Anyone use them? We all enjoy cycling on holiday and need 3 full size mountain bikes plus one teen size. Have hired in the past at our destination but cost for 4 is usually £220-£260. You could buy 4 tidy used bikes for that.
Have thought about a roof carrier in the past but not done it as we've always travelled 1000mls+ round trip to Scotland and didn't want the hassle of stuff on top all that way.
This years hols will be Suffolk coast (soon) and Cotswolds (summer) so an easy 130 mile run.... hence wondering about the roof carriers again.
Been in Halfords and it seems I need a crossbar kit at £100 to fit my roof rails and then two twinpack cycle carriers at £80 each. About the same cost as hiring the bikes so works out financially I guess but any cheaper options appreciated.
Any thoughts on costs/quality/availability/brands?
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Thule won't disappoint on quality or ease of use. I've used a pair of 590s on square bars on my S60 and they work very well - it's particularly easy to get the bike partly secured so you then have both hands free to complete the job.
I also bought some adaptors to use the same carriers on aero bars on the Verso. They're perfectly secure there too, but I'm 6'5" and even I find it a stretch to get everything on to the roof of a tall car.
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...get everything on to the roof...
I've never done it, but surely the risk of scraping the roof with a stray pedal or handlebar end must be high?
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Wouldn't be without mine. Yes, they can be an expensive initial investment but most can be adapted to fit any car if you decide to change. I've had mine for years. To be fair, in our case they get a lot of use so the cost has long since been justified. There is a knack easy loading and unloading and foe what it's worth I've never damaged a car in the course of doing so.
I get hold of the bikes by one leg of a front fork and the vertical down tube of the frame ( below the saddle ) and simply lift them on or off.
I just open a door and stand on the sill to reach.
They are by far the most secure way of transporting bikes without damage but the downside is they can have quite a negative effect on mpg if you are travelling at higher speeds. For example, my Mondeo estate normally turns in about 45 mpg but drops to 31 mpg with three bikes up top. Having said that, for the 50 miles or so of weekend use it gets like that I'm not very bothered.
I've also got a rear slung rack for the Qashqai but I don't like using it. No matter how clever you try to be in loading and padding out the bikes rub each other and car damage is much more of a risk.
Small point, but when we are out playing in the woods we like to stop for a picnic and sit on the back of the open loadspace to have our butties etc. or to shelter from a shower. Can't do that with a rear slung rack.
There are some very fancy bits of kit but the most basic / cheapest you can find ( try Ebay maybe ? ) are fine. Just make sure they are done up properly of course !
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Sun 23 May 10 at 09:43
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>> Been in Halfords and it seems I need a crossbar kit at £100 to fit
>> my roof rails and then two twinpack cycle carriers at £80 each. About the same
>> cost as hiring the bikes so works out financially I guess but any cheaper options
>> appreciated.
Halfords are very expensive for these items. I got a pair of universal roof bars from Ebay for under £40 including postage (The manufacturer was Maypole or something like that I think) and I got a Thule 590 cycle carrier which is excellent for about £60 using Google Shopping. The cheapest place was SC Petch who are a Mazda dealer. The Thule 590 was described as a Thule 590 to fit a Mazda but it is just a regular Thule.
Good Luck.
Last edited by: a900ss on Sun 23 May 10 at 09:53
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Excellent advice thanks. I'd thought about the possibility of damage iffy but in the end the car is a tool for life so I'll happily take the chance.
Looked at loads online plus ebay. Agree some of the Halfords shop prces look high but found if I pre-ordered online there was a £30 saving over the initial £100 (for their own brand higher grade roof bars) so nipped out and bought a set. I was happy to pay £70 for the fact I have them to hand now and it would be no trouble to swap if they didn't fit well. We go away in 5 days so any mail order option was a bit late.... particularly if any fitting issues arose the day before we leave.
There are a few local ebayers with used cycle mounts of various types that seem to go for low prices when collect only so I'll see if I can get my saving there.
The Thule system looks very nice but at Halfords the price soon mounted.
I'm OK with the fuel.. expecting to drop 10mpg but that's fine.
Anyone tried 4 bikes at one time?
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...Anyone tried 4 bikes at one time?...
