Bike carrier for my car. - Which one !

[bomb]

Having had a my bike for about 3 x months now I want to get a carrier, so I can take my bike to more interesting places to ride.

I am wanting to get a roof mounted carrier, and have homed in on the Thule system.

But.....various people have differing opinions.....

Some say, get a carrier that fits onto the tow bar - my car does not have a tow bar, and I don't need ( or want) one, or the added expense.

Some say, get one that has adjustable straps and mounts on the back of the car. The car has a roof 'spoiler' at the tail end of the roof, and I suspect this wont be beefy enough to take the weight, without doing any damage to it.

Some say, The roof mounted ones have a tendency for the bikes to fall sideways and fall off, ( smashing the side windows on the way down !) Surely this must be due to incorrect fitting and poor securing of the bike to the specialist carrier frame ??

Whats your experience and advice please ?? I am reluctant to spend a shed load of money on the wrong choice, and need some help with decision making.

Thanks.

[Comacchio]

Thule ProRide 598.

Really impressed with mine. Feels solid and the bike felt proper strapped in on Saturday as I drove at 70mph with 55mph crosswinds, no sign of the bike going anywhere.

[Ares]

bomb said:

Having had a my bike for about 3 x months now I want to get a carrier, so I can take my bike to more interesting places to ride.

I am wanting to get a roof mounted carrier, and have homed in on the Thule system.

But.....various people have differing opinions.....

Some say, get a carrier that fits onto the tow bar - my car does not have a tow bar, and I don't need ( or want) one, or the added expense.

Some say, get one that has adjustable straps and mounts on the back of the car. The car has a roof 'spoiler' at the tail end of the roof, and I suspect this wont be beefy enough to take the weight, without doing any damage to it.

Some say, The roof mounted ones have a tendency for the bikes to fall sideways and fall off, ( smashing the side windows on the way down !) Surely this must be due to incorrect fitting and poor securing of the bike to the specialist carrier frame ??

Whats your experience and advice please ?? I am reluctant to spend a shed load of money on the wrong choice, and need some help with decision making.

Thanks.

I've had/have got all kinds. Rear strapped on carrier, tow bar, roof bar mounted.

My go-to carrier, and by far the easiest, is the SesSucker suction carrier:

[bomb]

Thanks Gents. The sucker style - I am unsure that is suitable for our car. Its a DS3 Crossback, and has a lovely flimsy roof and a hatchback style tailgate. I dont think its suited to that shape of vehicle, by the looks of how it is mounted ( cleverly !) on your car.

I think i will be favouring the Thule, unless someone can convince me that its rubbish ( which I am sure will not happen).

[MB140]

I have Thule 598 x 2 (sorry no photos), can’t rate them high enough.

One piece of advice. Pay the extra for the matching lock set. Saves having to have a shed load of keys on a key ring.

[bomb]

MB140 said:

I have Thule 598 x 2 (sorry no photos), can’t rate them high enough.

One piece of advice. Pay the extra for the matching lock set. Saves having to have a shed load of keys on a key ring.

That's an excellent tip, so thanks for that.

[lufbramatt]

Been using 2 of the Thule roof carriers for 10+ years without issue.

For peace of mind I do always wrap a cargo strap around the frame clamp so that if the ratchet does fail the bike won't fall off. But I'm sure it would be fine without, it's never been loose at the end of a journey.

[anonymous-user]

The roof mounted ones are rock solid. It’s definitely not common to have them fall sideways and smash windows. If that has happened to anyone it will be user error.

The ones with straps on the boot lid. Just no - don’t even go there when you have better options.

I went the tow bar rack route because I drive frequently with bikes on the car, and just prefer them to be on the back instead of being a sail on the roof. Not necessarily a rational reason!

[gazza285]

I had a Saris Bones rack on my last estate car, as it didn’t have roof rails, never had any bother with it, even if it did use straps onto the boot lid.

Latest car has roof rails, it is easier to fit the rack, but it is also more difficult to fit the bikes onto the rack, so swings and roundabouts.

The rear mounted rack was not as noticeable as the roof mounted, the wind noise is very loud at cruising speeds. The fuel economy was less affected with the rear mount as well.

[Tim O]

I always used a pair of roof mounted Thule 561 carriers, front wheel removed and bike clamped on the front fork dropout. Rock solid, even at speeds in excess of 100mph.

Be careful of the roof mount design that clamps on the frame (with both wheels fitted). At high speed I’ve seen them get ‘speed wobble’, potentially damaging the frame where clamped..

As above, don’t faff around with boot mounted rack held on with straps.

Seasucker always gets rave reviews, certainly worth a look but I’ve no personal experience.

For convenience, ease of loading and fuel efficiency, tow ball mounted racks are probably the best. By chance, new car has retractable tow bar fitted so I’ll be going this route, I think.

