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I've got a mate who is just getting in to MTBing and needs something to carry bikes on his car.
He lives in a flat with underground parking so roof racks are not an option and his car is a lease so fitting a towball is out too.
Car is an Audi A3 3dr hatchback (natch!)
Most of the hatch bike carries look pretty insecure, most seem to use a mix of flimsy straps and prayers to the biking gods to keep them from falling off.
Saris Bones looks pretty sturdy though, anyone have any experience of it or other suggestions?
Ta
Rich
Saris bones is supposed to be the best boot option
Rich, fancy a biking return to the shire soon? We've some pretty good stuff at Fairlie now.
Greg.
I have a Bones that I used for a while on a Mk4 Golf. quite secure, although I did add a ratchet strap to stop the bike from swinging.
Using just to two "hands" of the carrier on the top tube will allow the bike to swing no matter how hard you do them up...also make sure you add some rubber or towel to the feet that contact the car as the standard feet will scratch the car.
overall it it a good product that I had confidence in when my bike was attached.
Halfords Hi-mount is pretty secure and gets the bikes out of the way of the number plate and lights.
Lower racks will require a lighting board to be legal, otherwise when someone crashes into the back of the car writing off the bikes they will have a legal get-out from liability.
I've got a Saris Bones.
Good rack but the feet have scratched the car's paint a bit.
Gonna need to t-cut it and the wife is making little felt boots for them to stop it happening in the future.
Have a Saris Bones 2, nice and secure. Mine has 3 attachments, 2 for top tube, 1 for seat tube. This holds things nice and firm, but as said a bit of protection is needed for the car and the bike. Need to strap the front wheel to the frame to stop it moving. Once on, it is solid and you can open the boot easily (not with the bike on, obv). It folds away nice and quickly, and there's harldy anything on it to rust.
Thanks Guys
Greg, Yes mate, I'll need to come down and check out the Shire again
They all look flimsey but do seem to do the job. I had a high mount one (possibly the Halfords cheapy) and it was fine. Key is that the straps have a hook or stopper the other side of the hatch that prevents it all falling off, and you have rubber stuff to stop it scratching the paint. Was a lot of faff fiddling with the straps though.
Stopped using it when I got a car that had glass up to the edge of the hatch and the straps would put pressure on the glass. They're not recommended for use with this kind of hatch.
Since then I've been paranoid about theft from racks or people seeing several £k of bike on the car and following me home, so bike goes in the car now and I got a boot liner instead.
Pendals Strap On rack is pretty good, bikes can be mounted pretty high too, avoiding the need for a lighting board.