- This topic has 15 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by mandog.
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4 bike carrier options
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tinybitsFree MemberPosted 5 years ago
Just about to get a new car, it’s a bit tall for Mrsbits to lift bikes on and off roof carriers so looking for a rear carrier for 4 bikes. Normally 2 kids bikes and 2 adult mountain bikes.
New car will have a towbar, so can use that to mount but doesn’t have too (although I think it’ll make things easier)
What’s good?hatterFull MemberPosted 5 years agoStock answer is the Thule VeloSpace XT 3 bike with the +1 attachment (or the older Euroclassic if you can find one 2nd hand).
Expensive but solid, easy to use, has all the features and can handle long wheelbases, kids bike, fat bikes, E-bikes etc etc so you’re pretty futureproofed.
Just make sure your new car can handle that much weight on the tow bar before you load it up.
tomtomthepiperssonFree MemberPosted 5 years agoI use a Atera Strada DL3 with a 4th bike add-on. Works a treat.
MoreCashThanDashFull MemberPosted 5 years agoAtera for us here – solid, strong, love the slide out to get in the boot.
Takes a few goes to get the bikes and pedals in the ideal combination.
garage-dwellerFull MemberPosted 5 years agoWhen you check your nose weight limit on your tow bar/car don’t forget to allow for the leverage of the bikes being behind the tow bar and therefore further from the rear axle. The further back you add weight the less of it you can add (i.e. you cannot use the entire nose weight). The 4 bike racks can put a lot of normal-ish cars right on the edge once that leverage is taken into account. Trucks and proper 4x4s generally have higher nose weights.
We went for roof carriers as a result as when we did an estimate of the loading it was a bit tighter than I’d like. The upside for 2 adults + 2 kids is only one set of bars to turn (and it’s even marginal needing to do that) and everything loads up in ten minutes.
matt_outandaboutFull MemberPosted 5 years agoSecond the comment about checking nose weight.
Thule Euroclassic here with +1 unit. Fabulous, solid, easy and quick to use.
Ours is ancient, was second hand and well used already, we’ve battered it every week since we’ve had it. Now wearing a bit, and the parts although available (unlike others), but by heck they are steep cost.
I’ve now a normal tailboard ziptied on as it was £20 compared to £110 for a new pair of Thule light units..fatbikeandcoffeeFree MemberPosted 5 years agoOk I have a mate with Atera and it is a good rack, slide is great but do make sure it is locked back in place tight so it doesn’t open when you drive off (and yes he did that!) and I’ve previously had the Thule x4 and with two kids and two adults its fine but you won’t fit four adult bikes on it was my experience. As it was three adults plus child is like Jenga! Yes the Thule kit is pricey but it is good and has great resale when you are ready to move it on.
Have you spotted those (I suspect pricey) roof bars that have a hydraulic assisted lift? Suspect pricey but might give you another option.
James
tinybitsFree MemberPosted 5 years agoI like the look of that slide out one!
The car has a 75kg towbar capacity and I suspect it’ll be used with max 3 bikes by mrsbits but the same rack could also be used on my car which has a 140kg(!) towbar weight capacity with 4 bikes.
pdwFree MemberPosted 5 years agoAtera Evo here with the 4th bike rack. Great bit of kit, but getting any new combination of bikes on can be infuriating. Once you’ve figured out a way to get them on, loading/unloading is very quick as the adjustable wheel supports mean you can get the bikes to exactly the same position.
One thing to watch out for is that the 4th bike adapter stops you putting short (kids) bikes on the 3rd rack. Also, the design of the rack prevents you putting a short bike on the first position too (my 56cm road bike is too short).
matt_outandaboutFull MemberPosted 5 years agoThe juggling of bikes is a first couple of times job (and again when you get new bike).
How many of you are using boost frames and forks on these racks?
I’m running into issues when I have my Marin (boost compatible), Norco Sight (thick dropouts), Radon Slide (thick dropouts, boost forks) and Whyte (boost front and rear). There just isn’t enough left/right allowance due to long wheelbase and short straps.christophert21Free MemberPosted 5 years agoi think bike rack companies here need to take a good look at themselves and mountain bikes and design a proper rack for proper mountain bikes!
long enough to fit bikes with a long wheelbase
enough space between bikes for boost
straps long enough for thick wheels and big tyreshow come in america there’s plenty of companies that cater for this but none if any here?
have a thule 929 3 bike that i picked up for a bargain 2nd hand. standard straps barely reach my large trek slash – so much so that there no moving the bike around to fit other bikes, where they reach is the only place it can go
3x boost bikes on there is a definite no no
i use it for 2 bikes, 1 on in inner then 1 on the outer with longer wheel straps that i boughthatterFull MemberPosted 5 years agoErrrr, you’ve pretty much just described the Velospace, which is designed for exactly that.
christophert21Free MemberPosted 5 years agofriend has a velospace and still can’t fit 3 large boost bikes onto it
garage-dwellerFull MemberPosted 5 years agoI remember this being debated before and I think the answer is that more of the American car market can take higher tow bar nose weights so they’re less restricted on spacings. Lots of bigger SUVs and Trucks.
For the european market the typical 50-90kg nose weight of a large chunk of the car market won’t be enough if you make a well spaced rack and put four bikes on it. The rack will be heavier and leverage much greater and it won’t be safe on a large number of vehicles in the market so not worth the cost of homologation/type approval.
Although a well spaced long wheelbase 2 bike rack ought to be doable.
iwluapFull MemberPosted 5 years ago+1 for the Atera Strada. Got one of these (including having to buy a tow bar…) after an off-incident from some roof bars – the bike survived with an astonishing lack of damage, but with this and the fact that Mrs W could. It lift bikes on to the roof, meant we needed a better solution. Used twice so far on 2+ plus journeys. Easy to fit and importantly light for Mrs W to hoy onto the car as well. A bit of trial and error when first putting the bikes on, but once it’s done, that’s the configuration for 2 adult & 2 kids bikes. The slide out feature is great, there is a reassuring click when it is back in place. Ordered from roofbox with the 4th bike extension, which was a bit of a faff to fit but now it’s on I can’t see it ever coming off! A solid bit of kit. In fact, my bit of “bike-kit” of the year!
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