bike rack

pprendeville

thinking of getting a bike rack for when i'm down home in limerick and travelling in general.

going to halford at lunch. any recommend anything to me? don't think i can mount on the roof as it's completely flat so will be on back of car. carrying max 2 bikes at any time but mostly just the road bike. cheers.

paddymacsporran

pprendeville wrote: »

thinking of getting a bike rack for when i'm down home in limerick and travelling in general.

going to halford at lunch. any recommend anything to me? don't think i can mount on the roof as it's completely flat so will be on back of car. carrying max 2 bikes at any time but mostly just the road bike. cheers.

What kind of car is it? Do you have a towbar fitted? If you mount on the roof, you will need to buy bars and feet that will probably hook into the top of the doors, and thats before you decide which bike carrier you need. it can be expensive when added up, but in my opinion more secure as long as you avoid multi-storey car parks and height restrictions on the tolls....Downside of racks is if you need in the boot it's just hassle, depends on what type of journeys you do!

Saris Bones are good carriers, just make sure you don't support the carrier on the glass if its a hatchback and you do the straps up nice and tight, get some cloths to put round the frame to avaid scratches as bikes do tend to get scratches on rear carriers. You're supposed to leave the rear lights and number plate clear or get a lights bar and plate on the back of the rack, but it the Garda stop you for that it's probably just an excuse to pull you for something else, I see tons of cars with rear carriers on and no number plate bar/lights on the back.

With a light bike a cheap carrier will do the job.

pprendeville

paddymacsporran wrote: »

What kind of car is it? Do you have a towbar fitted? If you mount on the roof, you will need to buy bars and feet that will probably hook into the top of the doors, and thats before you decide which bike carrier you need. it can be expensive when added up, but in my opinion more secure as long as you avoid multi-storey car parks and height restrictions on the tolls....Downside of racks is if you need in the boot it's just hassle, depends on what type of journeys you do!.

It's a 3-door corolla hatchback (red if that makes a difference:)). Can you not access the boot if you have a bike rack on?

paddymacsporran wrote: »

Saris Bones are good carriers, just make sure you don't support the carrier on the glass if its a hatchback and you do the straps up nice and tight, .

Where would you support the carrier instead so? Going to check out Halfords and see what they have.

ThisRegard

paddymacsporran wrote: »

but in my opinion more secure as long as you avoid multi-storey car parks and height restrictions on the tolls....

Now that we have a childer there's no room for the bike in the back so I got a Thule Pro Ride 591 for the roof and all of the above terrify me when driving ! It could be easy enough for a lapse in concentration particularly on the motorways so I have to remind myself to avoid express lanes and car parks these days.

Apart from that it's a great carrier, feels secure enough even though there can be a bit of wobble but that's unavoidable.

paddymacsporran

pprendeville wrote: »

It's a 3-door corolla hatchback (red if that makes a difference:)). Can you not access the boot if you have a bike rack on?


Where would you support the carrier instead so? Going to check out Halfords and see what they have.

No, you can't get in the boot, the rack is held on by straps that clip on the bottom of the rear bumper and the top of the hatchback, sometimes the sides too.
Also, really important that the pads on the rack sit on the bumper and the metal on the rear hatch below or above the glass. That's how they are designed, sometimes people put heavy mtb's and kids bikes on the rear rack and all the weight is supported on the glass - Expensive error potentially!

http://zone.theaa.com/forums/thread/178/

Just make sure you get one compatible with your car - Halfords have these little charts where you can look up what ones work with your car, with one or two bikes you'll be fine.

This regard, I use the Thule 561 pro carrier on the roof that secures the front forks to the roof rack/bars, know what you mean re the tolls and car parks - I'm paranoid about that! Heard a story yesterday about the Belgian junior squad coming over here to race recently and the driver drove into something low and broke 4 expensive bikes in half. Disaster!

ThisRegard

Just to add, I was at Gaelforce the other week and the hotel was full of fellow competitors. My room over looked the car park and from what I could see it takes a fair amount of time to correctly fit tail gate mounted carriers and that's before the bikes are put on, they seem to be fairly fidgety.

manwithaplan

I borrowed a Hollywood rear bike rack from a friend recently. It only had top and bottom hooks and I found it hard to get a tight fit - my car is a Renault Scenic with a vertical rear door which probably didn't help. Another friend had the same rack but his had side straps also. The fit was far better and I used it up and down to Kerry with no problems.

It was pretty quick to fit but I wouldn't like to be doing it every week - I just carry the bike in the back of the car when I don't have the family with me so I would rarely need to use a rack.

tawfeeredux

paddymacsporran wrote: »

No, you can't get in the boot, the rack is held on by straps that clip on the bottom of the rear bumper and the top of the hatchback, sometimes the sides too.
Also, really important that the pads on the rack sit on the bumper and the metal on the rear hatch below or above the glass. That's how they are designed, sometimes people put heavy mtb's and kids bikes on the rear rack and all the weight is supported on the glass - Expensive error potentially!

