[Closed] racks and women up top

Really? Are they also banning tow bar mount racks?

Banning as in not allowed to be sold, or not allowed to be used?

no, just strap-ons, which seem to suit women better

banning as in banned, illegal, no sell, no buy, no use etc

Why are they being phased out??

just strap-ons, which seem to suit women better

I think I'd struggle, because of my height mostly. I can lift my bike high enough no problem, but holding it out in front as you'd have to to get it on a roof would be hard I think.

Did a Health and Safety thing at work a while back and I know that the 'safe' weights they gave for women holding something up high and away from the body were a lot less than what my bike weighs.

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I used to be able to put both my hardtail and full suss on a Thule roof mounted carrier. However I changed to the 591 which actually sits higher on the roof rack. I now have a wooden step which is very secure so I can put them up there if I want to.

However, these days cos I am so anal about my bikes they are safely put inside the car 🙄

Oh and have had one fall off the roof on a dual carriageway which was terrifying.

By the way I'm 5'5" with very long arms!

My husband was taken away by the roof bike racks and got a couple, I'm 5'2in and have a VW Sharan! I ask you! It took 2-3 girls to get a bike up there and we're not fainthearted types but we had to climb onto seats etc... Not a convenient option, so I got a tow bar and a Pendle tow bar mounted and He can't thwart my riding now! 😆 And before anyone asks, yes, I can put the rack on myself!

Where did you get this info from iDave?

I've never tried this, however I struggle getting my bike over Stiles (cough).
So even with my height of 5' 4" and long arms I'm guessing it would be very hard for me without help.

Maybe they should come with a free orange box!

Don't they have anything better to do then ban bike racks?

Is it just strap on racks or ones that attach to the rear of the car using solid attachments? My old Thule clip-on rack held a bike more securely than any roof rack, you could bounce the car by pushing on the bike, but lots of racks with fraying straps tied on all over the place do look far more dodgy...

same as coffeeking - any source for this news? link?

I thought these sort of traffic laws were the concern of the separate member states & not EU wide

I can manage fine, takes 2 mins, but I'm 5'7" with monkey arms!

This could just be one of those scares that goes around randomly but I notice that a few other EU member states do indeed ban rear mounted racks, but I cant find a reasoning. Fairly sure that despite being quite a tough little nut, my other half is possibly a tad too small to get anything onto the roof of her car like that.

I bet you 10p this story is just your standard "EU is banning..." made up crap...

As for getting bikes onto roofs, I'm a really puny guy, and I can say it's not really strength, it's technique. I really struggled myself the first few times, but once you figure it out it's not really muscle work at all. Unless you have some monstrous DH bike I'm sure!

its not made up crap - its an eu directive and its on its way, I think in 2011

i've seen this in other industries I've worked in, new type approval comes in, law changes, old stock is worthless

I'd be interested in seeing that- if you google for it you get 2 relevant hits, this thread and a post on another forum stating that roof mounted racks are going to be banned by the EU 😉

can we have a reputable source for this assertion please.
Call me a cynic if you like but I was not persuaded by this

its not made up crap - its an eu directive and its on its way, I think in 2011

i've seen this in other industries I've worked in, new type approval comes in, law changes, old stock is worthless

banning as in banned, illegal, no sell, no buy, no use etc

Not possible, sorry. You can't retrospectively apply a law like that. If something has already been made, then they can't stop you using it. For instance, emissions laws change and a car a few years old might fail new standards, but they can't make you take it off the road, however much they try.
Older racks will be maufactured to some staadard or other I imagine, and the same will apply

I guarantee that if they have to stop making them, you'll be fine usng the one you already have.

That said, I wouldn't use one again and I can see why someone might want them banned.

Don't think it would just be females who could suffer...shorter guys or guys with shorter arms will also have problems...

