Hi,

I’m at the point now where my kids want to go biking all the time (4 and 5) also my wife wants to join in. I currently have a Mondeo estate and I’m thinking of the best was to transport everyone and the bikes !

Can anyone recommend a bike rack? Or alternatively a good vehicle for chucking all the bikes inside.

cheers

Long wheel base van, with seats in the back & plenty of storage space behind them, or the likes of family friendly ford tourneo (other better version are probably available). Couple of friends have VW combo/Merc Vito/Vauxhall vivaro & if I had a family it would be my choice, great driving position too (I loves a transit).

Octavia estate and an Atera Strada DL 3+1 tow bar rack here. A bit of a puzzle the first couple of times getting bikes/pedals/bars aligned and twisted to fit, but the more you do it the quicker and easier it is. Been secure, and the whole rack slides away from the tailgate rather than just tilting, so great boot access.

Obviously, if I won the lottery I’d be looking at a LWB combi van, but in the meantime we’re fine

We managed for 15 years with our two girls with 3 different Grand Picasso’s and a trusty Thule 4 bike rack. Did thousands of miles most years including trips to the Alps.
Bought a LWB Tourneo Custom in a black Friday deal last year which will take four bikes without removing wheels and four adults plus the dog.
If you’re happy with the Mondeo then just get a tow bar mounted rack on the back and enjoy the biking with the family.
Family bike rides even now are the best

Crew cab van – and I’d say one with a bulkhead for comfort and security.

I use a Buzz Rack Quattro on a 53 plate volvo s40. Would recommend (the rack).

https://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/all-products/buzz_rack_buzz_quattro_tilting_4_bike_carrier_no_brp204/Qx%40w%2C6M4PHS%2CZGenkQvENtmU%2C2

4xThule 851 on the roof. An estate will make loading easier than my Honda CRV. Leave it on permanently. Add team car stickers to suit. Seriously it is just so convenient.

I’d stick with the mondeo estate and buy a trailer. If you put the back seats down 4 bikes will fit in the boot easily. Put the kids in the trailer.

As Tracey and others say, decent size car and either tow bar rack or 4 roof mounts.

I wouldn’t be buying a diesel van atm.

`We now have a van but for years did two bikes on the roof and two on the two bar on various estates, VW Passat and Golf, Citroen Xantia and C5 and a Merc. We went for this mix as could also do four big trail / downhill bikes and nothing felt over loaded.

Only issue with bikes on roof is as kids get bigger, getting heavy bikes in the middle proves hard.

Tow bar rack all the way. I got the thule 3+1 compact one, it fits inside the boot when bikes are off it for easy parking etc.

VW Transporter LWB will take 4 adult sized bikes fully built and allow you to keep the middle row of seats. if you pull out the single seat in the rear you can use the space to store bags etc..

Only issue with bikes on roof is as kids get bigger, getting heavy bikes in the middle proves hard.

It’s all a compromise, whatever you choose tbh. Tow bar racks are a pita to get 3 or 4 MTBs on without rubbing, and a simple rear end shunt could write off a lot of bike cash.

Roof mounted are harder to get to as Steve says, and mean taking bars on and off if you don’t want to leave em on.

Transporters are dearer than a kidney.

Family of four.

Passat estate and Atera roof carriers. It’s not that hard putting a full size bike in the middle position. A £10 folding stool makes it easier.

Unfettered boot access, on and off car in 5 minutes, four bikes with no bar turning or faff (regardless of which 4 bikes), can still tow if needed. Shit fuel economy though!

For those of you running four bike rear carriers have you checked the nose weight limit for your car and compensated for the leverage?

On my car the nose weight+ leverage effect is pretty tight on the limit for four, well inside on 3. No problem with a land rover but 4 out back will be over the limit for many mid size cars.

No family but I ran an old Alfa 147 with a roof rack permanently attached that loaded three full size adult FS bikes without issue and without any particular difficulty. The roof panel is quite small on the 147 as it tapers sharply in all directions, other less sculpted cars of similar size shouldn’t have a problem with four.

People mithered me about the supposed dire effects on economy of leaving the rack on, but honestly I would have been hard pushed to see it. Any difference there was was definitely within experimental error. Granted three bikes on top was noticeable but still only around 5mpg.

Agree that I’d be very cautious about deliberately buying an expensive diesel van right now for personal transport. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if they don’t become legislative targets and lose all value at some point in the next couple of years, needing commercial use to offset additional costs. Cheaper vans that you can afford the hit on are a different proposition obviously.

Slightly leftfield, could the Mondeo Estate not cope with adult bikes on the roof and kid bikes in what I recall being a cavernous boot with all four family members in usual seats for a couple of years at least to minimise expense right now and see how things are playing out?

