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The risk with the thule clamping system is side-to-side movement though. It has a sort of collar thing that is designed to prevent it moving down - but it still relies on clamping force to stop side-to-side movement. They say you have to clean the ball of any grease before using it for this reason.
I have a Thule "cheapie" from Halfords. It cost £140 ish and holds 3 bikes. I've had it for a couple of years now and it is ACE. Easy to fit and stashes easily in the boot when I'm riding. On my wife's Suzuki SX4 I didn't notice a change in fuel consumption but on my Honda Civic there is a big difference. Car shape must be a factor as to how much the economy is affected. As for security, I just use normal bike locks to secure the bikes to the rack. My tow ball does have an anchor if I wanted to lock the rack to the car, but not done so far.
Riding up in Fort Bill the other weekend I got 3 bikes on the rack, one bike inside and 4 people in the car - a Honda Civic!
Highly recommended. I think it is the Ride On 9503
I am the biggest paranoid when it comes to bike security and I was quite happy to leave my Pitch Pro on Peterpoddys Thule towbar rack for 2 hours in the middle of Ambleside on a weekend. I used a long cable lock with a huuuge padlock, with the padlock threaded through a hole in the towbar mount. And you could leave it on as well.
Makes zero difference to the fuel economy as well, at least with an estate car. I could imagine a saloon or hatchback's mpg suffering a bit but nothing compared to the 10-15mpg difference a roof mounted system makes.
My mate bought one of these last night...
http://aistoncycleracks.co.uk/
4 bike version.. looks absolutely bombproof and price is fraction of that of Thule.
>> Tow bar mounted racks are very convenient, and keep the crap falling onto
>> the roof of your car, but they make a big dent into your fuel consumption...
> Yes, but no more so (probably less) than having them on the roof.
Nope; a towbar rack provides a significantly more drag than a roof rack. I own both, and the difference between the two is palpable. As a simple exercise to demonstrate why, next time you ford a river with your bike, check the difference between placing the bike in the direction of flow and then across. 🙂