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After loading mine and the kids' bike on a Saris bones rack the planned afternoon's adventure had lost a great deal of its shine. Are roof racks any better?
Yep, my Thule 591is practically effortless. Works out expensive when you've got 4 bikes to carry though. And very expensive if you forget they're there when you pull into a car park.
I've got a 598 and it's teh shizzlenits. Or something else that means excellent.
A van is what you need - beats faffing around with racks.
Towbar mounted rack. Or a van.
Towbar rack. Other than a bit of faff getting bikes in the right order it's easier than a boot-lid mounted effort.
We've got a roof box & 2 Thule 591s on the roof, pretty effortless, though being a short arse & driving a Galaxy we carry a small step ladder in the boot.
But we bought a saris rack for the kids bikes, what a nightmare. Don't recommend them at all. Gotta save for a tow bar.
Depends on the bikes. For me different shaped bikes = roof rack. Even my cheap nasty Halfords pro ones can accommodate everything from 20" wheeled frog to dirty great 29r (no fat bike or plus bike tried .... yet).
We had a Pendle tow bar mount rack. Twice as long to load as roof bars. Main issue was bars clashing with seat posts or saddles. The only way to fit them tight was to turn bars or stagger the bikes so they stuck out wide of the car. Otherwise the inner was closer to the boot than I'd like and the outer lent away from the car. But bucket loads sturdier and didn't screw the fuel consumption in the same way as a roof rack.
With a couple of full sus it's a nightmare
Saying that I've got an MX5.....
That's one full sus 29er
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Really need to get a towbar for it, even if it's not type approved for towing - you can put a rack and bikes on it