Nope, but I used to be able to 'ride' two as child. :)
Actually riding one and holding the other by the centre of the handlebars.
Back on topic,
I agree about the slight possibility of damage - far more important to have your holiday set up the way you want it.
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I used a Thule towbar mounted rack on my Scenics and it worked great, always seemed to be defying gravity but it worked great.
I got my Altea XL and as it was so new, they didn't have a towbar to fit so I bought roof bars and 4 cycle racks. I must confess I have only used it a handful of times in the 3 years I have owned it.
The Altea is quite a high car so I always took a 2-step folding stool and used the technique Humph mentioned. Obviously need to mount the 2 inner bikes first but a clean lift, put onto the rack and very easy to clamp into place.
The difficulty I had is the Altea comes with roof rails that have 2 small holes in them and I had to buy special clamps to fit these before mounting the rack. And since the rails curve slightly, the front and back brackets are not perfectly level with each other and this has resulted in some scrapes to the roof trying to lift it into position.
I suffered horrendous fuel consumption, about 10mpg down carrying the bikes.
We are shortly going on holiday, Center Parcs for a week and then either over to France or down to Cornwall for a week and we are debating whether to take the bikes or not. Would equate to 1000+ miles from Glasgow with the bikes, will we use them enough to justify taking them? You know the story, if we take them we will never use them, if we don't we will wish we had...
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Yes I know what you mean... take the bikes and it rains... leave them and weather's perfect. Sadly looks like the weather we want in a weeks time is playing out just now!
Last edited by: Fenlander on Sun 23 May 10 at 14:05
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Take them Bobby ! Can't have a proper holiday without bikes....
:-)
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Humph, father and son would be happy with them, its whether mother and daughter would!!!
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>> its whether mother and daughter would!!!
Leave their's behind then. Tell them to go off looking at clothes or something while you guys do interesting stuff.....
Heh heh !!
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I actually suggested that after Center Parcs, mother and daughter jet off somewhere sunny for a week and father and son will stay and cycle for a week............
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Sounds like a plan. My son and I have just been dragged round shops today, the sunniest, warmest Sunday we've had this year because it was essential and urgent to buy clothes apparently...
I have clothes already.
:-(((
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At say 15 Kg per bike, four bikes plus the carrier will be very close to the load limit. OK I suupose if your riding carbon fibre hard tails. If you are careful, there is really no danger with scrapes from the pedals but loading them can be a bit of a strain - better to have someone helping.
Biggles
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Good for you Fenlander. Just a personal foible but if I'm going to make a long higher speed run such as down to the Med or whatever with the the bikes on, I also cable tie the wheels onto the rack in addition to any normal straps. Don't know if it makes the slightest difference but it feels safer. One more thing for a potential thief to cope with when parked up too.
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...cable tie the wheels...
Very wise.
Good for back covering if something does go wrong.
Shows you've taken all reasonable precautions - looks very good in a statement.
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I used to cable tie the wheels as well when I had the towbar carrier. The roof bars come with locks for the bars and locks for each individual cycle carrier but I would hazard a guess that they are not quite Thatcham standards.....
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Ah that's good, at least I now know the Halfords cross rails fit snugly. Just the bike carriers to sort.
One problem I realised when servicing the bikes this afternoon is some rather large frame dimensions which appear to exceed the spec of some carriers... annoyingly including the local cheap (so far) ebay ones. My bike's fine at a sensible 34mm dia downtube but the others are 63x38, 49x40 & 50x50 (first figure tube height). Are these typical??
Appreciate the total weight thing... no fancy lightweight stuff here so issue may arise. If needed one bike could go in the car with its wheels off and the other three on the roof. Actually that would help the tube size issue as it's the small teenagers one that has the daft 63x38 tube.
Cable tie idea noted.
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If they are all steel framed ( ie heavy ) bikes I might be tempted to put one in the boot if room allows, although from what you say you're not going all that far so it would almost certainly be fine to have them all upstairs.
If you end up buying four seperate racks, do remember to alternate their directions. That is have ( for example ) the left-most one facing forwards, the next one facing rearwards, the next one forward facing and so on. It'll help to avoid the handle bars fouling on each other.
In any event, happy hols !
