Carrying bikes on cars - questions

[shoestring7]

Sorry, I appreciate these have been asked before but the search function doesn't seem to like me.

I need to get a rack to carry the family's bikes (or at least two of them) on the family stbox, a VW Touran.

A trip to Halfords show two options, on top (on a sturdy looking rack) or behind (on a Heath Robinson contraption of staps and tubes). Any views on which is preferable?

Also, Halford stock their own brands or Thule. Is the latter worth the extra?

If I want to go the Thule route, are there any cheaper sources?

thanks


SS7

[OneDs]

How many bikes (2 or more) normally a max of 3 on the back?

One of the better brands is Thule, although when I was getting a roof box for the Golf a few websites mentioned it was more marketing gimmickery than actual quality products that got it its reputation. Thule stuff can be had cheaper on the net direct but you'll have to do some research.

The best rear carriers are the ones that attach to the trailer hitch and can flex down to allow acces to the boot, otherwise you have to take off the rear carrier everytime you open it.

The roof carriers are good but you have to factor in the cost of not only the bike holders but the mounting roof feet/bars and cross bars, being a touran you'll probably need a step to mount and dismount it all.

My neighbour has both for taking 5 bikes and a roof box on his hols. 3 on the back two up top + roof box all thule and works very well.

Edited by OneDs on Wednesday 28th July 10:42

One more thing, if your family currently has small bikes you chuck in the boot, these will get bigger and muddier, so if you plan on keeping it for a long time get a combination that can meet your needs for a while.

Edited by OneDs on Wednesday 28th July 10:46

[Mars]

I've just completed my research and bought a set of Thule aero bars/feet for my Scooby, and a pair of the 591 bike carriers. That lot was £260.

If I had a towbar I'd prefer the Thule G5 909 at £300 but the cost of the towbar itself takes that option out of my reach.

The third option, using a strap-on (ooer) rear carrier is a cheap option but you cannot use your boot/tailgate while the carrier is attached.


Find the system you like best and type it into Google. I found Towequipe.co.uk were the best price for the 591 bike carriers, CarRacks.co.uk the best price for the G5 909, and RoofRacks.co.uk the best price for the main roof rack.


Having had a non-Thule set in the past, and being able to justify afford the Thule kit, I'd always go with the best now. this doesn't invalidate the cheaper kit but the easy of attaching the better kit to the car, and the bikes to the carriers, AND that you can lock them all down, makes it worthwhile to me.

[sjg]

Roofbars are definitely preferred for me. Strap-on rear racks are horrible things, far more likely to scratch paint, damage tailgates/bumpers and usually there's no way of opening the hatch either. At worst, the straps can loosen or fray and ultimately fail - I've seen it happen on the motorway, not nice.

Thule bars and racks are great - all lockable too, bars to the car, racks to the bars and bikes on the racks. Very easy to use too. If they'll get fairly regular use, worth paying the extra for the aluminium aero bars - the ones I had on my Alfa made no buffeting noise at all and seemed to make no difference to mpg so I just left them on most of the time.

If you want all-new kit, www.roofbox.co.uk are pretty good. However, keep an eye on ebay as mint secondhand sets come up pretty regularly. The bars are almost universal (they come in a few widths though), then there are foot packs which will fit a variety of cars, and a fitting pack specific to a particular car. If you dig around the Thule site you can easily find part numbers and potentially a rack from a completely different car will fit yours with only a £10 fitting pack.

edit: consider others like Atera - they can be just as nicely made, and on my Civic their mounting mechanism is a much cleaner design than the Thules.

Edited by sjg on Wednesday 28th July 10:59

[shoestring7]

Thanks guys.

I've gone for a roof system; the Thule Freeride 530 from Towequipe. Painless process over the phone, lets hope they can deliver for the weekend!

SS7

[pdV6]

Roof bars & mounts are "better" but will add a lot more drag, which might be a consideration if you're planning to do regular long distance journeys.

[Mars]

shoestring7 said:

Thanks guys.

I've gone for a roof system; the Thule Freeride 530 from Towequipe. Painless process over the phone, lets hope they can deliver for the weekend!

SS7

Ordered mine from them yesterday afternoon. Apparently they've delivered them this morning (just had a call).

[t84]

If it's any help the Thule hatch mounted rack that I have uses no fabric straps whatsoever, it's utterly solid and you can open the hatch with two bikes mounted (If you're strong enough!)

[Mars]

Mars said:

shoestring7 said:

Thanks guys.

I've gone for a roof system; the Thule Freeride 530 from Towequipe. Painless process over the phone, lets hope they can deliver for the weekend!

SS7

Ordered mine from them yesterday afternoon. Apparently they've delivered them this morning (just had a call).

... and upon arriving home, they have..!!

Rather irksome is that they have sent my two 591 carriers each with a different key number, which in turn is different again from the key numbers I received for the roof rack (although from a different company so no blame there).

I suppose it could be considered more secure to have different key numbers. Any views? It's only £18.50 to change them to all the same barrels and keys. Or I suppose I could have a moan but that doesn't seem very British.

