BIKE RACKS AND CARRIERS FOR CARS MEGATHREAD - all questions asked and answered here

Cardy George said:
We use an ancient tongue mounted rack for the kids bikes and man that fucker bounces around.
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My wife bought a 4 bike rack years ago without consulting me. Was a ‘Pacific’ brand POC, but looked like a generic rack that many sell. ‘Locked’ onto the towball, and my god, it was scary. Was best part of 12” of bounce at the back even on smooth roads. I see them on the road, loaded up, and wince.

I also didn’t see a ‘shitstorm’, just some conclusions jumped to and hobby horses ridden into the ground. :p
 
The last one I did - once the bumper is off, its not rocket surgery. Read the instructions, use a dab of blue loctite on the bolts and observe the provided torque settings for the bolts. Pretty hard to get that wrong, the bits you might mess up is damaging the car itself pulling the lights and bumper off etc - and cutting a section out of the bumper itself for clearance...

As Cardy points out, the tonka trucks are even easier as you dont often need to remove anything first.
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I've fit my towbar to my 2006 xtrail and drove with 3 bikes on the back from wollongong to Bright and back. The rear end was sitting low but that is just as much to do with the camping stuff jammed in the back as it did with the bikes off the rear. I wouldn't hesitate to do the same with a smaller vehicle.

I support Haakons crusade against 4wds and especially dual cabs Utes for those that aren't using them for tool cases (and tradies would be better off with other ways to carry their tools usually anyway). How often are the small trays in dual cabs actually used? You see more towing trailers than actually They are completely unnecessary for most despite being the most popular. I bought my xtrail as they are available on the second hand market but would have much preferred a smallish wagon but there aren't enough on the 2nd hand market, especially when you want to a manual tranny.

But if you want a big vehicle so that the 5% of the time you have a bike on the back you dont notice it (even if the handling at the best of time is worse than the smaller vehicle with a bike on it) go ahead. Just remember that people know what you are compensating for.
 
hifiandmtb said:
I wouldn't fit a big heavy towbar to the rear of a small car as it's weight that's felt in ride & handling...
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Towbar on the Clio was about 18kg as I recall. It evened out the weight distribution a smidge and made it handle better ;)
 
takai said:
Nah. That was a home made square hitch job. Design heavily influenced by the grip rack though. Easily 15kg of steel plus two 00s era bikes.
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Cool. I’m sure I am overthinking these things. Tends to happen after you’ve watched two bikes fall off the back of your car on the highway.
 
Calvin27 said:
Not a fwd anyway. Part of the reason why I didn't go tow rack on the fwd beater is because the weight and limits start to stack up. People think a bike doesn't weight much but having two bikes (one might be an ebike - flame suit on) haging out 1.2m from the rear axle would be like having 6 20kg bags of concrete in the boot - from a leverage perspective. Works but not ideal.

In my view, the best solution is still front wheel off and shove the bastard in the boot if possible. I've got a baby seat now so was told strictly not to do that anymore :S
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I never sat down to do the maths, but I did have two trail bikes, two blokes including me and all our camping gear for a Mont24 in the Clio. Even with its 900cc three cylinder powerhouse and 1000kg empty kerb weight (and front wheel drive) it bounced its way across paddocks and out onto the highway to sit on 110kph back home without scaring anyone or breaking anything. It was fine, I cant imagine a Fiesta being any different.
 
18kg is about the same as a case of beer according to the shipping calculator. If your car handles poorly with a case of beer in the boot then you have something wrong.
 
moorey said:
That is the worst sciencing I have encountered in years.
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Drink more beer then. Seriously, if a car handles noticeably worse with a towbar on then there is something else wrong with the suspension. Like the argument that having 2 bikes on the back is like having 120kg of cement in the boot. I sure as hell hope that no-one carries passengers then.

As for the suggestion that no-one needs a dualcab. What absolute codwaffle. Next time you want to go pick up cement or a diff leaking oil make sure to put it in the back of your X-trail.
 
I mention the handling thing because I notice. I notice a few psi difference in tyre pressures. I notice a passenger. I certainly notice heavy shit in the boot. I don't like it.

Which is why I'd prefer not to have 20+kg slung out the back permanently, let alone bikes'n'shit.
 
takai said:
Drink more beer then. Seriously, if a car handles noticeably worse with a towbar on then there is something else wrong with the suspension.

As for the suggestion that no-one needs a dualcab. What absolute codwaffle. Next time you want to go pick up cement or a diff leaking oil make sure to put it in the back of your X-trail.
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A case of beer is under 10kg. It also isn’t hanging way out behind the back of the car.

Dual cab is essential to my life, but you can pick up shite in a single cab or trailer. I reckon 80% of people with them are about image. The more decked out for off-road, the more posing usually.
 
Haakon said:
I never sat down to do the maths, but I did have two trail bikes, two blokes including me and all our camping gear for a Mont24 in the Clio.
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Like I said, i did 4 blokes plus gear up buller in a 2 door 1.4L barina anything is doable and cars can do a lot more than we give them credit for. But then again you could also ride a entry level polygon hardtail with coil fork and cable brakes and clear most trails. The reason why most of us don't is because it's a bit crap.

takai said:
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The mafs is wrong (although in your favor) on the 24x330ml. I get just shy of 8kg for the 330ml and the 375 multiplies out ok.
 
hifiandmtb said:
I mention the handling thing because I notice. I notice a few psi difference in tyre pressures. I notice a passenger. I certainly notice heavy shit in the boot. I don't like it.

Which is why I'd prefer not to have 20+kg slung out the back permanently, let alone bikes'n'shit.
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So sensitive but you don't notice a sail on your roof, higher COG?
 
Calvin27 said:
Like I said, i did 4 blokes plus gear up buller in a 2 door 1.4L barina anything is doable and cars can do a lot more than we give them credit for. But then again you could also ride a entry level polygon hardtail with coil fork and cable brakes and clear most trails. The reason why most of us don't is because it's a bit crap.



The mafs is wrong (although in your favor) on the 24x330ml. I get just shy of 8kg for the 330ml and the 375 multiplies out ok.
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It wasnt crap though, it sat on the road really well loaded up like and handled better than a big tall cart sprung 4wd would. Did need to bump it down an extra gear on the hills and give the turbo a workout, but that was fun :)

Crap to me is driving an unladen SUV around most of the time, things like ranger/hilux etc are horrible to drive at the best of times. Its NOT an upgrade...

And that was a little Clio. The 1400kg/170bhp Alfa doesn't notice two bikes on the rack one little bit...
 
I don't drive around with my bike on my roof for every trip. And I just chuck it inside the Polo anyway. I have no kids or friends.

With a towbar, it's there - hanging out harassing my sensitivities.
 
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