Transporting your bike

Dubzy · May 2010

I would be interested in hearing how bike transportation problems have been overcome by forum members.

I have recently changed my car to a saloon and find that despite being able to fold the rear seats, the only way to fit my bike for transportation is to remove the front wheel. Which I don't want to keep doing.

I have considered a roof rack or rear rack but am unsure which is best. My problem is compounded by my car having a rather pronounced rear spoiler and rear racks don't seem to fit. Roof racks always seem unstable to me (unless you have evidence to the contrary) and I don't want a to have the rack permanently on the car but would be happy to keep fitting the roof rack as and when required. My car has in built slots to cater for a roof rack - is the installation of a roof rack relatively easy to do and if so what ones do members recommend?

Thanks for your help

Dubzy

Andy B · May 2010

Thule Proride 591 carriers on roof bars.

Very stable even driving like Colin McRae the twisty B roads.

Very easy to fit.

nicklouse · May 2010

a tow bar mounted Thule on the back of the T4 and a Thule Proride 591 on the Swift sport.

and looking at getting a front fork mounting Thule one as well.

really want the one that they do in the US and Can.

pond skater · May 2010

just ordered a Thule Proride 591 carriers, as i was having the same problem

Anonymous · May 2010

I take train, im also 14

cbr6fs · May 2010

Where there's a will there's a way

Dan_xz · May 2010

I used Halford high mount rack on my old primera sri saloon , like this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Primera_P11_SRi2.jpg
.
It is a cheapish rack and a bit fiddly, but did the job and I could easily set the legs to avoid the spoiler. If your on a budget that rules out Thule, Saris etc... then it's worth looking at.

If you get one Make sure it's the high mount one though, as they do a couple of models.:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_251011_langId_-1_categoryId_165515

hoochylala · June 2010

Whats wrong with taking the wheel off everytime? Doesn't take long at all, no additional cost involved of buying rack/roof bars, marginaly increased safety of your bike., etc... I do this as I'm not a fan of racks (see too many wobble all over the place on the motorway and few too many horror stories to put me off) and im also the type of person who would forget the bike was on the roof

The option of a tow bar mounted rack does appeal, but once again its the additional costs of getting a tow bar for your car (unless lucky enough to already have one) that puts me off.

paul.skibum · June 2010

I take either one or both wheels off - not sure I see the problem. Racks and what not increase drag on the car and alter fuel efficiency and you'll leave the rack on when you dont have the bike so it costs money to buy and use and mounting the bike on the rack takes longer than chucking it in the car.

Louis84 · June 2010

You can't be bothered to take the frontt wheel off, yet your willing to mess around fitting a roof rack everytime you go? I think you need to think about priorities

Why dont u just get a quick realease wheelset. No problem. I'd rip the silly spoiler off for a start!

Buckled_Rims · June 2010

I used to have a 20mm Maxle that's more fiddly then a standard QR, but it was a damn sight easier to take the wheel off and slide the bike it into the boot then to put it onto a bike rack.

The only option I'd consider nowadays is a tow bar carrier, anything else for me is no good.

nomadicbry · June 2010

I originally used a second hand Halfords rear bike carrier which did the job really well then bought an estate and the carrier wouldn't fit on such just shoved the bikes the cavernous boot however getting tired of losing at least two of the three back seats and the boot becoming filthy after a muddy adventure and no bike wash

Just bought a roof mounted carrier and this seems to do the job nicely
friend has a tow bar mounted carrier which is really impressive and easy to use

Steve_F · June 2010

I've tried all 3 options.

Removable rack on the back of the car - good at first. Straps soon got slidey and never gripped. Got to the stage of having to check on them at least twice a trip and constantly listening for the metal hooks bouncing on the road. People I know who've lost a bike off the back have been from this method.

Tow bar mounted - easy to get on and off the car. Usually enough room in the boot to store rack and lighting board. No access to the boot (unless you get one that tips forward). Seem fairly secure.

Roof mounted - nice and secure. Never had a problem when i thought I was lucky to still have my bike there. Easy to mount if you're tall enough to put it up and hold it while adjusting the clips. If it does happen to fall it could do a lot of damage to the car.

Overall I'd recommend roof mounting but wouldn't advise against the towbar.

Saying that mine goes in the boot at the moment! Took the roof racks off in the winter as the cables were freezing up getting there and it's been transported in the boot ever since (it is a Volvo estate though!!).

RupertCommunicator · June 2010

Just take your front wheel of for god's sake!!! :roll:

ride_whenever · June 2010

with the seats down i can easily get my road bike in the back of my girlfriends golf...

try simply popping the passenger seat forwards a chunk and rotating the front wheel into the gap as you put it in from the boot. should be easy then.

rhext · June 2010

Roof racks are solid as proverbial rock.

Tow-bar mounted carriers are also very effective, but perhaps a bit pricey.

I have both: roof carrier on my 'runabout' car, tow-bar on the people-carrier. The people-carrier is too high for it to be convenient to put a bike on the roof. And the tow-bar rack takes 5 bikes so it's good for familly outings. Otherwise, I'd use a roof rack every time.

Finbar Saunders · June 2010

Saris Bones racks fit over spoilers. I can't really compare with other options as it is the only rack I've used, but it works well for me when I need to carry my road bike or MTB. It's certainly not a permanent solution and I remove the rack from my car after each use. It easily fits in the boot.

Transporting your bike

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