Are these actually any good? Don’t have a tow bar available, no roof rack or slots to install one, have got one of those Saris ones that uses straps and hooks to latch onto body panels but I’m not keen on using that on a not-quite-so ratty car.
I’ve seen SeaSucker and Rock Bros so far. Are there any others out there? Is the SeaSucker worth the premium price? Any particular type that works better?

I took a punt on a cheap ‘rassine’ branded 3.5 years ago. Its a fork axle mount version. I think its sold on Amazon under a different name now.

I’ve used it on average twice a week across three cars since then and its been fine. The little suction pump seals fail – I’ve replaced two, but they all seem to be a standard size so I just bought whatever was on ebay for £10.

You can also have trouble getting them to exert the suction force when the rubber is hard in cold weather (mine is kept in the car boot) but keeping them indoors for and hour before use deals with that.

In use, its more stable than my old thule 591 setup and has stood up to 6 hour trips to the lake district.

I’m fastidious about cleaning the body panels and suction cups on every use to make sure my pride and joy doesn’t fly off down the road. To make this easier, I put together a little kit with a spray bottle and microfibre towel for cleaning and moistening the suction cups.

I’ve got no real reason to go back to traditional roof racks at this point.

RockBros worked well for me over past few years. No towbar or roof rack options for my car. Used it a lot at first but more often just chuck the bike in the van as sometime Mrs a11y needs the van. No reliability issues at all. Fairly stiffly-sprung car and used on bouncy B-roads. Got mine mounted between roof and bootlid (not rear window) due to car design.

Like @Scienceofficer, I’m also fastidious about cleaning the body panels before use – quick detailer spray and a microfibre. Good point about the temperature aspect before as I too store mine in the car at all times, hadn’t thought about that although it’s not been an issue for me to date.

Looks good. How are you attaching the front wheel to the frame a11y? Is it just velcro straps

Nice motor btw 👍🏼

Aye, velcro strap around downtube/wheel and another around seatstay/wheel. Despite the size of the car the boot’s too small to take a wheel and the rear’s full of child seats: half the boot’s taken up by the (sizeable 😀 ) fuel tank.

Pedal at the bottom, velcro or cam strap on the chainstay and downtube or top tube.

These days I put my wheel in the boot because my bikes get washed with a hydroshot immediately after the ride

I’ve had no issues with my Rockbros!

Used on my Porsche for a few years fine. I’m considerably more careful on the Lotus with fibreglass roof panels though. Also used on various mates cars so we can fit more people inside with bikes on the top.

I’m a lot more careful over bumps that rock the car sideways than I would be with a ‘proper’ rack. But yeah, must have used it over 100 times, including 6+ hour drives with no loss of suction or issues, other than one sucker that leaked from new and got replaced under warrnaty.

@scienceofficer have you got a link to the pump seals please?

View post on imgur.com

I’ve been using the double Rock Bros one for a couple of years now and it has been faultless.

Used in all sorts of weather and conditions and it’s solid.

I did consider a SeaSucker, but after reading user experiences with the Rock Bros, I decided to go with that as it’s a fraction of the cost.

Are these ok to use on panoramic roofs? Wasn’t sure if it would be an issue.

Sweet, I’ll give the Rock Bros a shot then. No panoramic roof to worry about.

Some nice motors on this site 👍🏼

@w00dster
I’d think so- depends on how well the glass in bonded into the car more than if the sucker will work. Most of the automotive adhesives are stronger than the materials they are bonding to though, so I expect thats no issue. I’d not worry about panoramic roofs, but sunroofs maybe be a bit more careful about.

As others have said, just make sure the glass and sucker are both clean and dirt free so as to not potentially haze the glass

Not pump seals, it’s the entire pump/plunger assembly.

Seema like as with many things they aren’t available at the moment.

I have Rock Bros 3 bike carrier.
initially it went on an X-Trail with the rear wheel suckers on a panoramic roof, the main rail of suckers was on the metal of the roof. no issues at all.
Now it is used only occasionally, for a single bike, on a BMW 3 series estate. Only minor issue is that i need to put the rear sucker in a certain place, where there is a reinforcing beam, otherwise the roof tends to flex, popping in and out round corners, over bumps etc. (that only happened on the first journey) Now i know where to put that sucker, it works absolutely fine.
best thing is how easy it is to put on and take off, and how little garage space it takes up when not used.

I use the cheap version on my 911. Tested to daft speeds with my Capra on the roof. Its fine.

I have a Seasucker, which gets used occasionally on my S-max, which has a full glass Panoramic roof. Ive done long (12hr plus) trips and had to add a little more suction to 1 of the 4 cups on my triple rack. Front wheels strapped to frames, and a variety of QR and 15mm axle fork mounts.

Mine has been in a bike bag when flying, which gets used on a rental car on arrival. Works a treat.

I’ve even fashioned up a rear wheel (thule) bar with a sucker at each end, to rest all the rear wheels on. With this, i can fit 5 bikes and a RoofBox on the roof.

Two bikes either side of the roofbox on Thule carriers, the SeaSucker just behind the Roofbox, with rear wheel ‘bar’ on the rear door glass. It’s crowded, but we went to the Pyranees without an issue like that.

@spicer I’ve just ordered a couple of spare pumps from AliExpress, if they fit I’ll post a link to the listing. £22 there about delivered for the two.

I got a single-bike Seasucker a few years ago. I’ve only used it a handful of times but it’s been great. Just remember to give the cups a little pump when you stop for a pee at the services and you’ll be golden.

Cheers all. Had a look at what’s involved and there are a couple of roofline creases on the car that I’m not certain the RockBros will be good with. The SeaSucker looks to be a smaller/narrower footprint do might have to be that. Anyone heard of/used Treefrog? They look similar to SeaSucker.

What car is it going on? My evora has creases along the roof, but I was surprised at how much of a crease the rockbros coped with whilst still sticking. (I ended up putting it at the back, away from the creases anyway so I could put the rear wheel on the spoiler instead of on the engine cover)

@dangeourbrain thanks!