Unusual but useful bike roof rack
Discussion
Apologies for the crappy phone pic...
I saw this on the way home from France on Saturday. Appears to be a way to connect the bikes to the roof-rack whilst they're still on the ground, and then hoist them onto the (tall) car (it's an XC90) without risk of damaging the car.
It does add some height to the overall - I'm sure there's a way of reducing that - but the system looks clever anyway. Suspect it's only useful for 2 bikes (can't work out how you'd do it for a middle bike).
I saw this on the way home from France on Saturday. Appears to be a way to connect the bikes to the roof-rack whilst they're still on the ground, and then hoist them onto the (tall) car (it's an XC90) without risk of damaging the car.
It does add some height to the overall - I'm sure there's a way of reducing that - but the system looks clever anyway. Suspect it's only useful for 2 bikes (can't work out how you'd do it for a middle bike).
<Volvo nerd> That's an XC60...
I had 3 bikes in the back of my XC90 at the weekend, with 3 not so powerfully built riders, and their kit
</Volvo nerd>
Very clever idea though, but I've never been 100% happy having the bikes on the roof of a car having seen the damage a rogue wheel nut (and even a pigeon) does to a bonnet at 70mph!
I had 3 bikes in the back of my XC90 at the weekend, with 3 not so powerfully built riders, and their kit
</Volvo nerd> Very clever idea though, but I've never been 100% happy having the bikes on the roof of a car having seen the damage a rogue wheel nut (and even a pigeon) does to a bonnet at 70mph!
Steve in Stoke said:
<Volvo nerd> That's an XC60...
Yeah, could be. I keep getting them mixed up. It was quite tall though so I thought it was a 90.Steve in Stoke said:
Very clever idea though, but I've never been 100% happy having the bikes on the roof of a car having seen the damage a rogue wheel nut (and even a pigeon) does to a bonnet at 70mph!
Ah but you can't worry about occasional incidences like that. I've taken my bike hundreds of miles on the roof of my Scooby with nothing more advers happening than rain.That said, I prefer them on the back of the ML, however they'll be on a trailer next year - still behind the ML but higher up.
I have a rear rack mounted to the towball and whilst it's great for road bikes, the wide handlebars of MTB bikes require some juggling.
A friend of mine wrote his Cervelo off last week by driving into a car park barrier. The best accessory for a roof rack would be forward facing radar.
A friend of mine wrote his Cervelo off last week by driving into a car park barrier. The best accessory for a roof rack would be forward facing radar.
walm said:
el stovey said:
The rear racks are easier but my understanding is you need a tow bar to fit them which my XC90 doesn't have.
Can't you retro-fit a tow bar?(Genuine question...)
^^^ This is quite right. A non-Mercedes towbar cost me over £700 for the ML. The Thules 3 bike towbar mount carrier another £400.
Whereas a Thule aero roofrack and 3x Thule carriers for the Scooby was "only" around £400.
I prefer driving with the bikes on the back though, and the towbar mount carrier doubles as a secure bike park when we got to our chalet in France.
Whereas a Thule aero roofrack and 3x Thule carriers for the Scooby was "only" around £400.
I prefer driving with the bikes on the back though, and the towbar mount carrier doubles as a secure bike park when we got to our chalet in France.
robpearson said:
I've just bought an old ambulance to solve this problem, fits three people in the front, and three bikes in the back comfortably;-) about the same price as the tow ball and rack for the ML by the sounds of it, and they don't even come with blue lights and a siren...
... or the requirement for an MoT either. 
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff