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Bike rack – rear or roof?

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  • September 13, 2012 at 7:30 am #16817
    sparrow

    I need a new bike rack for my Skoda Fabia… I don’t know whether to;
    1 – invest in rails for the roof and get an upright bike rack
    2 – have a tow bar fitted and buy a tow-bar rack
    3 – opt for a cheap (and quick) fix with a rear carrier that fits to my boot….
    Any ideas? I had a rear carrier previously, it was cheap and perished….but I am on a bit of a tight budget.

    Any advice would be most appreciated!

    Ta!

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  • September 13, 2012 at 8:53 am #700357
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    John_the_Monkey

    Tow ball racks are the best
    Tow ball racks are the best (I aspire to one) but roof bars are ok too – I’ve used them on two cars without problems.

    Our current bars are Atera, sourced from Roofbox.co.uk, before that, we had the Halfords basic ones, which were fine as well. The bike carriers are made by Cruz, and cost £20 a piece – they’re ok, but with hindsight, I wish we’d gone for something slightly better (ease of getting the bike in &c). Total cost for our setup would be something like £150, I think (bars, 3x carriers). The roof bars do open up other possibilities (a roofbox for family holidays &c) so there’s that to factor in too.

    We’ve kept the carriers through two car changes, and sold on our previous roofbars (making about half the purchase price back).

    Roofbox, incidentally, do package deals that might be useful – f’rinstance, 2 carriers & roofbars for £85; http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-specific-accessories/2_x_cruz_bici_racks_with_cruz_roof_bars/Qx%40w%2C6M42VAwp3%40Rb%7B~cC4ure5KtMR

    I echo SevenHills’ misgivings about the strap on type of carrier – too many horror stories about those!

    September 13, 2012 at 8:41 am #700355
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    SevenHills

    I know your budget is tight
    I know your budget is tight but i would always go for option 2 if you can afford. It will have less effect on your MPG than option 1 and it will be safer for your bikes and other road users than option 3. I have seen bikes come off the cheap rear boot type carriers on 2 occasions whilst on the move! 🙁
    Thule do a tow bar carrier for about £150 including lights etc and number plate mount, which is something you should have even with a boot mounted one.
    Not sure how much it will cost for a towbar to be fitted but having gone down the roof bars and bike mount route i paid about £200 for bars bike mount etc so it aint cheap whichever way you go.

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