You can't retrospectively apply a law like that. If something has already been made, then they can't stop you using it.

of course they can

5ft10guy and I always use a small folding set of steps to put bikes atop a cmax....I've hurt my back too many times to try it amy other way. I am always surprised by the number of people that see me doing it and say what a clever idea -)

We got a tow bar mounted rack - we were thinking about roof racks, but being that I'm only 5ft 2 we realised they'd be completely impractical!

Shouldn't be a problem from what I've seen!

The only reference I can find on Google is this forum... so...

no sell, no buy, no use etc

Not possible, sorry.

Nearly. No sell, no buy is easy to do. No use is trickier.

Really though, who will enforce it?

I think Dave just wanted to see how he could get a reference to womens racks up top and strap-ons in the same sentence.

Interesting if it's true.

There must have been hordes of citizens demonstrating against these racks outside their MEPs offices for this to happen. The EU is a democracy after all, isn't it?

We are still waiting for the link to further info on this...so it is still well and truly salted...give us the link to more info so we can have all the info you have and then still make our own opinions up.

you want a link to a a conversation I had with someone in the industry?

hmmm. now which button do I press?

oh well ,must be true. Someone who works in Halfords bikehut told him!

😉

you want a link to a a conversation I had with someone in the industry?

So it's just 'gossip' ............. is that what you're say ?

If legislation has been passed by the EU, reference to it, will exist somewhere on the internet. Where did your 'industry insider' get their information from ........ were they present at the EU meeting which took the decision ?

You appear to be surprised iDave, that people like a 'news story' backed by 'facts' 😕

That said, I wouldn't use one again and I can see why someone might want them banned.

Why?

Maybe it's to save the 'hard of thinking' out there from themselves? 🙂

Even if they were banned completley traffic laws in this country are never enforced anyway, you can pretty much get away with driving without a license, tax, mot or insurance, on the wrong side of the road whilst using a mobile phone/laptop and you've got little chance of getting pulled for it, i for one will still be using mine law or not.

The reasons behind it in other countries are that it blocks lights and plates and that strap-ons fall off too easily. I've always had a number/light board on mine but most do not, so I can see that reasoning.

yes, i posted something out of interest, based on what I was told by a small child sitting on the pavement close to a bike shop. i think if its true, which I've no reason to doubt, it has implications for short arses of either gender - which I'm not. something like this usually has a period well before legistlation whereby govt consult with the industry. maybe that's where whiff of it came from. you can keep your knickers on.

try driving through cheshire with a rear rack minus bikes - you'll see about enforcement then

What confuses me is that, AFAIK and I've not read into it deeply, rear mounted racks already have to conform to a few construcion rules and regs in order to be sold in the EU so it would seem odd to ban them now.

Where does one go to sniff out new rules, your MEP?

That said, I wouldn't use one again and I can see why someone might want them banned.

Why?

Well, present company excepted, how many insecure ones do you see? I Had to warn a guy on the M6 because his was falling off. It's just too easy to get the fitment wrong. Most people cover their lights and numberplate with them as well, and don't bother with a trailer board. That's why I can see them being phased out
Personally, I wouldn't use one again because they are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much faff, and I have a towball mounted rack and an estate car!

Ball mounted racks are lovely to use. However they do require addition of an approved towbar (£100+ fitting+ electronics, knocking on £200) AND then the carrier, theyre a serious cost.

Ball mounted racks are lovely to use. However they do require addition of an approved towbar (£100+ fitting+ electronics, knocking on £200) AND then the carrier, theyre a serious cost

Yep, true, and we have all that. It's worth it for the convenience alone. We use it all the time because it's so easy to fit and load up 🙂

Got to say that we aren't aware of any legislation to ban Strap On carriers. There was an attempt to create an ISO standard for testing all rear mounted carriers. This was mainly aimed at strap on carriers, because they have the highest risk of problems compared to the towbar mounted ones. I studied the proposed standard for my MSc thesis.

The standard never made it past the draft stage, there were too many conflicting opinions on what the test requirements should be. I would assume that somewhere in Europe someone is working on further legislation or standardised testing, which we would welcome.