Your Mondeo is big compared to a lot of vehicles. I’d stick with that for everyday practicality and stick 4 carriers on the roof, which is what I do albeit a different car. Works fine!

4x Thule 591 could be had for £260.

My pet hate is taking a wheel off to put my mtb in my large estate car so today I’m off to look at the new…wait for it… Ssangyong Turismo!

Huge, cheap and ugly with seats that fold to make beds whilst still leaving room for a couple of bikes with their wheels on.

I’m looking forward to sitting in a sea of faux leather and 2nd rate Korean plastics safe in the knowledge I’ve saved 30 seconds pissing about with my front axle.

With a 4 and 5 year old, sling their bikes in the mondeo’s cavernous boot and for two adult bikes it’s very much a personal choice whether you have a roof, boot or towball mounted rack.

Just get a lwb crew van, so much easier to throw bikes in the back rather than **** about with tow bar racks or roof mounted carriers. More secure too.
Vans just make biking easier and as a consequence you’ll do more riding 🙂

Aye, but the downside is that the days you’re not biking, its still a van.

And as above, future value and the potential hammering of Diesel is something that has to be considered.

As I said, everything is a compromise.

True, it depends on what compromises you want to make and your personal circumstances, for me a van is the best option.
My van is 17 years old so depreciation isn’t really an issue.

I got a 2008 Trafic Minibus with 9 seats and took out the last row of seats.
Loads of room for my 6 & 8 year old plus all our bikes etc.
The kids love travelling in it and my wife and I have even slept in it on an airbed when we’ve been biking.
I’d never go back to roof carrier etc.

Even when not using it for biking it’s great for shifting stuff and dump runs etc

I’ve had a Nissan Elgrand for 4 years, with 4 or 5 seated I can get 4 bikes and loads of kit in the back with wheels on the bikes. A half decent one will cost you £5k, very reliable but they like to drink fuel, approx 24mpg since I’ve owned it.However it hasn’t depreciated much if at all which offsets the fuel cost. Great comfy bus and miles better than driving a van. Here’s a pic of how much space is in the rear

I do 10-15k miles a year for work and 10k a year for personal driving, YMMV.

I had a Galaxy for 5 of us.
4 bikes on rack, one in boot (two canoes on roof). Brilliant thing, better by being more comfy, better mpg, cheaper tax than a van for day to day use. But huge to drive compared to car.

We now have V70 – even better day to day, even more comfy, better mpg and really cheap tax. But much smaller. We did this as we have a second car and eldest leaving home shortly. We occasionally use two cars. Four bike rack and roof mounted rack.

I’m jealous of a van, I’d have one for holidays, but cannot justify the cost and downsides for the rest of the driving I do.

Only issue with bikes on roof is as kids get bigger, getting heavy bikes in the middle proves hard.

When I go riding with the kids, my steel susser goes in the middle and the kids 24″ rigids go on the edge of our roof rack on the Jazz, which whilst not SUV high is certainly higher than a ‘normal’ car. Mostly because the kids bikes are identical and they can’t go next to each other (one day I’ll swap the middle rack around) but it’s also a good upper body workout. 🙂

someone needs to make one of those slidey out-and-down racks like you get a train stations, but mounted to roof bars

There’s no UK alternative to the 1up USA rack, is there? I’m new car hunting and a towbar rack seems the best option, I’ll be carrying 1 bike 90% of the time, maybe 2.

Every towbar rack seems to secure the bike via a frame clamp vs the wheel clamps on the 1up rack.

I’m jealous of a van, I’d have one for holidays, but cannot justify the cost and downsides for the rest of the driving I do.

What he said, and I’ve had 2 vans! Just couldn’t justify them, and the T5 LWB was 300 quid every time something broke on it, which was pretty much most months.

Not long back from Holland with wife n daughter, newest racks first run – one of those high mount thule numbers, basically fits onto the civics boot lid, no straps, all metal, and boot can be opened albeit the gas struts won’t hold it with 2 bikes on it.
Wee yins bike was stripped partially and in the car.

Very impressed with the rack, on and off as quick as a Tow bar rack, but I’ve no need for a Tow bar any more.

Thule do a tow bar rack for ebikes with a ramp so they can be walked on…not roof-mounted but there are some solutions out there.

As a solution to getting big bikes onto the racks in the middle – Thule do slidebars. I actually bought them when I had an MPV and they were no good on there as too high to load when slid out. So you either needed a step or what I did was ended up just leave them in place and stand on the car door sill.

Now I’ve got a lower estate car they’re great however. Just slide out lift bike on and repeat the other side.

Downsides are the bars themselves are chuffin heavy and not v aero so you don’t want to take them off once in situ but probably should for noise/fuel-saving…..