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Sun 23 May 10 at 21:07
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Just weighed them... all hardtails and only two with suspension forks... don't like suspension!
12kg, 13kg, 13kg & 14kg. Thankfully well inside the car, roof bar and cycle carrier allowances.... compliance always helps on the claim form :-)
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I have several mountain bikes of various vintages and specifications ( bit of a weakness for 'em ) but my favourite is actually one of the older and least techy ones. Simple, albeit lightweight aluminium frame, no suss, rim brakes and a gel saddle. Weighs very little and can cope with most eventualities. My second favourite is again suss free and the oldest of the lot. Steel framed American bike which is a good 20 years old. Heavy but rock solid on the really rough stuff. Ally frames can twist a bit on the occasions when you leave your brain at the cafe........
I've ridden full sussers but wouldn't buy one. Too much weight and too many moving parts for my liking. Hardtails ( front suspension only ) can be fun and are of course fashionable but I don't seem to use mine much, I prefer the simplicity of an uncluttered bike.
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We routinely carry 4 bikes on our Xantia and previously on a BX (both estates). The BX had a roof bar limit of 100kg but the Xant's only 75 but I reckon we just creep under with mid range alloy frame non sus MTBs.
We use bars similar to this e described by Humph. I think they were branded as Paddy Hopkirk and came from a bike shop. Four only just fit on the Xantia. The outer pair of racks have to straddle the footings of the transbars. The racks and bikes need to go on in the 'English fashion' with diirections alternated. A bit of fiddling needed to untangle pedals from both bikes and the frame tube clamps of the racks. Handlebar/saddle conflicts may need a saddle dropping or bikes loading in a particular order.
Loading requires that first the frame clamps & wheel straps are fully opened, then like Humph seize bike by fork and seatstay and lift in one move, stepping up onto the door cill. One hand holds the bike steady while the other tightens the clamp.
Takes longer to write than it does to do; I'm usually sorted while freinds with tow bar/hatch mounts are still fiddling with straps and cursing. Were taking them all the way to the Western Isles next week.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 23 May 10 at 21:32
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As you say Bromptonaut, they are a doddle to load once you have the hang of it.
Which is just as well really as everyone else tends to sit in the open loadbay of the Mondy scoffing my sandwiches and coffee in addition to their own while "muggins" loads the bikes. I have learned to do it very quickly.......
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Ahh seems a test loading may be in order before the proper off then.
Interesting about the bikes you like Humph. Time and again I've come back to one of the earliest mountain bikes I bought... at least 25yrs ago. Peugeot steel frame modest original spec with no suspension and a frame more like a road tourer shape. Over the 25yrs I've replaced the chrome rimmed wheels with new alloy ones, upgraded from 10 to 15 gears with new chainset, pedals and gears, new light handlebars of a shape to suit me with grips that feel like soft gel. Finally run some Michelins with very sparse soft nobbles which are excellent at climbing out of a muddy rut.
This bike has ridden out with a horse (well several actually over 25yrs, the bike has seen several animals come and go) for hours at a time over all sorts of tracks and terrain for more miles that I could guess. It just feels perfect and no newer or expensive bike has ever tempted me away for more than a brief test.
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I use some old Thule 530s (bought BOGOF at Halfords as it happenes) and I find them easy to use and very stable. The impact on fuel economy is less pronounced as I try to go a little slower - maybe 60-65mph when I use them. I look on with amusement and horror when I see an overloaded car fly past at 90mph with bikes wobbling on the roof or one of those hatchback-wrecking clip-on carriers.
My square roof bars were much cheaper but do whistle a bit, not sure if the fancy aero bars are worth the extra tbh.
I also have a Thule Euroway tow-ball mounted carrier which I find much quicker to fit (than roof bars / carriers), very stable and you'd be surprised how many car parks at cycling 'locations' have height restrictions on them too..... this wasn't cheap but it's a great solution imho.
Finally I have 4 bike carriers permanently on load bars on top of my camping trailer, makes taking the bikes camping very easy.
If I had to make do with a single solution then the roof mounted carriers are fine, my personal favourite is the tow-ball mounted unit. I would never (ever) use one of those clip on contraptions on my boot / hatchback.
