Bike Rack

[daz3210]

I'm looking at a new rack.

Currently I have one that fits via straps to the tailgate, but I haven't use it on my current car (X Type Estate). I am worried about using such a rack on the back of the car for a number of reasons, main being that the upper tailgate appears to be a plastic shroud rather than proper metal, and the glass fits right to the edges.

I'm thinking in terms of a rack that mounts on the roof 'coffin' rails. Looking at the likes of Halfrauds etc I need to buy both roof bars, and a rack.

So anyone got any recommendations or tips as to what to look for?

[ewenm]

Thule products are generally considered good and will give you a benchmark for cost.

[daz3210]

That's part of whats confusing me.

Looking at Halford website, a Thule Bar is like £90, but a Halfords own is like £20. Whats the big difference?

[Antony Moxey]

The Halfords one is about £60 - I have one for my X-Type estate. Basically you have two bars that clamp to the roof rails that you tighten with a butterfly nut on each side. A plastic cover then hinges over the butterfly nuts and it's job jobbed. I would imagine the difference is the Thule ones can be locked in place whereas the Halfords ones can't. However, if you're leaving bikes on there, you can always lock them to the car's roof rails as you would anywhere else.

Once the bars are in place you then mount a bike-specific rack to the bars. I got mine from ebay for about £15 each. Again they don't lock, but I've had both roadies and MTBs on there with the clamp around the tube that runs from the stem to the crank and both wheels strapped into a grooved runner that's bolted to the Halfords bars.

It's about 20 minutes to get everything ready to hold the bikes first time out, and a couple of minutes per bike once it's all up and running. I've got some new racks that I got from a friend a while back so the ebay ones are up for grabs for a beer token or two...

Oh, nearly forgot - I had a rear mounted one too, but was never happy with how it sat, apart from the fact it scratched the paint on the tailgate to buggery. I didn't like it jammed under the rear wiper, and also had to have the top hooks, err, hooked into the roof rails as it bent the top spoiler on the tailgate. Plus the edge is glass too.

Edited by Antony Moxey on Friday 29th June 11:21

[daz3210]

Thanks for that. Seems you have experienced exactly what I feared.

Are the cheap racks worth buying though, are they sturdy enough? Last thing I want is the bike coming loose when its up there!

[Antony Moxey]

They seem so. Never been more than 20 miles with the bikes on, and never at (much) more than legal speeds with them working loose. The roof bars are always rock solid - I take the bike racks off if I need to carry the kayak and they never budge a bit. If you have a look in the muddy bikes thread, you can see a (not very good) pic of mine and miladdo's MTBs on the roof and see how the bikes are clamped. Plus if you look carefully you can see one of the wheel straps too.

[daz3210]

OK cheers.

I have found a roof rack specialist local to me. They do racks from £20 up to about £100 and have a showroom, so I may call up later.

I spoke to him and he recommends Thule, says all the others are OK, but not as sturdy