How do you transport your bike?

fuzzyfreak

For those long journeys where carrying your bike on or in the car is necessary, I am interested to know what you think is the most hassle free way of carrying your bike on your car. I have a Toyota Yaris, a small hatchback, which will take my bike in the boot, however I am wanting to carry additional bikes or luggage and I am not happy with the boot mounted bike racks because of the hassle of installing them, their tendancy to wobble and scratch the paint work. I am looking to get a tow bar installed and buying a tow bar mounted bike rack - what are your thoughts?

Stevo_666

Roof mounted bike carrier work nicely for me - keeps your car interior clean and roomy and none of the problems you mention with boot mounted racks. As long as you think before going into anywhere with a low-ish height restiction you should be OK

ride_whenever

tow bar mounted are the best but much more costly.

fuzzyfreak

Thanks for your reply, would they require me to lift the bike above my head?

nicklouse

car on the roof.
van either in it or on the tow bar mounted rack.

bomberesque

I always put my bikes in the car. They are worth more than it so it makes a convenient lock box. However my car is bigger so space isn't an issue for me as it is for you.

As for boot mounted racks, your decision but I have had good luck with Saris Bones rack, all made of plastic so no sharp edges to scratch paint and *reasonably* easy to install on my mate's mini and never came loose, as I have seen others do.

Roof mounted racks are all well and good but watch your fuel consumption an take care of low bridges and Macdonald's drive thrus! I don't like them, personally.

If you have a tow hitch then a hitch mounted rack is probably the way to go. A friend of mine has a very simple one that will take 2 bikes and clamps to the hitch in seconds. The only thing I'd say about them is watch out for the price of having a hitch fitted, it can be '00s of pounds....

fuzzyfreak

Excellent, cheers Bomberesque!

sicknewt

I find I can get 2 MTB in the back of my Civic without too much bother. I've got a boot mounted rack but it swings about alarmingly and I don't really trust it or use it anymore!

I've been thinking about getting a towbar fitted and go down that route but it does look a bit expensive. I'd probably find it worth it though as me and the wife would go out on the bikes more often.

I've seen offers like this on ebay which say you can fit the towbar yourself - anyone tried this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tow-bar-Brink-Swan-Towbar-Fits-Toyota-Yaris-99-05_W0QQitemZ250419959516QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item3a4e3156dc

nicklouse

most towbars are fairly easy to fit as newer cars come with the mounting points all ready in place.

weeksy59

it's an MTB, it gets scratched.

mine gets thrown in the car and other stuff thrown on top/around it.

You need to look after components, paintwork couldn't be less important

joec1

ride_whenever wrote:

tow bar mounted are the best but much more costly.

Yup.

mine has a plate that fits behing tow bar hook and it bolted through, the rack then just slots onto two prongs and its ready to go (add a few support ties)

really easy and super supportive. have done "70mph" on the motorway (the legal limit or course...) without any issue.

deffo recommended...

scale20

I have just downsized my car to a new shape corsa and theres not a lot of room for the bike in the car. I have always used the Thule roof mounted carriers which I have never had a problem with, they are simple to use and keep the bikes out of the way for ease of getting into the boot and so on. I can still get under the barrier at McDonalds drive through with about 2mm to spare The only gripe I have with the roof mounted racks is the fuel consumption.

I have thought about getting a towbar fitted and mounting a carrier to that to try and save on the fuel costs but cant really justify the cost and the fact that i have a perfectly good roof carrier system. It would take me years to get back in fuel to what i will have to fork out for the towbar mounted.

If I had my time again and knew what i know now I would go for the towbar mounted option. You just ave to hope no-one ever slams into the back of your car and trashes your bikes

Anonymous

Saris bones here, on a peugeot 306. Works fine, and I can get three bikes on the back.

The Northern Monkey

I've yet to try getting my bike in the Coupe.

Waiting for a sunny day (yeah right) so that I can practice squeezing it in

I think I have the worst car ever for MTB'ing!

scale20

The mrs has a peugeot partner MPv and its brilliant to put the bikes in the back for the longer journeys however if we go away for the weekend the bikes have to go on the roof and then it drinks fuel.

