cars and airplanes and the like on our website and FB, have a look if you want to see it in action. We are the rack sponsors for the most winning pro team in the USA, Team 5-hour Energy p/b Kenda and when many of the biggest teams travel they use our racks. We can have up to $50,000 worth of bicycles on one roof screaming down the road! I may not get back to this forum for a bit so feel free to email us with any questions as well at info@seasucker.com

Realize....They are not suction cups, they are vacuum cups and there is an indicator band showing how much power is left in the cup.

 

[dvn]

We just received a video from one of our customers today that attached his camera to the outside of an airplane and it worked great (should be on our FB soon). We have done testing at high altitudes and have designed the extra power needed into our vacuum cups to work at altitude. One of my personal favorite applications is a camera mount on a snowboard on my trips to Aspen. Here is a chart of the effects of altitude for those interested:

Atmospheric effect on vacuum cups at Altitude | SeaSucker

We don't spend a lot of time on forums but someone brought it to my attention so thought I would give you more detail.

The Hornet is actually our only rack designed with a strap and this rack has the least amount of cup redundancy built-in utilizing only 2 cups. This was done to make the smallest rack in the world a reality and fit in a travel case. Even if a cup fails the strap plus one cup will hold the bike in place. See our other racks as well if you don't care a lot about travel size and don't want any straps as even our other racks are the most compact in the industry.

There are plenty of videos of our racks on race cars and airplanes and the like on our website and FB, have a look if you want to see it in action. We are the rack sponsors for the most winning pro team in the USA, Team 5-hour Energy p/b Kenda and when many of the biggest teams travel they use our racks. We can have up to $50,000 worth of bicycles on one roof screaming down the road! I may not get back to this forum for a bit so feel free to email us with any questions as well at info@seasucker.com

Realize....They are not suction cups, they are vacuum cups and there is an indicator band showing how much power is left in the cup.

Still didn't address the concerns about loads on the glass that it was not designed for. I've had a rear window in a pick-up truck shatter for no apparent reason while just driving along. Personally, I wouldn't trust it. And, if you are attaching these to your paint, they will mar the finish eventually. Anything that touches the paint will. I'm not trying to bash the product. Like I said, it's just not something I would use.

 

[seasucker]

We have been doing this for over 4 years and have never ever seen or heard of a window breaking or even cracking. We have done dozens of photo shoots and videos with the ridiculous load of a full grown 200 pound man on the bike and the rack attached to the back window and never even a crack. This is 10x the load a bike alone would see, this is a non-issue.

Your other comment is interesting about marring the car. This is the reason our racks are so popular with high end cars and sports cars as our racks never leave permanent marks. Worst case is dirt or water marks and the area just needs to be cleaned. Problem with traditional racks are the straps and hinges, take a look at any well used traditional rack/car system and you will see indentations and scratches where straps and hinges are used. Our cups are non-marking and no hard or wearing materials come in contact with the vehicle. The hornet is an exception with the strap that goes into the rear hatch however.

Hope this helps. It has been our experience that even the hardest theoretical critics change their minds when they actually see and use the rack in person. Again, top professional teams and riders would never use this system in competition unless it was rock solid, it is proven.

 

[RichieRocket]

Thanks for the review. Interesting idea! I would not have a problem using it to hold my Stumpjumper Elite on the back. 30lbs is not a big load, even under dynamic loads like hitting bumps, etc. But I'm cheap and my current rack still works fine...

I have a Thule adjustable, strap-on two bike rack. I have been using that rack for almost 20 years. Had to replace the nylon straps a few years ago due to straps degrading from sun and wear at clamping points after 15+ years. Sure the foam bumpers scratch the bumper and the upper hooks have scuffed local spots at the top of the hatch, don't really care about minor scratches on the Sonic...

 

[ChrisJ]

We have been doing this for over 4 years and have never ever seen or heard of a window breaking or even cracking. We have done dozens of photo shoots and videos with the ridiculous load of a full grown 200 pound man on the bike and the rack attached to the back window and never even a crack. This is 10x the load a bike alone would see, this is a non-issue.

Your other comment is interesting about marring the car. This is the reason our racks are so popular with high end cars and sports cars as our racks never leave permanent marks. Worst case is dirt or water marks and the area just needs to be cleaned. Problem with traditional racks are the straps and hinges, take a look at any well used traditional rack/car system and you will see indentations and scratches where straps and hinges are used. Our cups are non-marking and no hard or wearing materials come in contact with the vehicle. The hornet is an exception with the strap that goes into the rear hatch however.

Hope this helps. It has been our experience that even the hardest theoretical critics change their minds when they actually see and use the rack in person. Again, top professional teams and riders would never use this system in competition unless it was rock solid, it is proven.

What will your company do if the device causes a rear window to crack or leak? I like the comment about them being vacuum cups not suction cups, because suction cups don't rely on vacuum right and vacuum isn't suction.

opcorn:

I may have missed it, but I don't think you addressed my concern about changes in altitude effecting the "vacuum" of the vacuum cups.

 

[ahtoxa]

Glad you are happy with it but that is definitely not for me. I would never trust suction cups to carry my $3k mountain bike. The potential is there for the rear glass to break and if the seat is resting against the bumper it IS scratching it. I'll stick with my hitch mounted rack where nothing touches my car!

This, to the letter. I'm also using a hitch rack to tote my $2500 MTB. I'd never, ever put it on the glass. And yes, paint on the car WILL be damaged by the seat, even as it slides a little. Overtime the clearcoat will be dull and you will see that spot very readily.

I am glad to see people trying it, but it's not for me. Way too much potential damage and cash at stake.

 

[BrianH]

Just an FYI, I've been using the Mini Bomber mount on my Sonic and it has yet to damage the paint. I do have to say that I wouldn't put it on the back window like I originally wanted to (see here: http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/aftermarket-crowd/2923-seasucker-mini-bomber-my-ltz-hatch.html), but only because the bottom bumper has no support on our cars and the fender bends when I put my huge 29" on. Otherwise, the front tire fits perfectly in the hatch and it's been holding up well over the past year of using it. I drive about 300 miles a day and bring my bike to commute on campus, so it gets used a lot.

 

[angus]

I have been using the Hornet for almost a year, I have used it on three separate vehicles (Jeep Liberty, Chevy Spark & Chevy Sonic)

I bought it for its versatility, I only need to carry one bike, and the Hornet carries one bike. and carries it very well. I have carried mountain and road bikes. all with ease and confidence. I realize some folks aren't going to like or agree with this rack, but remember its a big world and Columbus proved its not flat!

there is a good review of the hornet on my blog....
...... Robb, Pedals and Blogs

 

[angus]

Here is a Pic using the Hornet on a cold(28 degree) winter day

 

[trollbait]

I may have missed it, but I don't think you addressed my concern about changes in altitude effecting the "vacuum" of the vacuum cups.

They included a link.
Atmospheric effect on vacuum cups at Altitude | SeaSucker
Considering a bike's weight to that of the vacuum cup rating, the mounts have a good amount of margin for elevation changes.

As to the difference between suction and vacuum cups, the vacuum cups have a built in pump to draw a higher(or is it lower, should just say stronger) vacuum than what the cup can do on its own. It's the difference between how much fluid a straw can remove from a cup by putting your finger over the end and actually sucking on it.