Edited by Tim O on Tuesday 3rd November 08:25

[mikecassie]

I just sold my Thule bike racks to a lad who had the Halfords roof bars on his car, so you might not need everything to be Thule.

I have a Thule towbar mounted bike carrier which is spot on for my needs. I can't praise Thule highly enough and if there are any stories about bikes falling off, it'll be the user that's the issue not Thule.

And as someone else mentioned, get the keyed alike option, it didn't cost me anymore for this and does save a bit of faffing.

[lufbramatt]

Yep the T-bolt system for attaching the carriers to the roof bars is pretty universal, just have to be careful about the size as some OEM roof bars (BMW, possibly others) use a larger head on the bolt.

[Comacchio]

I actually have a towbar fitted to my car as well and have one of these:

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/bike-rack/towbar-bike-...

But prefer the roof mounted option as it allows access to the boot and also has the added bonus of not burning a hole right through a tyre and inner tube due to the bike wheel being too close to the exhaust on a particularly nippy back road....

[anonymous-user]

Comacchio said:

I actually have a towbar fitted to my car as well and have one of these:

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/bike-rack/towbar-bike-...

But prefer the roof mounted option as it allows access to the boot and also has the added bonus of not burning a hole right through a tyre and inner tube due to the bike wheel being too close to the exhaust on a particularly nippy back road....

Better Thule tow bar racks exist, that allow access to the boot. They also have integrated number plates and lights to remain legal, and protect your wheels from heat

[magpie215]

bomb said:

Some say, get a carrier that fits onto the tow bar -.

Some say, get one that has adjustable straps and mounts on the back of the car.

Some say, The roof mounted ones have a tendency for the bikes to fall sideways and fall off

Was it Clarkson talking about a Stig on bike carrier?

[PomBstard]

I’ve been using roof- mounted Thule Proride (591/598?) system for about 13/14 years with no probs. Many motorway kms with one or two bikes on the roof, even have the speeding ticket to prove their efficacy....

Remember to consider it a transportation system and not a security system. And, as said earlier, get all the locked set to the same key.

[Simes205]

I’ve had a couple few Thule rear racks.
The cheaper ones do tilt so you can open the boot you have to undo a couple of bolts.
It fitted in the boot.

I bought this one last year as it fits plus bikes plus all my family now cycle so needed space for 4.
It tilts but by the pedal underneath. Plus there is a form of security for the bikes.
This doesn’t fit in the boot of an f31.
https://www.thule.com/en-gb/bike-rack/towbar-bike-...

This one is also the ‘chassis’ for the 300L rear storage box.

Edited by Simes205 on Tuesday 3rd November 19:59

[anonymous-user]

Comacchio said:

I actually have a towbar fitted to my car as well and have one of these:

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/bike-rack/towbar-bike-...

But prefer the roof mounted option as it allows access to the boot and also has the added bonus of not burning a hole right through a tyre and inner tube due to the bike wheel being too close to the exhaust on a particularly nippy back road....

I prefer tow bar racks. Have a couple - one that allows hanging the bikes and another that's a platform for them (the platform doubles up to do lots of other useful stuff, too - like carrying eBay furniture purchases).

I'd always worry about a roof mounted rack, as I just know I'd go under a restriction, puncture the roof of the car and smash a carbon frame.

My next car will have 'bike rack preparation', which seems to be a cut down version of a tow bar specifically for bike racks, even though it looks like a detachable tow ball.

I've also done the 'burn through tyre' trick - front wheel of the wife's bike. Fortunately, the tyre was salvageable and I had fresh rim tape and an inner tube in the car.

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 3rd November 20:03

[bomb]

magpie215 said:

Was it Clarkson talking about a Stig on bike carrier?

Well, another twist to the tale - I emailed the Thule 'helpline' and posed the question of 'which particular equipment do I need to fit my car, as its not listed on your car guide', and they have responded by telling me that they cannot tell me as our car, (a DS 3 Crossback), has not been through their series of tests to ensure its suitability and reliability'.

I responded back by saying I was pretty sure I know what I need, ( and listed the items), requesting a quote and delivery price etc, but they e mailed me back saying they do not recommend buying any of their equipment as its not been 'tested' and they cannot tell me if the roof is strong enough.

Hmmmm. I did make enquiries at the DS garage where we bought the car and the manager sent me an electronic brochure showing details of the car with a roof mounted bike carrier, which looks suspiciously like the Thule one.

I am pretty sure the roof will be strong enough if DS show it in their documentation, and looks like Thule are being extra cautious about selling their kit for fitment to a car that not yet listed on their database.

Think I shall buy it anyway. What could possibly go wrong !

[anonymous-user]

I think most manufacturers use Thule as their OEM bike kit - the official racks in the BMW catalogue all look like kit I already have.