carrying bikes on hatchback

[frankv]

I am after views, experience or advice on carrying bikes on a
hatchback.
I have a Daihatsu Charade with 3 of everything - 3 doors counting the
hatch and 3 cylinders.
Very economical but not very good for carrying bikes. I don't want to
fit conventional roof bars such as Rola or Rhino as they have to be
rivetted to the roof. I also do not want to fit a tow bar due to the
extra weight.
I have bought on line a cheap hatchback mounted rack
http://tinyurl.com/ymfcqo
which I am not happy with. It does not seem to suit the shape of the
car. I do not have confidence in the straps. The bike is not supported
adequately and the toptube could be damaged IMHO. I have read online
stories of this style of rack jumping off on bumpy roads.
I want to be able to carry one or possibly two mountain bikes.
Carrying the bike(s) inside the car with the rear seat folded down is
usually not possible due to the presence of other passengers.

Frank

 

[Damian]

frankv wrote:

> <snip>

I've heard good things about the Saris Bones rack. I am in a similar
situation and am about to go look at one of those.

Damian

 

[Parbs]

Damian wrote:
>
> I've heard good things about the Saris Bones rack. I am in a similar
> situation and am about to go look at one of those.
>
I have a Bones rack - and it does work very well, once set up. It is a
pain to set up first (and if you are swapping between cars).

Parbs

 

[Duracell Bunny]

I am after views, experience or advice on carrying bikes on a
hatchback.
I have a Daihatsu Charade with 3 of everything - 3 doors counting the
hatch and 3 cylinders.
Very economical but not very good for carrying bikes. I don't want to
fit conventional roof bars such as Rola or Rhino as they have to be
rivetted to the roof. I also do not want to fit a tow bar due to the
extra weight.
I have bought on line a cheap hatchback mounted rack
http://tinyurl.com/ymfcqo
which I am not happy with. It does not seem to suit the shape of the
car. I do not have confidence in the straps. The bike is not supported
adequately and the toptube could be damaged IMHO. I have read online
stories of this style of rack jumping off on bumpy roads.
I want to be able to carry one or possibly two mountain bikes.
Carrying the bike(s) inside the car with the rear seat folded down is
usually not possible due to the presence of other passengers.

Frank

Frank, I had the same issues with my hatchback. I took the car to a specialist towbar maker, he made up a special lightweight towbar that while I could not tow with it, it was designed to take the vertical stresses of a bike rack. Cost less than $100 to get installed. Then add a conventional, removable towbar bike rack of your choice.

 

[BT Humble]

frankv wrote:
> I am after views, experience or advice on carrying bikes on a
> hatchback.
> I have a Daihatsu Charade with 3 of everything - 3 doors counting the
> hatch and 3 cylinders.
> Very economical but not very good for carrying bikes. I don't want to
> fit conventional roof bars such as Rola or Rhino as they have to be
> rivetted to the roof.

Does the Charade not have roof gutters then? My wife has an older
('92) Applause which *does* have them, but I suppose the design has
changed quite a bit since then. Regardless, I'm sure that you can buy
reasonable quality roof bars that don't need to have holes driled in
the car to fit whether your car has roof gutters or not.

Somebody here was talking about the cheap way of carrying bikes using
standard roof bars a while ago (by attaching an old quick release hub
to the front bar, clamping the bikes forks into it, and using an occy
strap to hold the bike's rear wheel to the second roof bar). It
sounded like a good idea.


BTH

 

[Absent Husband]

frankv wrote:
> I have bought on line a cheap hatchback mounted rack
> http://tinyurl.com/ymfcqo
> which I am not happy with. It does not seem to suit the shape of the
> car. I do not have confidence in the straps. >
> Frank

G'day Frank,

Back in my uni days, when I drove a tres chic beige Mazda 323 hatch
(*groans*), I used a similar strap-on rear bike rack. When I had it
attached to the car the first time, I did everything I could to try and
test it to failure (I wasn't 100% sure!!), but it stayed on no matter
what I did. I used it for about 5 years or so, and it was absolutely
fine.....

The straps were adjustable as well, so as to change the way the rubber
pads rested against the back of the car - I assume that was to adjust
to different car shapes...... Maybe you could play around with the
straps a bit??

Anyway - just my 2 cents. Don't be worried about the strap system per
se.....

Cheers,
Abby

 

[DaveB]

frankv wrote:
> car. I do not have confidence in the straps. The bike is not supported

I borrowed my brother's strap on rack for use on Corolla Seca (he used
it without any trouble on a Jackaroo). I was a bit suss on the straps.
Going around a large roundabout I saw one side come off and the whole
rack swing around to the side of the car. Luckily no damage done but i
was forever cured of strap on racks.

DaveB

 

[Bleve]

DaveB wrote:
> frankv wrote:
> > car. I do not have confidence in the straps. The bike is not supported
>
> I borrowed my brother's strap on rack for use on Corolla Seca (he used
> it without any trouble on a Jackaroo). I was a bit suss on the straps.
> Going around a large roundabout I saw one side come off and the whole
> rack swing around to the side of the car. Luckily no damage done but i
> was forever cured of strap on racks.

I had a lot of success with strap-on racks. Never had a problem .. you
do have to be careful with them when you put them on, and do them up
tight, but I've had 3 MTBs over very rough dirt roads on the back of a
hatchback with no problems.