I use the Hollywood F1 rack on my PorscheFiesta & I've no problems opening the boot when it's on. I have the bottom straps going to the bottom lip of the boot rather than under the bumper. You just have to be mindful of the weight that's on the boot if the bike is on the rack especially when you're taking stuff out of the boot. I learned a painful lesson one evening when the boot came down on my spine:(.

Bluefoam

I use a 15 year old Hollywood rack and it is perfect. I've witnessed Halfords racks falling off cars and also allowing pedals to scratch the boot of the car - but its the quality of the straps & buckles I'd be most concerned about.

Saris Racks have a very good reputation & are available in some bike shops now http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=39563

alanucc

paddymacsporran wrote: »

Also, really important that the pads on the rack sit on the bumper and the metal on the rear hatch below or above the glass. That's how they are designed, sometimes people put heavy mtb's and kids bikes on the rear rack and all the weight is supported on the glass - Expensive error potentially!

Interesting, the Saris manual shows the top leg sitting on the glass of hatchbacks. I've never had problems with it there, and i've racked up (:P) plenty of mileage with it

pprendeville

i ended up getting a roof rack from halfords. 2 seperate pieces of kit.

one is the bars that go across the roof and the other is the kit you mount the bike with (not sure of technical terms used to describe these things).

only thing is i just realised i have a 3 door hatchback (just said hatchback to assistant) and not sure how i'll mount the rear bar that goes across car. guess i'll find out whether it works or not this eve.

cdaly_

paddymacsporran wrote: »

You're supposed to leave the rear lights and number plate clear or get a lights bar and plate on the back of the rack, but it the Garda stop you for that it's probably just an excuse to pull you for something else, I see tons of cars with rear carriers on and no number plate bar/lights on the back.

Make sure you're properly legal if you head for the continent. I was pulled over within 30min of Cherbourg a couple of years ago 'cos I'd completely forgotten to do the number plate / lights thing. €90 on the spot fine for the number plate and nearly had to stop overnight until I had the lights sorted. Dunno how I charmed my way out of that bit. Maybe had something to do with the car packed with family and holidays gear. Had to buy and fit trailer socket and lights bar on the campsite...

paddymacsporran wrote: »

Also, really important that the pads on the rack sit on the bumper and the metal on the rear hatch below or above the glass. That's how they are designed, sometimes people put heavy mtb's and kids bikes on the rear rack and all the weight is supported on the glass

Beware here of which bit of metal they rest on. The same car ended up with a dented bootlid 'cos I rested the lower pads right in the middle of the metal panel. These days it goes over a strong point in the door like right down at the bumper or somewhere I know has support behind it...

Bluefoam

Make sure you don't drive under any barriers - particularly forest car parks if you mountain bike - it's a very easy mistake to make. I've see it happen, car destroyed, bikes destroyed, self esteem destroyed...

2 Wheels Good

I've a Thule 9103 on my Golf. Was a bit messy to set up but once done it's a 60 second fit. No straps just 2 clips on top, 2 on the bottom and click in place. Would definitely recommend, just check their site for what one fits your car. Got it for 130 off wiggle so a bit dearer but worth it for ease of use.

pprendeville

The whole Halfords bars didn't work anyway. Returned them but not sure what I'll be able to get. Looks like it won't take any roof bars so only leaves the option of the bike rack attahed to boot.

ThisRegard

Did you go through the Thule fit guide, http://www.thule.com/en-GB/IE/FitGuide.aspx#startApp ?

What's the issue you had with the roof bars you tried ? Was it that the hatchback wouldn't open without hitting the bike carrier on the roof ?

strummer_ie

pprendeville wrote: »

The whole Halfords bars didn't work anyway. Returned them but not sure what I'll be able to get. Looks like it won't take any roof bars so only leaves the option of the bike rack attahed to boot.

Do you have a plastic looking strip on the roof going from front to back at each side a couple of inches from the edge ?
I didn't realise at first, but these can usually be pulled off to reveal rails
that a roof rack can be clipped onto.

pprendeville

it's a 3 door corolla hatchback, 2001. the halfords bars had a clamp system. would clamp on fine over the front doors. the rear bars wouldn't clamp on because of the profile. hard to explain. would need to see it to be able to understand or else i'm just crap at explaining things technical like this.

doesn't have anything on top. no strips that reveal a place to clip into I'm afraid. looking up thule website now. spose i should try a toyota garage to find out.

ednwireland

i used to have an 88 corolla 3 dr

you could on the tat model open the rear windows (about an inch or two for ventilation) and you could hook a roof rack under there - and close the windows after

i have roof rack on my primera and a 20 year old bike carrier which locks and still works perfectly (and someonne was impressed wn i had my bike mounted and locked 30s after taking the front wheel off

shame your in dub as i still have the thule roof rack for the corolla !

ThisRegard

Seems the Thule would do from looking at their fit guide.

pprendeville

ya checked the fit guide as well for thule and it says it does work. maybe i'll give it a god so and see. worst case scenario is i get my money back.

cambertoes

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