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

ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
nathanm said:
anyone using a floor stand for their vertical racks?

Interested in thoughts.
Click to expand...

Another for home made, mine has 4 castors on it and can be scooted around the garage.

Also stable enough to put bikes on it while on the wheely stand.

Can post up a pic if you want, took about 30 minutes to make from my steel spares rack.
 
petertronica

petertronica

Likes Dirt
I have that exact same rack!! From cycling deal. I've had mine for about 8 years now! My take on it is:

(bear in mind that I store mine outdoors in a dry-ish spot)


Pros:
It's very cheap, you can't do better at this price.
It folds up extremely small, very easy to fit in your boot
Fairly easy to fit any size bikes on it.
It's 8 years old and hasn't broken yet. Not really any plastic to snap.
It's reasonably light.

Cons:
It rattles in the tow hitch! No anti-rattle mechanism to speak of besides tightening the bolt holding it on, which I can't easily do because there isn't clearance for a spanner with my tow hitch (but this isn't really an anti-rattle mechanism if all the slack is taken up by bolt threads)
The wheel hoops are movable by un-doing a hand-twist bolt. Therse are extremely hard to turn (and, being modest, I have rock climbers hands).
The 'buttons' you press to release the centre ratchets are extremely hard to press when they are under load and holding the bikes down, and you will catch bits of finger skin in them if you're not careful.
Due to the last 2 reasons, neither my kids (aged 10 & 12) nor my wife are able to load or unload the bikes onto the rack.
On long trips (say 5 hours Melb to Falls creek) the hooks rub on the top tube. I use rags to protect the bikes but imho it's just not a very good method of securing bikes. I've never shuttled up/down dirt roads for a prolonged period, god knows what that would do to your bike.
If the paint chips, it rusts.

But, having said all that, given the price I paid, and it's had a LOT of use, I've been really happy with it.



Haakon said:
Another plug for the cycling deal job (when its in stock...) CB-640A

Only caveat is that as with all racks that have one vertical pole to clamp, its a bit of fiddle with two bike getting the hook in a good position on both top tubes. Its perfect for one bike though - its literally a 5 second loading procedure.

View attachment 391142
Click to expand...
 
nathanm

nathanm

Eats Squid
ozzybmx said:
Another for home made, mine has 4 castors on it and can be scooted around the garage.

Also stable enough to put bikes on it while on the wheely stand.

Can post up a pic if you want, took about 30 minutes to make from my steel spares rack.
Click to expand...
pics would be good. my only concern is weight and weight distribution with 80+ kgs of bike n rack on casters/wheels?
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
petertronica said:
I have that exact same rack!! From cycling deal. I've had mine for about 8 years now! My take on it is:

(bear in mind that I store mine outdoors in a dry-ish spot)


Pros:
It's very cheap, you can't do better at this price.
It folds up extremely small, very easy to fit in your boot
Fairly easy to fit any size bikes on it.
It's 8 years old and hasn't broken yet. Not really any plastic to snap.
It's reasonably light.

Cons:
It rattles in the tow hitch! No anti-rattle mechanism to speak of besides tightening the bolt holding it on, which I can't easily do because there isn't clearance for a spanner with my tow hitch (but this isn't really an anti-rattle mechanism if all the slack is taken up by bolt threads)
The wheel hoops are movable by un-doing a hand-twist bolt. Therse are extremely hard to turn (and, being modest, I have rock climbers hands).
The 'buttons' you press to release the centre ratchets are extremely hard to press when they are under load and holding the bikes down, and you will catch bits of finger skin in them if you're not careful.
Due to the last 2 reasons, neither my kids (aged 10 & 12) nor my wife are able to load or unload the bikes onto the rack.
On long trips (say 5 hours Melb to Falls creek) the hooks rub on the top tube. I use rags to protect the bikes but imho it's just not a very good method of securing bikes. I've never shuttled up/down dirt roads for a prolonged period, god knows what that would do to your bike.
If the paint chips, it rusts.

But, having said all that, given the price I paid, and it's had a LOT of use, I've been really happy with it.
Click to expand...
To release the ratchets, push down on the hooks to take the load off the pawl as you press the release button - easy peasy ;)

I have mine on a clampy thing that clamps onto the tow ball and that obviously doesn't rattle - but there are plenty of aftermarket rattle quenching devices for those that use the 2 inch receiver caper.

Wheel hoops have been fine for my - and i dont have particularly strong anything... Tried some lube on the bolts, maybe theyre a bit seized?

As I said above, i put some tape on the top tube for long trips and just use a bit of foam under the hook. I've been running mine for about 8 year too including several 1000km trips between ACT and Vic and never ever had even the suggestion of a mark on the bikes.
 
johnny

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
Well, my whole plan just got F'd in the A.