In my research I concluded that the main problem is getting people to fit the racks properly and have a high enough level of concern about safety. You would be surprised at many peoples attitudes to such a potentially dangerous situation.

Whilst we are happy with the safety of our rack we are constantly looking at ways of making them safer to fit. I would definitely recommend a tow bar or roof rack if you are in a position to choose one because of the solid mounting point to the car.

Well, present company excepted, how many insecure ones do you see? I Had to warn a guy on the M6 because his was falling off. It's just too easy to get the fitment wrong. Most people cover their lights and numberplate with them as well, and don't bother with a trailer board. That's why I can see them being phased out
Personally, I wouldn't use one again because they are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much faff, and I have a towball mounted rack and an estate car!

Takes about 20 seconds all-in to fit, doesn't cover my number plate or lights and has never fallen off.

Oh and it only cost me £30.

Happy days.

I would definitely recommend a tow bar or roof rack if you are in a position to choose one because of the solid mounting point to the car.

Bring the price of towbars down and I'd happily buy another, but an approved towbar is vastly over-priced for what goes into it (I could, if it were legal as it used to be, knock up one that was within spec with a welder and some steel in about an afternoon for about £20 quid materials) - there's no reason why they need to be extortionately priced. The annoying thing is that if I bought an older car I could happily fit an unapproved lump of steel badly attached and still be legal.

My old towbar on my 205 was a serious work of over-engineering, I just went to town with some 5mm steel plate and 40x40mm box section, back of the car had never been so rigid!

blingbling - how do you get a rack to not cover the lights when rear-mounted? Images so I can have a go?

I've seen the rear-window mounted ones but I dont like having the bikes that high up balanced on my glass.

something like this usually has a period well before legistlation whereby govt consult with the industry. maybe that's where whiff of it came from. you can keep your knickers on.

So it's just a "whiff" now ? Earlier you suggested that it would be introduced in 2011 ....... in 16 months or so,
in other words.

And since you want to get all shirty about it, in answer to your question : [i]"hmmm. now which button do I press?"[/i]
I would suggest the "bullshit button" 😉

That is the biggest drawback to towbars and roof bars - they are an extra purchase on top of the rack. A lot of people do get put off by the cost.

Riding mate of mine must only be about 5'3" and she tried to lift my bike onto my roof carriers. There was no way in hell that she could manage it.
I'm only 5'6" so have to get the technique right or it is a bit of a pain although I have plenty of upper body strength to hoik (is that a word) it into position.

Her indoors is a bit taller than me & fairly strong for a girl, but she doesn't feel confident putting her own bike on the roof of my car (admittedly it's a Fireblade - only joking!) soI end up doing it.

I'm curious, the law says any towbar must be type approved. OK. But what if I just weld myself up a bracket that fits in the same location, does not have a towball on it and is only there to support a bike rack? It's no longer a towbar as it's not designed for towing/mechanical coupling of a trailer to the vehicle. The law doesn't prohibit me from adding brackets to my own vehicle.

And since you want to get all shirty about it

i don't give a shit to be honest, I'm 6'1"

you seem to be displaying signs of short man syndrome ernie.....

However, I'll pass on your views next time I speak to the person who earns a living in the roof rack business - they will no doubt welcome your extensive experience and incisive comment, should you ever develop any

you seem to be displaying signs of short man syndrome ernie.....

I'm half an inch taller than you mate 😀

.....and btw, I haven't expressed any "views" on the subject matter, however, in common with some other people, I was interested in the source of this information.

maybe you're just short in your mind then... they're the dangerous ones.... 😉

i passed on a comment made by someone in the industry, which i thought was of relevance to short people.

I didn't expect the spanish inquisition

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Spanish inquisition is needed, otherwise the internet becomes even more awash with rumour and BS!

*perv mode engage* This thread had the potential to be so much more. racks, women up top and strap ons, sounds like an ideal night in to me!*perv mode off*