 

[DaveB]

Bleve wrote:
> DaveB wrote:
>> frankv wrote:
>>> car. I do not have confidence in the straps. The bike is not supported
>> I borrowed my brother's strap on rack for use on Corolla Seca (he used
>> it without any trouble on a Jackaroo). I was a bit suss on the straps.
>> Going around a large roundabout I saw one side come off and the whole
>> rack swing around to the side of the car. Luckily no damage done but i
>> was forever cured of strap on racks.
>
> I had a lot of success with strap-on racks. Never had a problem .. you
> do have to be careful with them when you put them on, and do them up
> tight, but I've had 3 MTBs over very rough dirt roads on the back of a
> hatchback with no problems.
>

I suspect they work very well or very badly. The rack my brother used
saw a lot of action in Northern territory, without a hiccup. Just didn't
work well for my car.

DaveB

 

[Harng Goh]

DaveB wrote:
> frankv wrote:
> > car. I do not have confidence in the straps. The bike is not supported
>
> I borrowed my brother's strap on rack for use on Corolla Seca (he used
> it without any trouble on a Jackaroo). I was a bit suss on the straps.
> Going around a large roundabout I saw one side come off and the whole
> rack swing around to the side of the car. Luckily no damage done but i
> was forever cured of strap on racks.
>
> DaveB


Strap on, eh? *snigger*

http://www.thule.com/Thule/ProductPage____33556.aspx

Anyone tried the Thule Clip On High? It's a bit pricey at almost AUD300
but I like the look of the rails that secure the wheels and keep the
bikes apart. My experiences with towbar- and boot-mounted racks where
the bikes lean against each other usually end up with scratched frames
and forks. However, I believe a few of the newer racks like the Saris
Bones have extra straps that you put around the seat tube to keep the
bikes separated.

 

[frankv]

BT Humble wrote:

> Does the Charade not have roof gutters then? My wife has an older
> ('92) Applause which *does* have them, but I suppose the design has
> changed quite a bit since then. Regardless, I'm sure that you can buy
> reasonable quality roof bars that don't need to have holes driled in
> the car to fit whether your car has roof gutters or not.

94 model, No gutters.
Thule make roof bars to suit
http://tinyurl.com/ynzlsp
RRP of $359 and that does not include bike mounts.


I have made my own bike mounts in the past for older cars with gutters.
Whilst the Saris rack can't be in use when the tailgate is in use, I
like the idea of resting most of the weight on the bumper.

Thanks for all replies so far.

Frank

 

[Bleve]

Harng Goh wrote:
> DaveB wrote:
> > frankv wrote:
> > > car. I do not have confidence in the straps. The bike is not supported
> >
> > I borrowed my brother's strap on rack for use on Corolla Seca (he used
> > it without any trouble on a Jackaroo). I was a bit suss on the straps.
> > Going around a large roundabout I saw one side come off and the whole
> > rack swing around to the side of the car. Luckily no damage done but i
> > was forever cured of strap on racks.
> >
> > DaveB
>
>
> Strap on, eh? *snigger*
>
> http://www.thule.com/Thule/ProductPage____33556.aspx
>
> Anyone tried the Thule Clip On High? It's a bit pricey at almost AUD300
> but I like the look of the rails that secure the wheels and keep the
> bikes apart. My experiences with towbar- and boot-mounted racks where
> the bikes lean against each other usually end up with scratched frames
> and forks. However, I believe a few of the newer racks like the Saris
> Bones have extra straps that you put around the seat tube to keep the
> bikes separated.

These ones look pretty sturdy too :

http://hollywoodracks.com/

Quite a bit cheaper than the Thule jobby ...

Expect the Saris stuff to be a lot easier to get hold of in the next
few months, now Trek are the distributors for it in Oz.

 

[Harng Goh]

Bleve wrote:
> Harng Goh wrote:
> > DaveB wrote:
> > > frankv wrote:
> > > > car. I do not have confidence in the straps. The bike is not supported
> > >
> > > I borrowed my brother's strap on rack for use on Corolla Seca (he used
> > > it without any trouble on a Jackaroo). I was a bit suss on the straps.
> > > Going around a large roundabout I saw one side come off and the whole
> > > rack swing around to the side of the car. Luckily no damage done but i
> > > was forever cured of strap on racks.
> > >
> > > DaveB
> >
> >
> > Strap on, eh? *snigger*
> >
> > http://www.thule.com/Thule/ProductPage____33556.aspx
> >
> > Anyone tried the Thule Clip On High? It's a bit pricey at almost AUD300
> > but I like the look of the rails that secure the wheels and keep the
> > bikes apart. My experiences with towbar- and boot-mounted racks where
> > the bikes lean against each other usually end up with scratched frames
> > and forks. However, I believe a few of the newer racks like the Saris
> > Bones have extra straps that you put around the seat tube to keep the
> > bikes separated.
>
> These ones look pretty sturdy too :
>
> http://hollywoodracks.com/
>
> Quite a bit cheaper than the Thule jobby ...
>
> Expect the Saris stuff to be a lot easier to get hold of in the next
> few months, now Trek are the distributors for it in Oz.

I saw those Hollywood Racks at the recent bike show. The price is
right, and I like the bike separator straps.

 

[Donga]

Harng Goh wrote:

> I saw those Hollywood Racks at the recent bike show. The price is
> right, and I like the bike separator straps.

Yikes! As I clicked on the link for "Hollywood Racks", I suddenly
thought I was going to get a pic of Paris Hilton's front end. Not
kosher, on the work 'puter.

Donga

 

[Bleve]

Donga wrote:

> Harng Goh wrote:
>
> > I saw those Hollywood Racks at the recent bike show. The price is
> > right, and I like the bike separator straps.
>
> Yikes! As I clicked on the link for "Hollywood Racks", I suddenly
> thought I was going to get a pic of Paris Hilton's front end. Not
> kosher, on the work 'puter.

No such luck, eh?