Looking to get a towbar mounted bike rack. Min 3 bikes, ideally 4, with a tilt ability (ride on not hanging)
Any suggestions peoples? Currently looking at the Thule 9503 as an option but open to other ideas!
TIA
Thule older products, like 9503, put the bikes quite close together about 19cm, which is fine for roadies but not great for DH bikes with wide forks etc, as you may get some interference. Also older systems use straps to fix the frame to the bike, which takes time,
Frame clamps are usually provided on the newer versions but then some frames are not well suited, because of large sections and thin tubes.
Tilting requirements vary depending on your vehicle. If you have a van then you need a bigger tilt such as Atera, which slides and tilts.
If you haven't bought the towbar yet, there are lots of opportunities to save/squander money there too..
I asked a similar question recently- still not made my mind up as they all have pros and cons and I can't work out the best of the bunch (against what I want to/have to spend!)
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/towbar-racks-are-the-higher-end-thules-etc-worth-it/
Thule 9503 tilt mechanism isn't really a tilt as such, more of a 'bolt you undo' and then it pivots on the other bolt. It's actually that shite, they've a cheek to call it a tilt.
Decent enough rack otherwise.
I have a Thule G4 (or is it G5?) rack that I could possibly sell. I also have the 4th bike convertor for it. It tilts, holds the bikes by the top tube with straps for the wheels. It's in Leeds. Not sure of £££ was half thinking of checking Ebay for reference come the spring.
We use the 929 at work, on two vans. Both have the 4th bike adapter fitted. We never have any problems with them and we are doing hundreds of trips every year. The tilt works well. It's Ford Tourneos they are on, with the big tailgate, and they tilt enough to allow the door to open. It's tight though and might be an issue if you have wider handlebars.
Atera Strada is very very good, had Thule before and prefer the Atera (pricey though)
Thule Euroclassic Pro 903 with 4th bike extensions here.
Nobeerinthefridge is correct with his description of the tilt function of the 9503. However the 903 has a lever that lets you tilt the rack that lets me into the back of a Discovery 3 fairly easily.
The 903 was a lot more expensive when I upgraded, but it's quite a s****y rack and I'm very happy with it. Hopefully I'll never have to buy another one again!
I have a Thule 9503 and its a tight fit with 3 trail/enduro bikes, the forks will rub on the other bikes, even for lugging one bike around which it does mainly there are issues with my 29er being longer than the rack which makes loading a pain, it also allows the front wheel to pivot more which cracks the wheel holders. The straps are quite rubbish too, nylon pull and cinch ones, I did upgrade to some fasty straps but find these still come slighty loose on bumpy or motorway journeys.
Another member recommended Buzzracks, I a tempted to shortly sell my Thule and pick one up, they look well made and address the issues I have with the Thule.
The other option I am considering is the Scropion rack which holds the bikes vertically, but there appears to be some grey area about light boards and number plates currently.
Check out roofbox.co.uk
Atera Strada if you are flush
Buzzracks if you aren't.
Where abouts are you?
I'm selling a brand new Thule 9503 but would prefer collection - I'm in Devon
I've tried an Atera DL3, one of expensive Thules (G4?) and now have an Atera Evo.
All of them suffer from putting the bikes close together, so can be a real fiddle getting different combinations of bikes to fit.
The Ateras give much better boot access, thanks to the tilt+slide, plus better frame shape.
The Ateras have adjustable wheel chocks, which means once you've got a particular combination of bikes to fit once, it's very easy to reload.
The DL3 doesn't have removable support arms, which was a deal breaker for me. It's hard enough getting bikes to fit without having the arms in a fixed order.
You need to watch out for weight, particularly if loading 4 bikes as maximum weight for a bike rack clamped to the towball is lower than the max nose weight.
Don't know if you've considered it but before buying a 4 bike rack make sure your car can handle it.
4 bikes & the associated bike rack can add a lot of weight to the back of a car and it can be quite easy to push it over the nose-weight limit.
I've got an Atera Strada due to having an ebike so weight being an issue. It's pretty good, easy to adjust to different bikes with the sliding wheel holders. The support arm also attaches via a ratchet strap which makes things a lot easier for me because my down tube is massive. Tilt also works well.
I initially bought a Buzzrack as it's a lot cheaper. It's a lot more "agricultural" but I don't think that's a bad thing really. The way you attach it to the towbar is a bit more fiddly and takes a bit longer too, also not a big deal though. Reason I didn't keep it is that my bike is too long. At 121cm wheelbase I couldn't get the wheel straps to close. I could only just get them to close on my other bike at ~118cm.
I've got a Witter zx404 I think paid about 280. I'm not ure if they actually make this model any more but the 504 looks good as well.
It's a bit meaty (19kg I think) but fits 4 bike on well and is easy to put on the car as it's mounted to a flange bracket fixed behind the tow ball. Which also means its very sturdy. Obvs no good if you're using a removable or swan neck though.
The tilt mechanism is great though, just press a little lever with your foot and lower the bikes.
I can open the boot on my SMax with it tilted but do have to turn the handle bars on the outer most bike for it to go fully down if the car is loaded up with camping gear and other shit....
Sorry for late reply, been working away!
Thanks for input guys, will have a proper look later when I get back from the bro-in-laws
