I’d like some advice from the bicycling members of the panel! Does anyone have any experience or recommendations in relation to cycle carriers? We are looking into options for transporting our bicycles using our Mk 1 Seat Leon. We don’t have a towbar, so that narrows the options to roof mounted, or rear mounted. The Halfords website seems to suggest that rear mounted won’t be suitable. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Peter.
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Roof, roof all the way. Hatch-mount racks are horrible things that look borderline dangerous the way some people use them. They block your view, obscure your lights and rattle the bikes together till they get scratched.
You don't say how many bikes you have, or how far you want to carry them. Long distance fuel consumption - and the extra noise that goes with it - is the main disadvantage of roof mounts.
We put ours on the towbar. So much better that we paid £600 for a detachable when we bought the LEC just for the bikes.
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Towbar or roof mount. No question. Strap or clip on to the hatch things are a disaster.
Towbar mounted rigs are, as WDB says, fairly pricey but if you shop around, ( Ebay is your friend ) a half decent roof mounted setup won't cost the earth. It'll knock at least 20% off your fuel consumption when used though. You might decide as I have, that it doesn't really matter for the short amount of proportionate use it gets. We leave a roof mounted rig permanently on top of my wife's car as it gets used at least once a week and when empty it doesn't seem to have a terrible effect on mpg. When laden however it rips into the economy. Her other usage is a 36 mile round trip to/from work but traffic conditions are such that 40 mph is as fast as she ever gets the opportunity to go. Under those circs any drag from the kit is minimal.
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Our top-notch Atera towbar rack cost us £375, which isn't that much more than a pair of roof bars and four bike carriers of comparable quality. It was the towbar that cost us £600; that, I accept, compares less favourably with, say, a roof - which the Leon probably has already.
It makes up some ground on fuel, though: on our long trips to and through France, the Verso we bought it for averaged 43 without the bikes and 41 with, while the corresponding figures for the LEC were 38 and 35.
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All very well WDB and your point is indeed well made however, it is fatally flawed I'm afraid. When the cycling deed is done and the bikes have been returned to the roof, the picnic must commence and that requires full access to the boot and the opportunity for children to perch on the edge of it, or indeed, in it .This can not adequately be facilitated when access to said area is restricted by a towbar mounted rack.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Thu 25 Oct 12 at 19:54
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Ah, but note my use of the phrase 'top notch'. The Atera allows you to slide the bikes back far enough to open the tailgate and, should you wish, sit on the bumper.
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Another vote for roof mounting. The only problems are effect on fuel consumption and access to height restricted car parks.
Like Humph I find anything that affects access to boot whether for picnics or extracting bags at overnights is a problem.
If we're biking the Xantia generally gets the gig over the 'lingo. Use the Halford's transverse bars/footing kit and 4x their value bike racks
tinyurl.com/crjgfj
Bikes alternate forward and reverse facing and it needed a bit of experimentation to work out a loading plan that avoided handlebar/saddle clashes. Sorted so that mine needed saddle dropped then Mine, Hers, Miss B's and The Lad's loaded in that order worked fine.
Process to lift bikes and secure to pre-opened clamps needed practice but not rocket science. Can load 4 bikes and be enjoying coffee while friend is still faffing with tailgate mount.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 25 Oct 12 at 20:46
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Thanks Will, Humph and Bromp. To answer your questions, we have two adult bikes, plus a small one with stabilisers. We are looking at an initial journey to transport them from Sussex to Suffolk. It’s quite possible that we’ll be using them and transporting them more frequently in the future as our daughter gets older.
Fitting a towbar on a Leon is not for the faint-hearted as the rear bumper has to be cut! Roof mounted seems to be the way to go.
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Kids bikes can be more problematic than 4 adults. Size differences create saddle/handlebar conflicts though usually solvable by adjusting loading order.
Other revealing discovery from loading was that then 9yo Miss B's Emelle 20" mini MTB was heavier than my adult Claud Butler Ravanna.
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Another vote for the halfords roof system. On my C5 I have their roof bar system E (£85) and four of their own brand carriers (£45ea) which are the ones that are the Thule 532 model re-branded.
Superb carriers that keeps the bikes stable even at speed and under fast cornering.
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>>Other revealing discovery from loading was that then 9yo Miss B's
>>Emelle 20" mini MTB was heavier than my adult Claud Butler Ravanna.
Kids bikes are often dreadful things. Cast iron frames (not really, but certainly heavy), yucky mechanics, plain bearing steering is not unknown, and often adult crank lengths and gearing.
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>> Kids bikes are often dreadful things. Cast iron frames (not really, but certainly heavy), yucky
>> mechanics,
Islabikes are the answer but they're not cheap
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Not cheap, Bromp, but superb value for money when you look at the use ours have had. Compared to a £100 heap of Halfords scrap that would soon have be forgotten in the shed, they've literally made at least three holidays for us because the Beestlings always want to ride them. They wear well too, and they're easy to work on.
Incidentally, B. Minor will probably be ready to swap his Beinn 24 for a 26 next spring, so if anyone fancies the old one...
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Aha, found a picture!
But might need to tweak the album settings first.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Thu 25 Oct 12 at 22:55
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WdeB
I'd absolutely argue the VfM point. Islabikes, like Bromptons retain their value. I don't remember them being about when my two, now 18 and 20, were young. Milestone was them getting to point that smaller adult frames whether steel or alu would suit.
