3 Bikes on a roof?

[simon the viking]

Little V (Now more Medium V) Now has a (small) adults mountain bike which now with 3 in the car will not fit unless I take the front wheel off... Right Pain...

I've used a rear cycle carrier before but hate them (Scratched boot, wobbly and blocked lights etc...) and was thinking of going 'Up Top' and if we are taking his bike, we might as well all go on bikes so...

Car is Sandero Hatch (Think Large Clio) without built in roof bars. Does anybody carry 3 full size bikes (2 Road and 1 MTB) on a roof.

I can purchase anything from Mont Blanc (Roof racks etc not posh Pens) range from a supplier we use at work....

What are people using safely out there..

No Tow bar is fitted so can't use that type.

 

[fossyant]

4 bikes on roof. 1 hybrid, 24" MTB, 26" XC MTB, and a big 27.5 Squashy MTB. No issues other than fuel economy dissapears quickly over 60. You can see the needle move at 80.

 

[fossyant]

Thule aerobars with 4 Thule freeride carriers.

 

[Milkfloat]

4 bikes for me, in fact one time, I strapped a 5th on between two properly mounted ones. I have some cheap and nasty ebay mounts about a tenner each. this is because I only use them once or twice a year.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I've had 5 including a tandem, no problem other than the fuel economy at higher speeds as pointed out above.

Get quality racks - I've got Thule racks which are brilliant, used to have Halfords which were awful (a long time ago though, no idea now). Don't know anything about Mont Blanc.

 

[I like Skol]

What @fossyant said. 4 x Thule & 4 x adult sized bikes all good at 100mph plus a bit more! Not in the UK obviously......

Only problem is the current trend towards wider and wider mtb handlebars means the bikes have to be loaded in a particular order to avoid clashes between handlebars and saddles.

 

[KneesUp]

What's the roof load rating?

On my car it's a miserly 25kg unless you buy the special manufacturer's own bars and bigger feet, when it goes up to 50kg, which is only c 16.5kg per bike, carrier and fixings - so it'd be ok with road bikes, but my communter/tourer/all purpose bike is over 13kg with it's rack and all, so 3 of them plus carriers would be right on the limit I guess.

(Car has a glass roof btw - without the roof it takes more)

 

[Dave7]

This is absolutely no help to the OP but I often wonder.......how do you reach to fix the bikes properly ? I am just 5' 7" and would need steps.

 

[cyberknight]

dacia stepway ?
I have one and although i havent stuck bikes on top yet i cant see an issue, had 3 bike son top of the old meriva with no issues

 

[Nebulous]

This is absolutely no help to the OP but I often wonder.......how do you reach to fix the bikes properly ? I am just 5' 7" and would need steps.

I'm almost 3" taller than you, and can manage two on my estate car, with no problems. Before when we had taller cars and four biikes I did use a step. Bikes were often loaded when going on holiday in the caravan and we used the caravan step. I've also used the sill inside the back door to climb up, leave the door open, hoist the bike, then climb in, you develop the knack. Another option we've used when camping was to tow a trailer and I had roof bars with four bike carriers on the trailer.

 

[lane]

This is absolutely no help to the OP but I often wonder.......how do you reach to fix the bikes properly ? I am just 5' 7" and would need steps.

With difficulty but much easier if you have the new Thule carriers which tighten from a knob on the bottom rather than at the top. Also use a box to stand on.

 

[lane]

4 on my quite large estate

 

[Deleted member 26715]

My 2 penneth get a towbar fitted with a Thule bracket, much easier than wafting 15Kg of bike above your head.

 

[I like Skol]

My 2 penneth get a towbar fitted with a Thule bracket, much easier than wafting 15Kg of bike above your head.

Until you want to get in the boot, or some twonker rear ends you. I like them being safely out of harms way on the roof, just remember the extra height if you go into any carparks or similar!

 

[simon the viking]

Thanks folks for positive comments. I reckon I'm just a worrier.. Never did like having the rear carrier on. Never seemed safe.

Going to have a look at getting some bars and racks then. The 2 road bikes should be okay to lift up might struggle with the mtb though will have to see if i can lift it onto the roof before i get the bars.

And has anybody tried to go in to a multi storey carpark with them on....thats a fear of mine as well...