Bike Towbar Carrier for Cars

[T5SOR]

Having just bought an estate with a towbar I am interested in a bike carrier that I can use with it. Can anyone recommend a good one for 2-3 bikes?

The idea of these seems odd and doesn't quite look like it should support multiple bikes, but I guess they must work well!

[Mr E]

Thule make quite a range

[Celtic Dragon]

I've got an exodus 2 bike rack from Halfords. For £47, it's not bad and a rebadged Mont Blanc. Got to love their 10% sales and British Cycling discount!

[matt-ITR]

I would recommend a carrier that supports the wheels.

Thule Ride-On carriers are good and often come up in the sales.
Pendle are well recommended as well.

I had my old one from Aiston.
Just a one man band, but a superb carrier and better than the Thule I had before and cheaper than Pendle.

[mikecassie]

I use a Thule, can't remember which model but have no complaints and do recommend them. It carries two bikes and there was the same model but as a 3 bike carrier.
Haven't tried any other brands but then again I haven't needed to replace the Thule.

[Wacky Racer]

mikecassie said:

I use a Thule, can't remember which model but have no complaints and do recommend them. It carries two bikes and there was the same model but as a 3 bike carrier.
Haven't tried any other brands but then again I haven't needed to replace the Thule.

Just bought a Thule 2 bike model, absolutely suberb quality, although it was specifically heavy duty for one electric bike and one normal one so not cheap......around £350.

This model....bought from Halfords.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/thule-e-power-2...

Very pleased.

[47p2]

Atera STRADA, comes in 2 or 3 or 4

Not cheap but a great bit of kit

Tips over to allow access to the boot




Click

[StarmistBlue400]

I brought one from Halfords (own brand 4 bike carrier). It does the job and its good value but it is quite heavy.

Only use a it 2 or 3 times a year though so not sure how it would withstand more regular use.

[tuffer]

Thule 3 bike carrier here with 4th bike extension. BRILLIANT.

[PGM]

47p2 said:

Atera STRADA, comes in 2 or 3 or 4

Not cheap but a great bit of kit

Tips over to allow access to the boot




Click

We have this one, a 3 bike with the 4th extension.

Very good bit of kit.

Bikes are closely packed together and can be a bit of a pain to load (same for all racks) but you get used to it.

[bakerstreet]

Celtic Dragon said:

I've got an exodus 2 bike rack from Halfords. For £47, it's not bad and a rebadged Mont Blanc. Got to love their 10% sales and British Cycling discount!

Is that one the super basic ones with no built in rear lights and the bike hangs on the carrier rather than the bike being secured low down at the wheels.

The above aren't much use if they block the lights and the number plate.

A friend of mine has just bought a hinged tow bar unit for £70 on Ebay and that included built in lights. Quite a nice bit of kit for the money. Might buy myself one next year.

I don't move the bike on the car that often, but when I do, I would like it to be easier than the roof rack and cycle carrier that I currently use.

[Soop Dogg]

I used a Thule 9503 for a couple of years with no problems. The only thing I had against it was that it flexed a bit too much when I had the MTBs on it as it's quite lightweight.

Then I bought a Thule EasyBike 948-2 which was much more substantial. (I still own this one) I bought the kit to add a third bike. This was really good and is rock sold but a bit heavy to carry around from the shed to the car and back. Also, it's quite wide, so doesn't go in the boot of the corvette. That's not a problem if I'm just transporting the bikes to a mates house to go out for a ride, but when on holiday we often stop overnight at a hotel and I don't like leaving the rack on the car, but there's not really anything else I can do other than bring it into the hotel room with the bikes, which is a hassle.

Earlier this year I bought a Westfalia BC60 bike rack which folds down so that it's not much wider than a number plate. This is without doubt the best bike rack I've owned. The quality of its construction and the thought that's gone into the design is remarkable. It's not cheap, but there are some good deals out there if you dig for them. They can sell for £320, but I think I paid about £230. I can fold it down and put it in the boot of the Corvette and it only takes up about half the floor space! AS standard, it's a two bike carrier, but you can add a kit to take a third.

Video of how it works HERE

[Longers]

I looked at all of the options several times earlier this year and went for the Arteria Strada. It's superb - compact when not in use (I store the bikes on it!), light and easy to fit.

T5SOR said:

The idea of these seems odd and doesn't quite look like it should support multiple bikes, but I guess they must work well!

I know exactly what you mean. I still cannot understand how something can grip a smooth tow ball so tightly and not move, but yes, they work

[idiotgap]

I guess the key is that they not only grip the ball itself, but also the stub of the stalk underneath so they can't tilt forwards and back or from side to side. The only freedom of movement they might have is to swivel on the ball but they grip tightly enough to keep that in check.

I bought one of these Buzz Rack Buffalo 4 racks a few weeks ago, I've only used it once so far but it seems to work really well and not too pricey.

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php...



It's not the platform type, just has the two arms which stick out to support the top tubes. That suits me because I will be slinging a tandem trail-a-bike on it which I don't think will work so well on a platform and I don't have any carbon bikes (not sure if that matters).

The roofbox guys say this: "We've been using one of these in our test pool since last autumn and, having established that it's in a completely different league from its competitors, have now discontinued all of these except the MaxxRaxx carriers; these are also superb but are fundamentally very different."

I managed to pick one up cheap which roofbox had taken back as a return, plenty of choice of other racks on there if you're looking for a saving over rrp (usual caveat applies: I have no connection with them other than as a satisfied customer)
http://www.roofbox.co.uk/bargains-sale-clearance/b...

[walm]

Another vote for the Atera Strada.
I genuinely have no idea how it manages to grip the ball with such force but it really doesn't wobble much at all.
Fantastic bit of kit.

[PGM]

walm said:

Another vote for the Atera Strada.
I genuinely have no idea how it manages to grip the ball with such force but it really doesn't wobble much at all.
Fantastic bit of kit.

Mine looks very solid when I follow in another car, when you look in the mirror there is some wobble there but it's just the structure rather than moving on the ball.