Bicycle carrier

SimonAH · October 2011

Hi all,

Anyone know if these are any good?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165515

Or suggest something else to fit to the back of a Golf hatchback to take two or three bikes?

mudcow007 · October 2011

i had a rear mounting carrier fall off my car a few years ago, my week old Kona bounced across the road an narrowly avoided getting squished by a truck behind me

i personally would only use roof bars now

Phil_D · October 2011

I have one. It does the job perfectly well. It makes it hard to get in the boot when it's on as you have to remove it to open the door.

Try this website though

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/bike-carriers/

I use them whenever I need the sort of stuff they sell. It is invariably cheaper than Halfords and they sell less well known brands as well as the popular. The reviews on the site are honest and delivery is fast.

blinddrew · October 2011

£20 or £30 more would get you a Saris Bones. I've had mine for a few years with no problems. Come in 2 or 3 bike versions and will fit most things.
Only problem i've heard with them is that the thumbscrews are plastic and the thread can be stripped if you over-tighten them. But since you now know this... ;¬)

bails87 · October 2011

Saris bones, or towbar or roof mounted seems to be the consensus. Towbar mounted is most stable, easiest to use, but most expensive. Roof mounted is trickier to put the bikes on, depending on height/strength/bike weight and can affect MPG a fair bit.

Boot mounted are the least popular, as they can and do fall off, but the Bones is the best of the bunch.

SimonAH · October 2011

Great advice, thanks. Looks like the Saris Bones wins the day (now put a name to the rack I saw on the back of a car and thought "Wow, that even looks good")

Koncordski · October 2011

I've got a saris bones, it's awesome. Ignore the halfords'esque ones unless you like sweeping your smashed bike up from a busy motorway sliproad.

rhext · October 2011

I've got one of those Halfords ones (or similar). I've only used it twice: it kind of did the trick but never felt 100% secure and it was a right hassle to mount and load up. I use roof-carriers for day-to-day now, and have a maxraxx towbar carrier for when I need to take more bikes. I reckon the Halfords is OK for casual use, but if you transport bikes a lot I'd go for roof or towbar.

al2098 · October 2011

I have used a cheap boot rack for years and had no problem.
If they are used properly they will not fall off.
I can imagine they would be illegal to use if such a dangerous scenario were due to the design of the product.
In otherwords, if you can't figure out how to use it properly and read instructions then you would be better off spending more money on one of the simpler alternatives.

suzyb · October 2011

I had a Saris bones but got rid of it after one short trip.

The rack itself seemed decent but I had trouble getting the straps tight enough to stop it bumping off my car and with me having to use a false cross bar I was too paranoid that my seat post was going to slip and my bike crash and burn.

Pity you hadn't posted this thread last week though, it was only then that I sold the bones.

waddlie · October 2011

Towbar + Thule is the way forward if you can afford it. Boot-mounted which use fabric straps as load-bearing rather than just stabilising should be avoided, although the Saris Bones is the best of that bunch. You'd be better with an RS, which has steel belts instead of straps.

cjcp · October 2011

Got a Saris Bones myself. I stick the wheels in the car.

CrackFox · October 2011

I had one of those Halfords racks and I'm now trying to Freecycle it. I would steer clear - roof or tow bar mounted racks are a better bet.

Jay dubbleU · October 2011

I have a Pendle which I've used for 3/4 years now - nicely made solid rack with decent straps - its done trips up to Scotland and Yorkshire carrying 2 bikes without issues - you might want to pad the bars though

noisepolluter · October 2011

Is your car wired up with a socket for a light board?

If not, your choice of rear mount racks is limited to those which don't obscure your licence plate when the bikes are on it. The light board is £20, the parts work to get the socket kit fitted are considerably more than that!

The only way round this is to take the bike wheels off so they don't obscure your lights, and cable tie the licence plate securely to the frame of the last bike on the rack.

We bought a Hollywood Racks Deluxe 3 and have found it to be very sturdy and easy to fit, but we do have to take the wheels off and move the number plate as mentioned above in order to be road legal.

rhext · October 2011

noisepolluter wrote:

Is your car wired up with a socket for a light board?

If not, your choice of rear mount racks is limited to those which don't obscure your licence plate when the bikes are on it. The light board is £20, the parts work to get the socket kit fitted are considerably more than that!

The only way round this is to take the bike wheels off so they don't obscure your lights, and cable tie the licence plate securely to the frame of the last bike on the rack.

We bought a Hollywood Racks Deluxe 3 and have found it to be very sturdy and easy to fit, but we do have to take the wheels off and move the number plate as mentioned above in order to be road legal.

Or you could just ignore that part of the law like 99% of the bike-transporting population. (bl**dy cyclists, grumble grumble, think the rules of the road don't apply to them, grumble grumble, even when they're driving like proper people grumble grumble I pay road tax I do grumble grumble.)

bigmat · October 2011

Thule 9103 / 9104 (not sure which you would need for a Golf). Absolutely rock solid, you can open and close the boot with the bike still attached. Mine has been a permanent fixture on the back of our car since I bought it a year or so ago. I've carried bikes on motorways - no need to remove wheels, no speed restrictions, no significant drag impacting on fuel economy. I use a couple of bungee cords for long trips but for shorter trips just use the rubber straps and the handy cross bar that you can wedge the cranks under.

Bicycle carrier

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