Cycle rack for 4 bikes - disco 4

Cycle rack for 4 bikes - disco 4

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Discussion

eltax91

Original Poster:

9,842 posts

205 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
quotequote all
Hi all

Not much of a pedal power nut, but This lockdown has certainly increased family activity in this regard. I’m keen to press home advantage and start branching out to other places to cycle. Also, there’s a U.K. based holiday on the horizon too with lots of cycle trail opportunities.

I’ve recently acquired a discovery 4, so my old roof mounted carriers and bars are now defunct. I really don’t fancy attempting to get bikes up and down onto the roof, and that’s not to mention the difficulty of access height restrictions etc. I need to carry a minimum of 3 bikes, ideally 4 will give me room for child 2’s bike when she gets a bit taller (couple years)

My attention has turned to rear mounted options. My disco has a removable (not fixed flange) tow bar. The traditional cheaper style ones with a frame that uses straps to fix to the tailgate don't look like they will fit, nowhere sturdy to rest to.

There seem to be two type of tow bar mounted types.

This style:
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-racks/towbar...

Or this:
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-racks/towbar...

Anybody got any experience with either type. How sturdy is the first one? Is the second one worth twice the cost? Storage in my shed is tight but manageable for both.

Opinions welcome please folks. biggrin

brickwall

5,192 posts

209 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
quotequote all
The wheel-mount ones are much easier to use. I’ve had a MaxxRaxx and a towball-mounted one, and the latter was far superior.

The maxxraxx used to take 15mins to assemble fro 4 different pieces and get bikes on, and you’d have a game balancing the bike frame in the right place whilst also avoiding clashing handlebars and pedals - avoid.

The wheel-mount one attaches/detaches from the towball in a matter of seconds, and the bikes are pretty easy to load with ratchet straps to each wheel and a support bar at the top.

boyse7en

6,671 posts

164 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
quotequote all
Mottez towball mounted carrier is very good. Really quick to fit and family quick to fit the bikes.
Only trouble I've had is trying to fit different size bikes (kids and adults) without handlebars clashing with other bikes. But I think that would be much the same whatever the type of carrier

Foss62

993 posts

64 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
quotequote all
I’ve got an older version of the second one. It’s quite heavy but easy to put on and take off - slots straight into the boot of my Skoda Kodiaq if I don’t want to leave it on when parked at an event. Bikes attach to it easily and securely as well.

Harpoon

1,860 posts

213 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
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I've had a Tradekar tow bar rack (wheel support type) since... 2005! It's been on a few cars now, so seen plenty of (trouble-free) miles including a trip to Provence in 2018. As above, I wouldn't have a hang-on type either.

Have a look in the Roofbox returns to see if there is a bargain:

https://www.roofbox.co.uk/bargains-sale-clearance/...

IroningMan

10,154 posts

245 months

Tuesday 7th July 2020
quotequote all
Atera Strada.


J886ATV

134 posts

89 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
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IroningMan said:
Atera Strada.
This

J886ATV

134 posts

89 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
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Does that Halfords one tilt out of the way with bikes on so you can have access to the boot?
The pictures on the website seem to indicate that it's very basic. You need that flexibility - makes all the difference


hyphen

26,262 posts

89 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
quotequote all
eltax91 said:
Hi all

Not much of a pedal power nut, but This lockdown has certainly increased family activity in this regard. I’m keen to press home advantage and start branching out to other places to cycle. Also, there’s a U.K. based holiday on the horizon too with lots of cycle trail opportunities.
You dont need a bike rack for the disco. You have outgrown the disco.

You need a dayvan/campervan

TheGriffter

75 posts

179 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
quotequote all
J886ATV said:
IroningMan said:
Atera Strada.
This
Agreed. This is a brilliant piece of kit which takes only a few mins to load onto the car (X5), hook up electrics and load all the bikes. The tilt, ratchet and strap system just seem to be really well thought through.

Recommended from me although I have kept the additional 4 x Thule ProRides on the roof for maximum bike carrying capacity!!!

Dashnine

1,287 posts

49 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
quotequote all
Buzz Rack Quattro

eltax91

Original Poster:

9,842 posts

205 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
quotequote all
hyphen said:
eltax91 said:
Hi all

Not much of a pedal power nut, but This lockdown has certainly increased family activity in this regard. I’m keen to press home advantage and start branching out to other places to cycle. Also, there’s a U.K. based holiday on the horizon too with lots of cycle trail opportunities.
You dont need a bike rack for the disco. You have outgrown the disco.

You need a dayvan/campervan
rofl

How are we carrying the 4 bikes in the dayvan, 4up? biggrin

Chester draws

1,412 posts

109 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
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Dashnine said:
Buzz Rack Quattro
Had one of these around 4 years now. Much easier with 2 people to load and unload the carrier from the car.

Literally about 5 minutes to get it on the car and load 4 adult bikes, less to remove.

Tilt function of no use on our Touran as the bottom of the bootlid doesn't clear the bikes. So can't access the boot externally once bike on carrier.

For less than £200, "would recommend".



Although appears to be no longer available.

Edited by Chester draws on Wednesday 8th July 15:12

Foss62

993 posts

64 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
quotequote all
J886ATV said:
Does that Halfords one tilt out of the way with bikes on so you can have access to the boot?
The pictures on the website seem to indicate that it's very basic. You need that flexibility - makes all the difference

The Halfords one doesn’t tilt, but I’ve only been caught out once (fixing it on with the tailgate open). I’m not sure the tilting feature would make all that difference (at least to me).

eltax91

Original Poster:

9,842 posts

205 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
quotequote all
Disco has a split tailgate. So the bottom of the glass is quite high up. I think the tilt may well make all the difference

Mogul

2,925 posts

222 months

Wednesday 8th July 2020
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I had a Disco 4 and an Atera Strada. Good combo but a downside of rear-mounted racks is bikes can get filthy in filthy weather and you may need to wipe them down, esp. the brakes, before use.

Ranger 6

7,042 posts

248 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
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I've got a Thule rack for the X3. I've never needed a tilt function, I think with four bikes on it might be a bit heavy to lift.

Worzel

138 posts

254 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
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I used an older version of this on our D4:

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/bike-rack/towbar-bike-racks/thule-velospace-xt-3-_-939021

Must admit I was unsure of whether the tilt function would be used at first but we actually used it most outings for easier unloading of the boot. If we went for a muddy ride the 3 boys could also still use the lower tailgate to get changed on.

Very stable at speed and extremely easy to use. From memory ours was the G929

Jon


Bill

52,479 posts

254 months

Thursday 9th July 2020
quotequote all
Ranger 6 said:
I've got a Thule rack for the X3. I've never needed a tilt function, I think with four bikes on it might be a bit heavy to lift.
I'm another happy D4/Atera Strada owner. On the Strada it slides away from the boot as well so it's easy.