I'm looking at getting a towbar mounted for that.

.blitz

Saris bones. Put a bag over the rear view mirror so you can't see your bike swaying from side-to-side.

sicknewt

Put a bag over the rear view mirror so you can't see your bike swaying from side-to-side.

Genius, love it!

Stevo_666

fuzzyfreak wrote:

Thanks for your reply, would they require me to lift the bike above my head?

Yep, especially in my case as I have a Ford S-Max (people carrier :oops: ) so roof height is around face height, but I have a handy little step ladder that makes life a lot easier. That said, I can get the thing onto a normal car roof mounted carrier without too much trouble.

Kiblams

We can get the two bikes in the back of the Almera with no issues, we even went for a 5 day holiday up through the lake district to ride 7stanes (Glentress & Inneleithen) a few months ago with the two bikes and a load of luggage/camping gear.

Though after seeing a Porshe with a bike rack parked at Cannock Chase the other week I am hinking any car is a viable option

bails87

For a bit of lateral thinking, how about putting your bike in the car (where it's safe from theives and crashes), and have a trailer or roofbox for the luggage? Or is that crazy-talk?!

fuzzyfreak

Cheers for all the replies. No, as mentioned before - chucking three bikes (or even two) in the boot of my car is not an option. You guys who talk about thievery, I can only assume you live in Salford, and not Cambridgeshire like me - the day my bike gets nicked off the back of my car while it is driving along is the day I eat my helmet....my bike helmet that is!

So now I start looking for a tow bar fitter in the area - and get a price.

Ian P

Sounds like a good decision- I had a tow bar fitted together with bar mounted carriertearlier in the year and its absolutely excellent. Carrier fits on / off in seconds, bikes easy to put on / off, straight access to boot once bikes are off, can also access boot with bikes of by loosening 2 holding bolts (even easier on more expensive carrier), and effect on petrol consumption is much less than my old high mounted carrier. Cost me £320 for tow bar and carrier including assembly of carrier and number plate, note the cheapest way but I haven't regretted it once.

bails87

I think the theivery worry is more to do with where you're driving to than where you're driving from.

But towbar is probably the best option - most secure in terms of staying on the car, and you can run a cable lock through the bikes and through the towbar assembly for security. Unfortunately it's also the most expensive.

Daz555

Right now I have a simple rear carrier but when possible (depending on what I'm carrying) I have always tried to put the bike in the car.

However my new car has a detachable towbar fitted so I'm gonna get hold of a towbar mounted carrier fairly soon as they look to me to be the best solution .

Anonymous

.blitz wrote:

Saris bones. Put a bag over the rear view mirror so you can't see your bike swaying from side-to-side.

I use a bungee cord to tie the bikes together, and to the rack. The seat-tube clips are in completely the wrong place for my bikes.
With the bungee, they don't sway at all.

.blitz

yeehaamcgee wrote:

I use a bungee cord to tie the bikes together, and to the rack.

My problem is that the bikes and the rack are swaying from side-to-side lol

Anonymous

:shock:
holy crap, I've never seen that happen. are you sure you've got the straps that hold it to the car done up really tight?

scale20

fuzzyfreak wrote:

Cheers for all the replies. No, as mentioned before - chucking three bikes (or even two) in the boot of my car is not an option. You guys who talk about thievery, I can only assume you live in Salford, and not Cambridgeshire like me - the day my bike gets nicked off the back of my car while it is driving along is the day I eat my helmet....my bike helmet that is!

So now I start looking for a tow bar fitter in the area - and get a price.

Have a look here at the witter towbars site

http://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/towbars/price_list.aspx

I think they have an option to buy the towbar online and choose a fitting location.

.blitz

yeehaamcgee wrote:

holy crap, I've never seen that happen. are you sure you've got the straps that hold it to the car done up really tight?

IIRC we talked about this some time ago Tightening the straps just flexes the plastic roof spoiler but in all fairness the bikes are still there when I get home.

Anonymous

no, the side straps, they shouldn't get in the way of any spoiler.

Hercule Q

we usually put the bikes on the roof via a thule 951 racks