As for bikes, my aluminium mountain bike is fine but my heart belongs to my ancient steel (Reynolds 531ST) tourer - 'steel is real' as they say, this old lady is light, tough, fast and very comfortable.
Last edited by: idle_chatterer on Mon 24 May 10 at 11:08
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>> As for bikes, my aluminium mountain bike is fine but my heart belongs to my
>> ancient steel (Reynolds 531ST) tourer - 'steel is real' as they say, this old lady
>> is light, tough, fast and very comfortable.
Me too. The 1986 Dawes Galaxy beats the MTB into a cocked hat for on road stuff.
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>>
>> Me too. The 1986 Dawes Galaxy beats the MTB into a cocked hat for on
>> road stuff.
>>
I've always wanted a Dawes Galaxy, my old girl is a mid 90s Raleigh Randonneur, hand built by their special products division before they went bust, great for commuting, in fact so comfy I often 'detour' and add 10 or 15 miles to the journey just for fun. I think the best quote I've heard is that bikes 'make kids feel like grown-ups and grown-ups feel like kids again'..... I can vouch for the latter ;-)
Last edited by: idle_chatterer on Mon 24 May 10 at 20:53
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Good stuff IC. The Thule 530 is on my shortlist. They look to accept the widest variation of frame shapes/sizes plus there is a local dealer with them on offer whereby 4 would be £20 cheaper than 4 of the Halfords own brand.
Question though.... it seems from their descriptions they only fit to slotted roof bars... or can you clamp then to a standard square bar with no slot??
Finally given our use is to carry the bikes to the holiday cottage and then ride out from there do you take the carriers off the roof for the week... if left on what stops the struts that hold the frame from flapping about when the bike is off??
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We leave ours on on holiday but not otherwise. We learned our lesson when a set were nicked off the old car at Milton Keynes station.
The straps that hold the wheels in the channel can be removed and used to secure the frame clamp. Another option would be that cyclist's do anything tool - am old fashioned toestrap!!
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 24 May 10 at 11:47
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I think they've improved the design of the 530 since I bought mine so it does now lock to the roof bars, there's no problem leaving them on during your holiday, the 'riser bars' clamp in place when not in use so they don't rattle or flap.
You can definitely clamp them on to slotted roof bars - the clamps have a trapezoidal profile to allow this without damaging the funky aero bars, I did this when I borrowed a friend's roof box and aero-bars and fitted my racks along-side.
Shop around, I got a good deal from Halfords (in 2004 IIRC) but bought my subsequent tow-ball mounted carrier on-line. Just Google Thule 530.
The 530s do accept a broad range of cycle frames too, I've had everything from a child's 12" wheel bike up to my bulky alu mountain bike and rather slimmer tourer on them.
It's also easy to get replacement parts for the 530s, I recently got new rubber grips for under £10.
Last edited by: idle_chatterer on Mon 24 May 10 at 12:56
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I've been using a pair of Thule Proride 591 for the last five years or so. Their advantage lies in not having to be adjusted for a specific bike - they ratchet shut to whatever size of downtube you want. Only downside as far as I can see is cost.
Normally it's just myself and my gf, but we also regularly carry bikes for a couple of other friends if we're away for the weekend. I've got a pair of the Halford's clone of the Thule Freeride 530 that work really well for a specific bike.
As a point, if you're only carrying 2 bikes, mount them as far apart as possible. According to a friend that works in F1, if the vortexes from each bike can mix then it increases drag considerably. This certainly seems borne out by my experience. 2 bikes will drop the motorway mpg from around 42 to about 36, but I can get down to 30 mpg with four bikes up there.
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I have a pair of Mont Blanc Barracuda's on the Octavia.
2 bike racks + set of roof rails came in at just about £200 from ebay, from a company called Leisureshack iirc. The clamp on the upright is more than big enough for the down tubes on our Carrera Crossfires, which are fairly hefty bikes.
The design of the barracuda means it will hold the bike in an upright position while your getting it clamped up, which is very useful
hth
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Correction to my first post above: my Thules are also the 530 model. The 590 is a fork-mount carrier that achieves a lower profile at the expense of removing the bike's front wheel.