[Scoobydougie]

Mars said:

Mars said:

shoestring7 said:

Thanks guys.

I've gone for a roof system; the Thule Freeride 530 from Towequipe. Painless process over the phone, lets hope they can deliver for the weekend!

SS7

Ordered mine from them yesterday afternoon. Apparently they've delivered them this morning (just had a call).

... and upon arriving home, they have..!!

Rather irksome is that they have sent my two 591 carriers each with a different key number, which in turn is different again from the key numbers I received for the roof rack (although from a different company so no blame there).

I suppose it could be considered more secure to have different key numbers. Any views? It's only £18.50 to change them to all the same barrels and keys. Or I suppose I could have a moan but that doesn't seem very British.

I have the same key for the bars and my bike carrier and am considering changing one set of locks as I figured if someone has one key, they can get your bars or carrier off no problem, at least with 2 keys you can use a bike lock between the bike and bars and it's more difficult to remove.

[Mars]

^^^ Yes, that was the "looking at it from a positive viewpoint" conclusion I came to too.

3 keys on my keyring vs 1. £18.50 for 4 new locks...


Maybe we should exchange locks numbers, just in case there's any trading possible.

[Si 330]

I noticed a big difference in fuel consumption with a rear mounted and roof rack type. The rear must act as a parachute I picked up a brand called Cruz probably not as flash as the Thule but much cheaper as does the job perfectly.

Also my rear mount wouldn't mount on my 166 as the panel gaps are too close on the boot lid to get the side restraints on.

[shoestring7]

Mars said:

shoestring7 said:

Thanks guys.

I've gone for a roof system; the Thule Freeride 530 from Towequipe. Painless process over the phone, lets hope they can deliver for the weekend!

SS7

Ordered mine from them yesterday afternoon. Apparently they've delivered them this morning (just had a call).

My delivery arrived yesterday, less than 24hrs after it was ordered. I also got a phone call to say it had been delivered by the courier company.

Excellent service from Towequipe.

SS7

[johnny senna]

We are thinking about this very question for my wife's Qashqai.
I have a mark 5 golf GTI and I have roof mounted Thule bars (non-aero) and the fancy bike carrier which work flawlessly. I love them. But, I loose 3mpg and the wind noise is considerable!
So we thought using a rear mounted system on the Qashqai might be quieter and better for MPG.
What is better,
1) getting a system that fits to the tail gate? I assume this means the bikes lift up with the hatch? Are the bikes locked on with a set of keys like my roof mounted system?
or 2) getting a tow bar mounted system? These strike me as sturdier, but can you open the tailgate with the bike on?

[billybskoda]

I have roof rails, so I bought the Halfords value roof bars - £40 ish, and two sets of 'san remo' style carriers - the front wheel comes off and the forks quick release fit into the carrier. I dont personally like the ones where you can put the complete bike on top, prefer taking teh front wheel off.

With this method, provideing you have enough attachments, you can carry four bikes on top.

I found with the tailgate carriers, they move and the mounting points can scratch the paint..

[Marcellus]

This might sound obvious but;

IF CARRYING YOUR BIKES ON THE ROOF DO NOT FORGET THAT THEY'RE THERE!!!!

I used to carry my TT bike on the roof, I was communting London to Birmingham for work and then racing at Thame in the evening... on the roof was a really great way to carrying the bike, really secure and hardly noticed it was there!

One week popped to the Local Sainsburys for lunch....... the only thing that reminded me the bike was on the roof was the "thwang/crunch" as I went under the height restriction..... result, one really nice TT bike completely trashed... and insurance wouldn't cover it ;(

After the event speak to a lot of other riders I've discovered it's not that uncommon... some even put a sticker on the windscreen with a bloody great arrow saying "Bikes"

Edited by Marcellus on Monday 2nd August 10:00

[sjg]

Towbar is infinitely better than the strap-to-tailgate type. Plenty now have a pivoting mechanism to get to the boot.

Aero bars are also much better noise-wise. Any noise mine made at motorway speed was more than drowned out by all the other wind/tyre noise.

[snotrag]

Towbar mounted racks are definitely the best option if you can't put bikes inside - a solid, mechanical connection, to the cars chassis, not the body panels.

Decent ones have inbult lightboard, plate etc etc. The best also support the bikes by the wheels so are much kinder to the bikes.

Especially for a larger/taller car like a Qashqai, a towbar mounted rack would be ideal.

Also note - you dont neccessarily have to have the ugle swan-neck/ball fitted to the car either, jsut the actual receiver in some cases which often doesnt look too bad and is hidden under the rear of the car.

Try these guys -

http://www.aistoncycleracks.co.uk/

[Marcellus]

snotrag said:

Also note - you dont neccessarily have to have the ugle swan-neck/ball fitted to the car either, jsut the actual receiver in some cases which often doesnt look too bad and is hidden under the rear of the car.

+1 you wouldn't know my car has the mountings until I put the bike rack on, everything is totally hidden away under/behind the rear bumper.

Edited by Marcellus on Monday 2nd August 16:47

[johnny senna]

Thanks fellas.