I was planning to get a hitch put on our little MAzda 3 and to buy a rear mount rack that can swap between the Suby Forester and the Maz. Only the Suby, which currently has a roof mount bike rack (which sucks) has a child seat in it, which makes musical cars difficult when I want to ride and the wife wants to take little one somewhere at the same time.

I was just informed that they don't make square hitch mounts for Mazda 3s and that I'd have to use a ball mount rack, which I'm not keen on.

Back to the drawing board, might just have to put a kid seat in the Mazda, which doesn't have side airbags and all the safeness of the Suby. So not keen on that either. Would much rather the Maz carry the bike and the Suby carry the child.
 
Tubbsy

Tubbsy

Packin' a small bird
Staff member
johnny said:
I'd have to use a ball mount rack, which I'm not keen on
Click to expand...
FWIW I have a Thule ball mount rack which locks on rock solid even with three bikes on it. From memory it came with an adaptor so it can also be used with square hitch. It also tilts so you can open the tail gate with bikes on.

What I dislike about it is the arms that hold the bike, which need to be threaded through/around frames and it's very hard to fit more than two bikes without something rubbing on something you don't want it to so loading up can take a while to puzzle.
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
johnny said:
Well, my whole plan just got F'd in the A.

I was planning to get a hitch put on our little MAzda 3 and to buy a rear mount rack that can swap between the Suby Forester and the Maz. Only the Suby, which currently has a roof mount bike rack (which sucks) has a child seat in it, which makes musical cars difficult when I want to ride and the wife wants to take little one somewhere at the same time.

I was just informed that they don't make square hitch mounts for Mazda 3s and that I'd have to use a ball mount rack, which I'm not keen on.

Back to the drawing board, might just have to put a kid seat in the Mazda, which doesn't have side airbags and all the safeness of the Suby. So not keen on that either. Would much rather the Maz carry the bike and the Suby carry the child.
Click to expand...
What version 3 do you have? https://www.allintowbars.com.au/product/mazda-3-hatch/
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Another option would be to get a piece of steel square section from a metal merchants and weld a tab on the side to bolt it to where the tounge would mount. I wouldnt tow with that, but good for a bike rack.
 
Mr Crudley

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
johnny said:
I was just informed that they don't make square hitch mounts for Mazda 3s and that I'd have to use a ball mount rack, which I'm not keen on.
Click to expand...
They were out there but always hard to find and not cheap. I have a square hitch mount on my BL MPS. A hitch mount for the BL come in a few flavours from memory and you should have more options with the base model or SP25 since I believe that they don't have the big muffler at the rear that limits the mounting options. Mazda did make factory towbars too so maybe someone like Formaz could help track one down.

I was after a factory Mazda hitch but none found at the time. Mine is a Hidden Hitch that I got on Amazon because I have no need for a towbar and receiver left on the car all the time and I didn't want it visible either. This is 'Class 1' rated meaning that it is fine for a bike rack but will be left behind at the bottom of hill with a few broken bolts if you wish to tow things greater than 100kg.

If you have a BL then it might be worth keeping in mind that these share DNA with the Ford Focus and Volvo S40 from the same era. There is an outside chance that a hitch from one of those could fit too but of course YMMV.

391151
 
Haakon

Haakon

has an accommodating arse
Mr Crudley said:
They were out there but always hard to find and not cheap. I have a square hitch mount on my BL MPS. A hitch mount for the BL come in a few flavours from memory and you should have more options with the base model or SP25 since I believe that they don't have the big muffler at the rear that limits the mounting options. Mazda did make factory towbars too so maybe someone like Formaz could help track one down.

I was after a factory Mazda hitch but none found at the time. Mine is a Hidden Hitch that I got on Amazon because I have no need for a towbar and receiver left on the car all the time and I didn't want it visible either. This is 'Class 1' rated meaning that it is fine for a bike rack but will be left behind at the bottom of hill with a few broken bolts if you wish to tow things greater than 100kg.

If you have a BL then it might be worth keeping in mind that these share DNA with the Ford Focus and Volvo S40 from the same era. There is an outside chance that a hitch from one of those could fit too but of course YMMV.

View attachment 391151
Click to expand...
Although theyre the smaller 1 1/4 inch receivers. Cheap though, and a piece of piss to fit to a 3!

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johnny

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
BurnieM said:
Do any bike racks fit the 40x40mm hitches ?

All the ads I have seen require 50x50mm
Click to expand...
YEs, this was my response as well. Rack needs to switch between two cars, so need same size hitch on both.

All getting to be a bit of annoyance. REally don't want the kid seat in the Maz, but may have to bite the bullet on that one. I did think of roof racks on the Maz, but that's a surprisingly expensive option - well over $1k all up (need to replace the bike carrier I use on the roof of the Suby as it's 10 years old and the shitty plastic bits are degrading). I'd much prefer rear mount rack. Nothing complicated is ever simple...
 
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