I'm inclined to confirm the aerodynamic observation above: with two bikes mounted towards the outer ends of the bars, the car sounds and feels remarkably unchanged. I've never taken them far enough to measure their effect on fill-to-fill fuel consumption.
When we became an all-cycling family, we had a detachable towball fitted to the Verso and bought an Acera carrier to mount on it. Even with four bikes there and a box on the roof, we got 41 mpg on our trip to France and back last summer, so I suspect there is a benefit from shielding the aerodynamically messy bikes in the lee of the car rather than up there in the breeze.
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Oh yes, and all our kit (bar the towbar) came from The Roofbox Company in Sedbergh, Cumbria. Excellent service, very quick (with a fairly priced express option too) and usefully forthcoming with sound technical advice. I have no connection, except as a satisfied customer.
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Me again. ATERA, not Acera. A Strada 3, to be exact, with a bolt-on fourth rail. Sorry. I promise I'm not this sloppy in fixing the bikes to it.
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I've got four carriers which were bought from Halfords by my wife. Easily take two adult bikes and two children's About £200 all in with roof bars for the Octavia estate. I prefer the roof versions so that in the event of a puncture I don't have to get the bikes off, then take out whatever's in the boot before getting to the spare. And, as they get used on weekends away / holidays there's generally quite a bit of stuff in the boot.
We're going to France in August, I'm still debating whether to take the bikes or not. It will probably be the Octavia's swansong so I might as well push it to the limit!
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I'm off the France on Friday with a roof box and a MTB on the roof. Be interesting to see the impact to the MPG, the car normally does about 50MPG so we shall see....
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Because of the various fat frames on three of our bikes realised I'd have to buy at least two new carriers with suitability for oversize downtubes as the local ebay ones finishing tonight were an older basic type for smaller round tubes.
So this afternoon went to Halfords and bought a twinpack of their *Advanced* model carrier which is a Thule 530 in a Halfords box.... £71-99 which in the end was far cheaper than anyone local was for the Thule 530 bought as singles.
Nice bit of kit but came with more assembly required than expected. Now I've built one up it seems there is also more fiddling about than I'd expected to fit on the roof. Seems the downtube clamp determines the bike position on the carrier then you have to slide the tyre pads/straps to suit the bike wheelbase.
Then the position of the rear tyre pad determines somewhat the position of the sliding rear mount to fit the roof cross bars. This in turn determines the max roof crossbar spacing which I had set to around 1.1m by eye before I had the carriers but will have to close up to 0.8m for the carrier clamps to fit.
The roof crossbar instructions say min distance between them to be 0.7m so I guess it's OK.
Due to the typical modern car styling of a narrowing body at roof level it looks tight to fit the 4 carriers/bikes on. Just seen the used ebay carriers go above what I'm willing to pay so I'll get another Halfords pair tomorrow and cross my fingers they'll all fit in the width of crossbar available.
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great post - close to my heart...
just this year loaded up my focus estate with the bikes, using my old mans racks from 1980 something.
fond memories of me, mum dad and bro going on family holidays - happyier times
with these the bike goes upside down, hook in the saddle and clamp the bars.
worked a treat down to wiltshire and up to north yorks
popped the dawes and the klein on the roof and stuck the brompton in the boot - good times
one reason i picked the skoda octavia as my next motor, so i can "copy paste" this set up across.
Last edited by: nick1975 on Tue 25 May 10 at 21:54
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Fenlander, had an email from Halfords last night saying 10% off roof carriers etc when reserved online?
Might be worth a try if your not already outside your local store...
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He'll not be looking at this Bobby. He's still trying to figure out the instructions for the ones he got yesterday !!
:-)
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I remember my first cycle carrier, was bit of a home made effort.
My dad had an old open wooden camping trailer.
I made a wooden plinth that perfectly fitted the size of the trailer and bought 4 separate bike racks from ebay private sellers. Screwed them all down onto the wood (a lot easier than securing to roof bars), and hey presto, we just lifted it in and out of the trailer when required.
Problem was when kids started to get older and bikes got bigger it became a technical challenge getting the 4 bikes positioned correctly without removing all their paint!