But it's a dead loss trying to persuade my sister, whose brood are 13, 11 and 9, that spending £250 rather than £120 on a kid's bike is value
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 26 Oct 12 at 01:32
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Bear in mind too that while the actual bike carriers may seem a bit of an investment shall we say, that they will fit on pretty much any roof bars you may use now or in the future. I'm still using the same Mont Blanc ones ( not posh but very easy to use and reliable ) I first bought nearly ten years ago. They've been on the top of a variety of our cars fairly much permanently ever since. Just keep them oiled etc and they last indefinitely. You might need to change the roof bars if you change cars but the racks will be easily transferable so the initial cost will eventually become irrelevant.
A wee tip though. If you venture further afield and want an extra degree of security or peace of mind that the bikes are not going to come loose, just cable tie the wheels on to the rack as an extra precaution. Can't hurt and costs more or less nothing. However, don't forget to put a pair of scissors or a penknife in your bike toolkit if you do. Bit of a faff without.
Re toolkit. I have a little pouch which clips under my saddle. Bare minimum in there is a cable lock for when you stop for a break, a multitool/Allen keys for roadside running fettles and a spare inner tube for each size of wheel in the party. Emergency mini-pump clipped to the frame and at least one bike in the party should have a water bottle carrier.
Have fun !
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Here, Humph: picasaweb.google.com/willdebeest68/france2012 and marvel at its slidey cleverness.
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S'pose it's alright...
:-)
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Remember the additional height if you carry cycles on the roof.
I've seen a few clips that result in the rear window being smashed when drivers haven't!
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>> Remember the additional height if you carry cycles on the roof.
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>> I've seen a few clips that result in the rear window being smashed when drivers
>> haven't!
>>
I smashed a rear window just with rubbish on the roof rack when going to a tip with a height restriction ( to stop vans). One of the roof rack legs went through the glass.
When I was carrying offspring's bike back from uni I always put a BIG sign on the dash - STOP IN STREEET rather than hit our tree that overhangs the street and our drive. That was after the tip incident.
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>> marvel at its slidey cleverness.
And the lump of plastic stuck to the dash in the first picture... that's naff :-)
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Yes. It was Blu-tacked there for about 30 seconds while I took the picture - and until it fell off. It was just there to answer a question someone else had asked about where it would fit. Still looking for the ideal location for it, to tell the truth.
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>> Still looking for the ideal location for it, to tell the truth.
In the bin?
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Further to Humpy's comment re. tie wraps. I don't use a bike rack myself but these little beauties are superb for security. They come in various lengths, I have a dozen 24" ones.
Great for around the caravan or workshop as well as for luggage. Currently using a couple around the kitchen on Mondays to secure the base cupboards when the 15 month old terror is here !
tinyurl.com/czqd99u
Ted
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that tinyURL isn't working it seems. Not for me anyway Ted.
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Works for me ok. Google Gelert Arno straps.
Ted
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I get: Error: Unable to find site's URL to redirect to
But tried Chrome and it works... hmm.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 26 Oct 12 at 00:25
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>> It was the towbar that cost us £600;
>>
Ouch!
I was looking into this the other day. I see that Witter will now only sell a bar inclusive of fitting and delivered to an apporved fitter (citing "modern car electrics" as the reason).
Thule (nee Brink) will happily sell you a bar and electric kit for DIY fitting.
Go figure. I always used to buy Witter products, but no more.
Last time I did one was on a Disco just as the new EU regs were coming in (towbar plus 12N/12S sockets, split charging etc). The dismountable bar that I bought cost 150 quid less than an alternative, fixed, bar from the same manufacturer. The only difference in quality was that the one I bought lacked that EU approval stamp.
150 quid a unit for a bureaucratic rubber stamp? They really are having a giraffe in brustrasselsbourg.
Edit: Actually, thinking about that last again, dismountable bars tend to be around 100 quid more than fixed ones anyway, so that's actually 250 quid per application of the rubber stamp. Nice work if you can get it.
Last edited by: TeeCee on Fri 26 Oct 12 at 09:17
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>> Roof, roof all the way. Hatch-mount racks are horrible things
Agree 100%, I have a Thule 'ride-on' tow-ball mounted carrier in storage back in the UK which I used on the 330d Touring's wonderful electrically deployed folding tow-bar (a snip at GBP650 back in 2009).
Otherwise roof-mounted carriers keep the bikes reasonably clean and (if you keep to around 60-65mph) don't kill the fuel economy in my experience.
I also used to use roof mounted bike carriers on the top of my camping trailer.
In Aus I balked at the GBP1000+ they wanted for a standard tow-bar so I'm in the market for some roof mounted carriers for the Golf right now.
Above all - avoid the clip-on rear mounted abominations unless your paintwork and the safety of others is of no importance to you....
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I used to have a Thule 4 cycle towball carrier on my Scenics.
Never failed to amaze me how it worked - just seemed to defy gravity. You get some towball carriers that as well as ckamping onto the towball, there are separate brackets attached (like where a caravan stabiliser bracket would go)
I was convinced that one day it would just snap the towball off but it never did! Thanksfully!
Don't have a towball on Altea so use roof carrier - bit of a faff to put on and off - as my car has roof rails the clamps come with two tiny wee prongs that fit into the holes on the roof rail.
Need to take a wee set of steps to lift the bikes onto the roof. And it absolutely hammers the fuel economy with 4 bikes on the roof!
Agree with Humph's advice - I always pull the ratchet straps on the wheels as tight as possible and then cable tie the wheel to the clamp as well.
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SEAT Leon - Cycle Carriers - WillDeBeest
