JtB
Prepare a way for the Lord
- Location
- North Hampshire
My preferred mode of transport is my 1977 Carlton, but my wife and I recently decided to buy a couple of entry level 'off roaders' so we could enjoy the outdoors as a family with our 2 sons (aged 16 and 11). The difficult question though was how to transport 4 bikes each weighing about 15kg on our family car. From what I could tell the most popular bike racks are roof mounted, rear door strap mounted and tow bar mounted.
One of the reasons I returned to cycling last year was to try and better manage my lower back pain, so lifting bikes onto a roof mounted rack was not an option. Also, I had visions of forgetting about the bikes as I drove under a low bridge or something similar. As for the strap mounted racks, I did not relish carrying a total weight of 60kg on a rack that was going to flex about in the wind and end up damaging the paint on my car. Also, strap mounted racks do not offer any security, so you cant leave bikes unattended on your vehicle. The only option then for me was a tow bar mounted rack and with a total nose weight limit of 75kg for my car, that limited me to racks weighing a maximum of 15kg.
Initially I decided to go with the Strada 3 bike carrier with an adapter for a 4th bike. At £380 this had to be the most expensive rack, but it fell within my 15kg weight limit and it had a number of very good features.
Unfortunately when it arrived, the instructions indicated that when using the 4th bike adapter it also needed to be strap mounted to the vehicle. No way was I paying all that money for a rack, plus the cost of a tow bar only to end up having to use straps. Furthermore, the straps were incompatible with vehicles containing a rear spoiler, so it had to go back. Thule also made a similar rack, but unfortunately it weighed over 20kg which would have pushed the overall weight over my 75kg nose weight limit. Unfortunately there were very few 4 bike carriers that weighed less than 15kg, but in the end I decided on the BUZZ RACK 'Moose' 4 carrier. The cost of this carrier plus a lighting board was about £140.00.
The next thing I had to get sorted out was a tow bar on my car. For that I went to Indespension (a national tow bar company) who supplied and fitted a fix tow bar (with a standard 50mm tow ball) and single electric (for the lighting board) for about £200.00.
The bike rack itself attaches to the tow bar very securely indeed and is able to tilt away from the car (even with the bikes mounted) to allow access to the rear door. The only problem however is that the retaining bolt sticking up is a little too high and doesn't allow my rear door to open. But that's not really a problem, because once the rack is attached to the tow bar, the retaining bolt is not required and can be removed all together.
While the rack is not being used, the horizontal bars can be folded down so the car is easier to park. Also, the mechanism which attaches the rack to the tow bar has a key so it can be locked in place.
The bikes themselves are strapped to the horizontal bars.
And once the yellow straps have been fed through, the bikes are held pretty rigid. The only problem though is that while driving along, the bikes tend rub together and the friction does damage the paintwork on the bikes. No-matter where I place cloths to try and protect the paintwork, I always end up with new marks. Its only cosmetic and 'entry level' off-roaders are for having fun anyway (not admiring), so it doesn't really bother me, but I don't think I'd like to carry an expensive road bike this way. If anyone has any tips on how to protect the paintwork on the bikes I'd appreciate some hints.
But the most important thing is that the bikes themselves are kept quite some distance away from the vehicle so there's no chance of damaging the vehicle's paintwork.
Seems to me there aren't really that many options for carrying 4 bikes with an average family car and there must be many families who would like to go out cycling together. So hopefully this post will be of help to one or two people.
All the best,
Shaun.
One of the reasons I returned to cycling last year was to try and better manage my lower back pain, so lifting bikes onto a roof mounted rack was not an option. Also, I had visions of forgetting about the bikes as I drove under a low bridge or something similar. As for the strap mounted racks, I did not relish carrying a total weight of 60kg on a rack that was going to flex about in the wind and end up damaging the paint on my car. Also, strap mounted racks do not offer any security, so you cant leave bikes unattended on your vehicle. The only option then for me was a tow bar mounted rack and with a total nose weight limit of 75kg for my car, that limited me to racks weighing a maximum of 15kg.
Initially I decided to go with the Strada 3 bike carrier with an adapter for a 4th bike. At £380 this had to be the most expensive rack, but it fell within my 15kg weight limit and it had a number of very good features.
Unfortunately when it arrived, the instructions indicated that when using the 4th bike adapter it also needed to be strap mounted to the vehicle. No way was I paying all that money for a rack, plus the cost of a tow bar only to end up having to use straps. Furthermore, the straps were incompatible with vehicles containing a rear spoiler, so it had to go back. Thule also made a similar rack, but unfortunately it weighed over 20kg which would have pushed the overall weight over my 75kg nose weight limit. Unfortunately there were very few 4 bike carriers that weighed less than 15kg, but in the end I decided on the BUZZ RACK 'Moose' 4 carrier. The cost of this carrier plus a lighting board was about £140.00.
The next thing I had to get sorted out was a tow bar on my car. For that I went to Indespension (a national tow bar company) who supplied and fitted a fix tow bar (with a standard 50mm tow ball) and single electric (for the lighting board) for about £200.00.
The bike rack itself attaches to the tow bar very securely indeed and is able to tilt away from the car (even with the bikes mounted) to allow access to the rear door. The only problem however is that the retaining bolt sticking up is a little too high and doesn't allow my rear door to open. But that's not really a problem, because once the rack is attached to the tow bar, the retaining bolt is not required and can be removed all together.
While the rack is not being used, the horizontal bars can be folded down so the car is easier to park. Also, the mechanism which attaches the rack to the tow bar has a key so it can be locked in place.
The bikes themselves are strapped to the horizontal bars.
And once the yellow straps have been fed through, the bikes are held pretty rigid. The only problem though is that while driving along, the bikes tend rub together and the friction does damage the paintwork on the bikes. No-matter where I place cloths to try and protect the paintwork, I always end up with new marks. Its only cosmetic and 'entry level' off-roaders are for having fun anyway (not admiring), so it doesn't really bother me, but I don't think I'd like to carry an expensive road bike this way. If anyone has any tips on how to protect the paintwork on the bikes I'd appreciate some hints.
But the most important thing is that the bikes themselves are kept quite some distance away from the vehicle so there's no chance of damaging the vehicle's paintwork.
Seems to me there aren't really that many options for carrying 4 bikes with an average family car and there must be many families who would like to go out cycling together. So hopefully this post will be of help to one or two people.
All the best,
Shaun.
