Recently I changed my car to a new shape Vauxhall Astra and I’m hoping to use my old strap on bike rack but the edges of the boot are glass.

The rack has always had some strange black sausage looking things on the straps which, I’ve just discovered, are for wrapping inside and trapping in the boot so you don’t hook anything on the edge of the glass.

I’ve got it to fit but I’m not totally convinced it’s not going to break the glass and I can hardly keep up with the loan repayments as it is never mind a repair bill for the back window!

So, has anyone used one…? Was it okay…?

Cheers!

sL

Sold lose of those things, never saw anyone with a problem.

Do 80 ish all the time with them no problem

I used to use them as my old car had a fibreglass boot hatch.

I prefer them over the silly metal clips, so kept using them when we changed cars. They can’t physically fall out, so they are safer that the clips. I also used to pass the lower straps through the bumper supports, thread them back through their metal loop and then up to the rack, as the lower hooks used to always fall off as well.

You just need to make sure they are well inside the boot and shut it carefully, if they are too near the glass they can get trapped as you shut the boot, breaking the glass!

Plug your car details into the configurator thing on http://www.roofbox.co.uk and it will give you an idea of the sorts of things that are definitely compatible with your vehicle.

There’s no way of mounting a rear carrier on my car (other than via a towbar) because the bits that would be load-bearing are made out of trifle.