car bike carriers

Hi All,

I recently sold my car and purchased a newer one. The new car does'nt have a tow bar fitted so my existing bike carrier is redundant.

I have priced a new tow ball for about $700 but was wondering what experiences people have had with those non tow bar "clip-in" style car carriers.

thanks,

peddler

There are a couple of replies to post 18201 on page 1214 [if you use the default of 15 posts / page setting] in The Thread About....well, not much at all really, but you may get something out of it.

Two good solutions:
1) Saris Bones. Check them out, we've the three bike version and it is really good. No tow ball required.
2) Thule roof carrier. I like the ones that grip the fork with a QR device, as I've one bike with a strange frame shape, but many prefer the ones with the arm that grabs the frame. You don't need to get the whole system from Thule, as they make a bike carrier that will fit generic square-section racks or other brands of "aero" roof rack.

With both of these, we can fit four bikes on our Golf.

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"Two good solutions:
1) Saris Bones. Check them out, we've the three bike version and it is really good. No tow ball required."

Hi Artemidorus,

They sound good. Are they suitable for 3-4 hour drives at 110 km/h plus speeds. Also any problems with the unit shifting and scratching the car?

Sorry mucked up the quote thing.

regards,

peddler

I have two friends with a Subaru wagon with two Thule Roof Bar mounted CRX4s, no problems Perth to Albany and back! You just have to clean off all the dead insects.

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Cheers,
George.

I cannot answer your specific question.

I was going to purchase a clip on but found i could not as my car has a sort of spoiler thing going on the back window and the clip on cannot go over it. So before you go any further make sure your car is compatible.

I went for roof rack mounted with the arms so that the wheels do not come off. This has some disadvantages (have to take off most pumps and is difficult to reach if you are shorter or have more than 2 bikes mounted) but does work reasonably well.

thanks for the replies people,

That $700 quote was for the tow bar plus the electrics. I am now wondering if you can just get the bar fitted without the electrics? This would bring it down to about $300.

Obviously I could not "legally" tow a trailer, not that I do that much anyway.

Any thoughts

I have tried a variety of bike carriers. These are some pitfalls:

I have a Rola racks and the Rola two-piece bike attachment. My idea compromise when I can't put the bike in the boot. Make sure the bike wheelbase will fit with a Rola two-piece - otherwise the Rola one-piece attachment will be needed. My bike just fits, but I like the quick-release fitment of the front wheel.
Downsides: the insect grime on a new bike! (not a huge issue) And last car was a tall 4WD - never realised how heavy a MTB can be when trying to lift it up on tippytoes. PITA, ended up scratching roof. I now have a BH road bike, so maybe that wouldn't be so bad on a 4WD, but my replacement, a W124 sedan, is much, much easier for putting bikes on the roof anyway.

As for the boot-attachment racks , watch out if you have a sedan or other type of vehicle with large rear panel sections where the rack will sit. My sedan's boot top bowed slightly when I tensioned down the rack, even though the rack has large protective pads, it is a lot of pressure on the panel. I try to have the pads close to the edge of the boot to aviod this, though the shape of rack it should be in the middle of the boot.

I have a Repco towball-mount 3-bike attachment for the wagon, I bought it in a hurry. I had to file down the sharp edges of the mount base as I could see it slicing a hole in somebody - terrible workmanship. It also does not pivot down like some others, so have to take it off to get anything out of the back. If you do get a towball, this would probably be ideal (ie NOT a Repco fixed type, but I'm sure I've seen better-quality ones, and that you can have with a pivot-down feature if you have a wagon) - except you may need an additonal no. plate made up if the original is obscured.

Lastly, if you are fussy about yr bike and don't want to scratch it, make sure you put gaffer tape or similar on the bar areas where it is clamped or strapped to the carrier (not a problem for the roof-mount, obviously).

Just wish I knew all these things before wasting money on too many bike carriers...

Thule also make a few models that dont require a tow ball, These are generally high quality, however it depends how much you love your car as there is no garantee that it will not scratch your paint work as a result of long drives, Personally i would just get towball minus electrics and go for a tow ball attached version. A lot easier to take on and off.

Thule clip on starts at $199 RRP up to $299RRP for high end version

I have a 3 bike one, absolutly fantastic. cost me $90 NZD (about 70USD or so) and works like a charm.

Doesnt hold the heavier bikes though, but fine for road bikes

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I had a bike carrier that used clips and straps and it was OK for short distances around town but it moved around too much for my liking. The funny thing is that it worked best on the car that HAD a tow bar because I could use the tow bar as an anchoring point. My car without a tow bar was LESS successful because I didn't have a good bottom anchoring point and its not advisable to use plastic bumbers as the anchoring point.

Regards, Anthony

Yes, they are suitable, add in dirt roads if you like. If you have the upper legs of the Bones resting on the rear window glass, and you haven't wiped both the glass and the legs clean beforehand, you can get some scratches.

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I've strapped the Bones on over the small spoiler on our old Golf and the large spoiler on my dad's new Liberty, without damage to either car. The upper straps are not desperately highly loaded.

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I find the strap-on rack very easy to anchor to the rear hatch, as the hooks go onto hatch top edge, hatch side edges, and hatch lower edge with the feet resting on the bumper bar and the rear window. It may be more difficult with a sedan. Definitely try fitting one before you buy.
In this location, there is no movement of the rack on the car.

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