When I eventually upgraded to a towball cycle carrier, I sold the plinth to a guy who was going to just put it in the back of his van for carrying bikes.
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Four racks on the car now ready for the off to Scotland tomorrow. Had to replace one as it had been dropped on its end and the two partd had telescoped. Adjustment not possible, the fastenings were corroded.
Halfords Value product identical except for peculiarity that frame clamp footing is cast as a mirror image. Frame clamp itself is identical so I've now got a spare as I reckon its rivets are a potential acchilles heel.
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Enjoy Scotland... I was talked out of going there this year and after almost 10yrs of going every previous year I'll miss it.
I have all four of my Halfords Advanced/Thule 530 carriers on the C5 now and as you say with the Xantia they only just fit.
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Bromptonaut, where are you off to in our beautiful country?
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Bobby,
The Western Isles, more specifically Lewis. Mrs B & I had our first holiday together on Lewis/Harris in 1984 and we've returned near annually ever since.
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We are off to the Western Isles in a couple of weeks time, We are going to educate two of the London contingent. An Island Hopper ticket takes us, (and the car), from Ullapool across to Stornoway, we then spend five days driving down through the islands (two more ferries) and then from Castlebay (Barra) back to Oban.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 27 May 10 at 22:01
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I am jealous!!!
Have wanted to do the Isles for a while but trying to convince a 15 year old and 12 year old that they would enjoy it is a battle I am not winning!
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>> I'm off the France on Friday with a roof box and a MTB on the
>> roof. Be interesting to see the impact to the MPG, the car normally does about
>> 50MPG so we shall see....
>>
Well, just got back from France. With a 'narrow' roof box (60cm wide) and a mountain bike on the roof, car did about 40MPG as opossed to expecting 50MPG without the roof load and fully loaded car.
Having said that, we needed to get to Calais fast yesterday. 15 gallon tank on a Seat Exeo and we used most of a tankful in 400 miles (about 30MPG!!!) but we were going circa 150-155km/h, air con on as 30 degrees and car fully loaded so I'm can't complain.
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They've come too late for Fenlander but anyone needing a set of roof bars may like to consider Lidl's forthcoming offering
www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_11189.htm
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>>>>do the Isles for a while but trying to convince a 15 year old and 12 year old that they would enjoy it is a battle I am not winning...
My 13 & 15yr old grumbling last year about the weather and lack shops were a major part of our decision not to go to our usual remote Scottish cottage. Now we're going somewhere else this year they're saying Scotland was OK and we should have gone again.
Teenage girls....
Last edited by: Fenlander on Fri 28 May 10 at 11:47
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Been on the Isles (Grimshader, Lewis) since late Saturday so time for a bit of reflection. Might as well continue here as start a new thread.
Bromptonette (17) and Bromp Junior (15) have been coming here as long as they remember so like Fenlander's girls there's a habit/nostalgia element. Sunday was a 30 mile bike ride over the Pentland Road and back via Calanais in fast improving weather. Monday on shell sand beaches at Tolsta in W2W sunshine. Yesterday and today in more changeable weather on a local bike ride and a walk along an old drove road into the mountains of Harris. Tomorrow should be car/bike past Uig to the end of the road @ Mealista on the west side of Lewis.
Bromptonette is doing most of the driving ahead of her test next month.
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Bought a set of the Lidl roof bars this morning, a perfect fit on the Ceed roof rails. They are well made and will certainly do the job.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 3 Jun 10 at 10:17
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We're just back from hols now after a good test of my Halfords Advanced/Thule 530 carriers on the C5. Excellent way to carry 4 bikes and no complaints about the way the carriers work or their sturdy way of holding the bikes. In truth a bit of a faf to get the 4 bikes on with no clash of pedals/seats/handlebars but will get easier once I remember the way they interlock.
I did just add some cable ties from the two bike front wheels that faced forward to the carrier frame struts so they didn't get a speed wobble.
Good basic security in the fact the carriers lock to the crossbars as well as locking to the bike frames.
Fuel consumption was down at least 12mpg (to 42mpg) at modest speeds up to motorway limit but the saving over hiring bikes paid for the carriers and fuel this time and next trip we'll be well in profit so a good result.
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Roof mounted cycle carriers. - WillDeBeest
