Bike carriers ?

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Doyleyburger

Veteran
Location
NCE West Wales
After a bit of advice on which bike carrier to get ......
Am I better off with a tailgate carrier or roof mounted ?
I'm struggling to find decent roofing bars for my car (vectra estate) as i haven't got any side rails which a lot of roofing bars seem to need.
Any recommendations and advice would be much appreciated
Thanks
 
OP
OP
Doyleyburger

Doyleyburger

Veteran
Location
NCE West Wales
Thanks I'll take a look now
 

Monsieur

Senior member
Location
Lincolnshire
I've got tailgate mounted bars and roof mounted bars for my car but tend to use the roof ones more - just easier for me.
Have a look at halfords as they sometimes have deals on theirs
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
I have a rear mounted double rack that tilts. I used to have a roof mounted rack but I think the bikes are more protected behind the car when it is blowing hard and lashing down with rain. Plus the fact that it is much easier to put them on the rear rack.

if you get a rear rack buy one that tilts so you can get into the back of the car if you need to.
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
It may have fixpoints - there will be a flap that you can open with a socket inside that the roof bar feet bolt into (we had that type of bar on our Astra).

Roofbox' car finder will sort you out though. Carrier wise, if money is tight, the Cruz Bici are ok for £20 ish (less if you buy a few at a time) - they don't lock to the roofbars (but the bikes lock to the carriers) so you'll need a cable lock if that's a worry. Our three Bici carriers must be seven years old now, and are still fine. They're a bit agricultural, and attaching the bikes isn't as nice as with a pricier carrier, but you can get three Bicis for the price of one Thule.

If you're spending more, Thule and Atera are both sold by roofbox. I own a Thule freeride, and like it very much, but the pricier "proride" has a nifty one handed clamp that can be useful if you struggle with reaching the bike on top of the car. I've used the Atera Giro AF carrier on hire from Roofbox, and it was good (it has similar one handed clamp action to the Proride).

EDIT: Both the Proride and the Giro AF clamp using the top and underside of the downtube, so on a roadbike, they press the gear cables against the downtube. I used to put a couple of strips of electrical tape on the downtube underside to prevent the clamped cables marking the paint, when I used the Giro AF. Both the Cruz Bici, and Thule Freeride clamp the downtube at the side, so that isn't an issue.

I take the roofbars and carriers off the car when they aren't in use. If you intend to leave them on permanently, you might want to think about an "aero" bar, rather than a standard (usually cheaper) square section bar. Other than the first set of roofbars I owned (Halfords own brand (which I believe are rebadged Thule)) I've always bought Atera roofbars, from Roofbox.co.uk.

It might be worth having a look on eBay for the bars (once you know the type you need) - we always sell on our old ones that way when we change cars.
 
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