I’ve owned both and over recent years I’ve had a car with a monster boot, roof rails and a towbar with a choice of big heavy Pendle rack and Thule “scissor” rack.

The (bought last year) Passat has no towbar and a miserly boot but does have roof rails so I’ve been using my old Halfords square roof bars and Halfords roof bike racks (that look a lot like the Thule 532’s) to put two bikes on the roof and the two kids bikes inside when we’re riding as a family.

2 problems with the current setup for context:
1) With the boys now on 20″ and 24″ wheels their bikes are getting harder to get in the boot in one piece = more faff at both ends of the ride and the 24″ is really tight across the boot. There’s also less room for helmets/camelbacks etc. and if they ride through dog poo… I need them out of the car.
2) The old Halfords roof rack/bike rack combo rattles like no-one’s business and it doesn’t seem all that sturdy. It quietens down at speed (I guess airflow stabilises everything) but it’s pretty disconcerting round town. Everything is definitely done up properly.

So dilemma is either:
(A) New 4 bike roofrack setup (probably some Atera Giro AF’s with Whispbars or similar)
(B) Fit towbar and get a 4 bike Atera Strada rack.

Quick questions from me:
– Do all roofrack setups all rattle and bend like a rattly/bendy thing?
– Am I going to lose my mind trying to juggle four very differently sized bikes to fit on either of these setups?
– Do I (please say no) need some bloody hybrid of roof racks and rear rack

I need a system that’ll allow quick changes to what’s being mounted on at least one of the carriers. I’ve got an FS, road bike and hardtail so I don’t want to spend 20 minutes resetting all the bolts in the racks to switch between them.

I would like a van. I cannot have a van, it just does not work for us for the other 5 days a week.

At work, we use Ford Tourneos with both roof and towbar racks (all Thule).

There’s no rattling etc from any of them.

We have 6 carriers on the roof and we prefer to load that before using the towbar rack (unless it’s e-bikes).

The bikes we carry are all shapes and sizes. It’s easier to get them to fit on the roof (even if that means turning the bars) than on the towbar. Four is always a tight squeeze on the latter and often involves turning bars too.

I would have (I reckon) a proper roof bar mount for yours, and a boot mount for the kids

Tow bar is just superior, end-of. Easier, safer and cheaper to use. Prob costs more – fit and wire tow bar + cost of rack, versus cost of roof bars and rack, but this doesn’t seem meaningful in context of several thousands of pounds worth of car and bikes.

Horses for courses.. much prefer roof bars. Much easier to load different bikes on – you just put 4 racks up, bit of a faff initially to get them all facing the right way then you can load everything up. all you have to do is slide the wheel trays around if putting different bikes in different places. if there’s just 4 of you then you’ll probably put the same bikes on the same place each time and job done. Tow bars usually need more fettling time to get different bikes on.

Roof clearance is the biggest issue, carparks can be a pain now lots have height barriers and lots get driven into things… but you can do the same with a tow bar. That, being short, and having carbon bikes that don’t clamp are the only real issues i can see, and they don’t affect me – everyone’s needs are different though.

What Gary said. I have exactly the same issues as you with the added complication of a 5′ 3″ wife and an suv.

Got a towbar and Thule 927 rack fitted last week. Used it twice, and the ease of use, lack of worry and noise has convinced me its the best thing ive bought for a long time. Worthe remebering the rack is transferable of course if you change your car. Cost £721 fitted and wired into a Fors Kuga, of which half is the Thule rack.

I dont agree with Nick above – in spent an initial 20 mins getting 3 bikes on the right way with the clamps, took a photo and now its a 5 min job.

Having gone from wobbly boot mounted, to firmly boot mounted Thule, to Thule roof, to towbar Thule, I can safely say for us a tow bar rack with kids is superior in every way. Quicker to load, quieter, more efficient, more secure. As the kids get older, they load thier own.

Depends how you use it. Tow bar racks are better In some ways, they’re lower so easier to load as you’re not lifting bikes above your head, but not as quick to load as Thule 591’s as there is a lot of faff fine tuning the loading to you don’t get handlebars and pedals clashing. Tow bars can’t feasibly be left on permenantly as they increase the length of your car and render you’re reversing sensors useless. Conversely the roof mounted stuff Iis only really useful if you leave it on pwrmenantly.

I had both and used to roof mounted racks week in week out (fitted permanently), and the tow bar rack if going on a long journey where I could remove the rack at the other end or if out as a family for the day.

Like most things in life, there are always compromises that have to be made, you just need to decide where to make them.

I’ve posted this on a similar thread but check weights of everything for both scenarios and then double check your vehicle weight limits. Majority of time you can exceed these weights but they can have an impact on handling. 4 bikes you describe should be fine on roof or towbar but also factor in weight of rack(s)/bars.
I’m considering a towbar, I think the cost is putting me in a holding pattern though as it feels pricey (although I understand why it costs what it does).

