[Chompers]

Seem to remember seeing pics of someone on hear having this set up, but can't find it :roll eyes: Can anyone recommend a particular model?

Have been looking at fitting a tow bar, but with dedicated electrics, is coming out around the £550 mark and then add a bike carrier on top!!!

Any info gratefully received, cheers

[Beancounter_74]

You can get them, Google Pendle...... but I'd not bother, used to have one on my Audi A6, it pulled the boot out of alignment. It's not only the weight of the bikes, but the force that is added when you're driving.
I know it's a lot more, but I'd only ever go down the tow bar route now. You can get decent racks from Halfords for circa £100.

Just my 2 pence.

[Chompers]

Originally Posted by Beancounter_74

You can get them, Google Pendle...... but I'd not bother, used to have one on my Audi A6, it pulled the boot out of alignment. It's not only the weight of the bikes, but the force that is added when you're driving.
I know it's a lot more, but I'd only ever go down the tow bar route now. You can get decent racks from Halfords for circa £100.

Just my 2 pence.

Thanks, both my road bike and soon to be MTB are carbon framed so weight is a little reduced over alu bikes. Have been looking at the Saris Bones 3 rack which can be had for around £110, seems sturdy. Towbar would be preferred, just want to make sure all bases are covered.

[JW_Chester]

Totally agree that towbar mounted bike rack is the way forward for regular bike carrying. For occasional use I guess a tailgate one would be fine. Atera and Thule are the better makes for bike racks. On the towbar side of things, I had a Witter detachable with dedicated electrics fitted for sub 500. Attaching / detaching takes 5 seconds!

I borrowed a Saris Bones III but it would not fit to the tailgate of my M Sport - may have been user error (in that I did not want to scratch the car) but the clips just would not fit over the rear spoiler.

JW

[....,,,,..,,..]

The car next to mine has I believe a Saris Bones 3

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5375f2cf.jpg

Apologies photos ain't working on IPad.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/saris-bones-3-bike-rack/

£115 at wiggle

[JW_Chester]

Yep that's a Saris Bones III - same colour as the one I could not fit to my F31 :-)

Comfortably went on the wife's Mini instead!!

JW

[Chompers]

Originally Posted by Brigand

The car next to mine has I believe a Saris Bones 3

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5375f2cf.jpg

Apologies photos ain't working on IPad.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/saris-bones-3-bike-rack/

£115 at wiggle

That's the pic I had seen, thanks Do you know the person who owns it? does it work for them? sorry for the questions but if £115 can do the job instead of £850 then I'll ask away

[Grammar51]

There is no way I would trust a tarck clipped onto the back of my car as you suggest doing.

I have towbar and a Thule rack that attaches to that: rock solid and it tilts away to give easy access into the boot, which you won't get when you have 2 or 3 bikes hanging from the lid

Bite the bullett. Why go budget on a bike rack, when you clearly did not go budget on the car?

[TheLiverBird]

Originally Posted by Grammar51

There is no way I would trust a tarck clipped onto the back of my car as you suggest doing.

I have towbar and a Thule rack that attaches to that: rock solid and it tilts away to give easy access into the boot, which you won't get when you have 2 or 3 bikes hanging from the lid

Bite the bullett. Why go budget on a bike rack, when you clearly did not go budget on the car?

Agree 100%. Bought the Saris Bones 3 for £120, to save £80 hiring them at Centre Parcs. Fitted it, exactly as instructions, to my previous car (Audi A5). Put 2 bikes (not 3 as per maximum load, and one of the 2 was a kids princess bike!) and decided there was no way I was trusting it to safely carry the bikes and not damage the edges of the car that take the weight. The car didn't move an inch with them on, yet it still left marks where the feet had been (and yes I used protective patches too!). I sold it again for £105 on eBay within a week! The Saris Bones gets excellent reviews everywhere, but for me personally it just didn't "feel" right. Next time would either go towbar as above, or more probably roof mount with Thule cycle carriers that could move to each new car with me.

[davybull]

Originally Posted by Grammar51

There is no way I would trust a tarck clipped onto the back of my car as you suggest doing.

I have towbar and a Thule rack that attaches to that: rock solid and it tilts away to give easy access into the boot, which you won't get when you have 2 or 3 bikes hanging from the lid

Bite the bullett. Why go budget on a bike rack, when you clearly did not go budget on the car?

+1. Thule towbar mounted bike racks are superb.

Mine holds 3 bikes and tilts but you can get one that holds 4 and I think that tilts as well.

Dave.

[Beancounter_74]

Another Thule 3 bike rack owner here too. The tilt function is great.
A friend has the 4 bike one, but it's a nudge over £500, but worth it if you need to carry 4 bikes and 4 people. We used it on my RRSport to got to Wales (From Essex) and it was as solid as a rock.

[Msportman]

I've just sold my F31 BMW roof mounted cycle system which easily carried 3 MTB's with ease.

Brilliant bit of kit IMO and was so easy to install and use and was very lightweight.

Back to a rear mounted Hollywood cycle carrier.....very easy to install but you have to be careful how you mount it without damaging the car.

Sold my BMW cycle rack for next to nothing when I sold the car.....paid nearly £500 for it but had no offers on it on here.

[Chompers]

Thanks for all above comments, all taken on board.

Both my bikes have/will have CF frames and putting them on the roof is not an option due to lateral stressing of the frames. I have 2x thule 591's that will be fine for the kids bikes. Was just looking for a rear mount option. Tow bar was always an option and going by above will be the route I'll take. Next thing is to sort the carrier and the tilting Thule looks like the front runner.

[Beancounter_74]

Another downside of the roof mounted variants is at the end of a hard days MTB'ing, as you drive home all the crap ends up on the roof

[Chompers]

Originally Posted by Beancounter_74

Another downside of the roof mounted variants is at the end of a hard days MTB'ing, as you drive home all the crap ends up on the roof

Correct, hence why I didn't go for the pano roof this time

[F30Andy]

Originally Posted by Beancounter_74

Another downside of the roof mounted variants is at the end of a hard days MTB'ing, as you drive home all the crap ends up on the roof

Not to mention the aerodynamic drag they will cause up there.

[Msportman]

Originally Posted by Beancounter_74

Another downside of the roof mounted variants is at the end of a hard days MTB'ing, as you drive home all the crap ends up on the roof

Not a problem if you have bucket and sponge!!

I found the roof system option excellent very manageable.

As for MPG it didn't make much difference on my 320D Msport.

[....,,,,..,,..]

Originally Posted by Chompers

That's the pic I had seen, thanks Do you know the person who owns it? does it work for them? sorry for the questions but if £115 can do the job instead of £850 then I'll ask away

Not as such, I am thinking of getting one, just not sure about how it connects on rear window.

[Chompers]

Originally Posted by Brigand

Not as such, I am thinking of getting one, just not sure about how it connects on rear window.

There are 43+ pages of reviews on Wiggle, some great some not so, with scratching of both cars and bikes being a problem.

[StuartB]

Towbar. Thule 925. Done.

[RichardM]

I went for the Thule roof mounted 561 fork mount carriers as I have CF bikes too and that was recommended solution for having them on the roof.

I tried a cheaper tailgate bike rack I already had and it left an indent on the rear bumper after only a short trip. The Bones pic above looks better as it's not resting on the bumper.

I change my car too frequently to have a tow bar put on each car.

[JW_Chester]

Atera make a very good towbar mounted rack :

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbv...FSfItAodl2AAfQ

I have used mine many times without a problem - great German kit!

Roofbox have lots of options :

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/bike-carrie...435#filterform