Which bike rack for car?

davey4444

We're off to Centre Parcs in a month or so and would like to take our bikes (2x Adult) with us. I have an 02 Corsa so believe that any rear mounting bike rack would require a lighting board as the bikes would cover the tail lights, is this correct? The car doesn't have a utility socket at the rear so I guess that would involve a wiring job too.

It seems therefore that we will have to opt for the roof-rack solution so does anyone have any money saving recommendations for them?

TIA.

Hotspur

I looked into this a couple of years back and got Thule Aero bars and cycle racks from http://www.skidrive.co.uk

As you probably already know, roof bars allow you to fix other attachments to carry ladders etc. so are more flexible. The aero bars aren't cheap but look good and are quieter than square section bars. How about looking on E bay for second hand ones.

neilmcl

Saris are supposed to be very good racks, particularly the Bones models. They have a new rear rack coming out soon called the Gran Fondo which is made specifically for the EU market and doesn't obscure the rear lights or number plate. I'm not sure when it'll be available though. http://www.saris.com/bike-racks/vehicle-racks/trunk-racks.html

sillygoose

I am pretty new to this so looked at it all recently as we wanted to take our recently acquired new hobby (bikes) on holiday (last week)

I settled on this from Halfords. Its a universal high mount rack that works well on hatchbacks and is surprisingly well put together for £49.
Its not suitable if your car has a spoiler on the hatch.

Bit fiddly to work out the best positions for the parts during the practise run but once sorted if you mark the positions its easy next time. Held on with 6 straps the bikes are high enough to clear the lights and the number plate so no electrics needed. I found it best to lie under the back of the car and attach the lower strap hook through holes in 2 metal brackets that support the bumper. The only other pain is you can't really get into the boot on route easily.

It was very solid on a 180 mile trip, stopped halfway to check straps but were all totally tight, with 2 large adult and 1 child bike on it (My tip is to tighten straps after you put all the bikes on) Same on the 180 miles home, no problem at 80mph, bumps, gust of wind. Does limit rear view a bit so you have to drive using the door mirror a bit more.

The biggest pain was working out how to get the bikes on snug to each other without contact, pedals through spokes etc, a fair bit of trial and error. Also the arms the bikes sit on were a bit wide for the ladies bike but easily bent a bit closer with some brute force.

Pincher

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/bike-carriers/bike-carriers-racks-range.php

I have a similar one to this:

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4.php?query=AR2212&vptype=&emulate=accgen&qty=1

It was meant for aero crossbars, but I adapted it for regular rectangular roof bars. The Atera is good in that you can specify the adaptor for your specific crossbars.

One on each side of the car, and no place for a roof box.

The cheapskate approach is to take a pedal off, screw it in on the other side of the crank, loosen the handle bar and turn it inline with the front wheel. Lie the bike down on the roof rack with the pedals pointing away from the roof. Protect the paintwork with any handy padding. You can stack more bikes on top without doing the pedal and handlebar. Lock the whole lot with U-locks opr cable locks.
This approach also allows you to take the bikes onto ferries,
which the roof top solution doesn't.