Much prefer tow bar for bikes. Don’t like the thought of low things hitting the bikes.

Plus, it leaves the roof for my kayaks 🙂

Is storage space an issue? It is for us, and is one of the reasons we went roof – can just leave ’em on the car. Minimises both faff time AND storage space requirements. Even if we did take them off they’d be OK to store behind something, in the cellar as they’re flattish.

Additionally, they’re more versatile than a towbar option, e.g. if you want to use a roof box sometimes too.

To add to that, easier to get into the boot also.

PS all thule stuff for us, doesn’t rattle about, very stable with 4 verging on full sized bikes. We have a touran now, but I had the same 4 racks on an octavia and it was fine for that too, being similar sized to your passat. No bar turning or faffing was needed, for us.

PPS it all holds it’s value very well (either towbar or roofrack), so even if you don’t get on with whatever you choose, you should be able to get most of the money back (so limited risk)

– Do all roofrack setups all rattle and bend like a rattly/bendy thing?

Bend: yes, rattle: no.

– Am I going to lose my mind trying to juggle four very differently sized bikes to fit on either of these setups?

Different sizes can be good, as means the handlebars are in different places, but yes, first time you fit any given combination of bikes onto a tow bar rack can be quite tedious. One of the nice things about the Atera racks is the adjustable wheel supports, which means that once you’ve got it figured out, getting the bikes back on in exactly the same position is easy, and for any given combination of bikes, just take a picture once it’s done and it’s the work of a couple of minutes to get it back to where you need it.

I ended up with an Atera Evo 3 rather than a DL 3 as on the DL 3 the support arms don’t detach so you can’t change the order of the arms (and if you forget to thread the third support arm through the frame of the first bike you’ve got to unload everything to fix it).

Four bikes on the roof is much easier in terms of bike clearance. Just set them up in alternating directions, and make sure you get T-track bars so you can use the full width.

I do prefer tow bar racks, I just wish they were a bit more generous with clearance between bikes. You do also need to watch out of total weight, particularly for 4 bikes. The handbook on my car specifies a reduced towbar weight for bike racks as the weight is effectively someway behind the hitch, rather than directly on it.

Also, neither option is perfect for small bikes. With the Atera boot racks, the first rack is split and the gap is actually too big for the wheel base of my full size road bike, although it’s not a big deal as I try to mount the smaller/lighter bikes at the back. Roof racks tend to need a normalish down tube height.

Cheers all, good to get some different (if not coherent!) views.

I was all set to go the roof bar route when I bought the car but the hateful rattling of the Halfords set up (which to give it it’s due was bought on the cheap in about 2003) and the awkward clamping arrangement has been driving me up the wall now it’s in regular use!

I think the car has a 90kg “nose weight” limit, which is reduced by the leverage effect and 100kg on the roof. So should be safe on either (one up side to a big heavy Euro barge!).

I’m sort of tempted by the hybrid option of kids back, ours roof.

Faffing and indecision to continue for another day or two I fear. 😀

Thule 598’s on the roof, no rattles at all. I have 3 on permanently, all used 2 or 3 times a week. Car does 20k miles per annum. Racks just quietly are there when needed.

Previously had 3 Thule 591s on the roof and little ones bike in the boot. Little one now on 26″ wheels as well so when we changed the car we switched to an Atera Strada 3+1 tow bar rack.

No rattling issues with roof set up, though it whistled a bit at speed. Took a 5-10% hit on fuel with three bikes up top. Had one journey when I looked at the car park barrier in the rear view mirror and couldn’t figure out how we got under it. 😯

Main issue was loading the bikes on the roof. I have back problems, wife is 4’10”, Jnr tall and skinny with no muscle yet, which is why we went tow bar.

Much prefer it. The Atera fits easily, bikes go on securely and you soon get the hang of the sequence to load them. We turn handlebars for a better fit.

No impact on fuel, just have to careful of the length when reversing and booking ferry tickets. The sliding mechanism makes boot access a doddle.

Our Octavia has a 75kg nose weight limit. The rack is 15kg, but we have 3 bikes around the 25lb mark and the fourth is maybe 28-29, so within the limit. The front end can feel a little light with 4 bikes and a badly packed boot, but I’ve not wheelied it yet.

Not sure I’d go back to roof bars now.

Like most things in life, there are always compromises that have to be made, you just need to decide where to make them.

^^This^^ really, hence my current compromise is roof bars if loading everyone’s bikes plus luggage; the cost of a fitting a towbar, plus the available boot space and the couple of times a year we actually need it. Although I now find myself considering (gulp) a roofbox to add some options too…

If it’s just me, or me plus one other bikes will fit in the back with seats folded, three of us and its two on the roof, one inside…

But yeah, if upfront cost wasn’t a concern I would have a 4 bike towbar mounted rack over all other options…