[Closed] Boot mounted cycle rack vs Roof?

If only 26” and 20” then rear mounted should be fine on the golf. I upgraded to a roof rack as having two 29er enduro bikes on the back of my golf on a clip on rack just made it too wide (significantly wider than the side mirrors).

With rear mounted tow ball carriers the best way is two bikes on a three bike rack. Most manufacturers don’t seem to realise that fork legs will be right next to rear swing arm which means you have to wedge stuff all over to prevent any damage which annoys me. Can’t comment on the saris add when I went to try one it didn’t fit my full sus so we sold it. Things to consider with roof rack is what if your wife wants to take your son alone. She may struggle with lifting it that high if her upper body is anything but I still prefer the roof option. Just don’t forget and drive under a car park barrier.

If you have a tow bar, go for a tow bar rack. If not then roof. Look at Thule stuff from somewhere like roofbox.co.uk.. Proride carriers are easy to use. Worst of the bunch are boot mounted. Although saris ones are secure, my one bent the metal of the roof lip at the top due to the load and tension on it.

For many years i put tow bars on every car, and very happily used them to mount bike carriers. But my current Golf estate is the first time I went with roof mounted Thule racks.

I really like that I still have easy access to the boot with the bikes on the roof. I love that I can lock the bikes onto the roof and go for as coffee without the need for an extra bike lock. I love that I don’t need an extra number plate.

I always stress about driving into a car park without checking the height is ok.

I'm with Yak on this.

Also unless you have a towbar you will not have the requisite lighting socket for a lighting and number plate board. Boot racks are a menace for this generally, i.e. obscured lights and plate.

Atera and Thule do great roof racks and bike carriers that are easy to use and load. If your car takes 120cm clamp around roof bars (i.e. has raised roof rails) let me know as I've got a set of aero bars and carriers here that don't fit our Smax (previously fitted our Passat) that haven't yet made it to the classifieds or ebay. There didn't seem to be much point under lockdown rules.

In the interests of honesty/disclosure we now run a towbar rack. Since our cars always have a towbar it makes sense economically and now we have a people carrier it saves a long stretch up/need for a step.

I have both.

Depends how often you bike. I go at least weekly so used to leave roof bars on all the time as they are a faff.

They make annoying wind noise and use extra fuel in normal use.

So now I've gone tow bar mount, 2 mins to stick rack on. I expect it will be annoying not being able top get in the boot properly. So fully loaded trip might see me use the roof again.

tl:dr get both.....

^^^ many towbar mounted racks have a tilting option to allow boot access..

If you're keeping the car for a few years I'd go towbar rack, so much easier to use on a regular basis. You can get the bikes loaded easier, don't have to worry about height restrictions (car parks, low bridges, the fast food drive-thru on the way home) and fuel economy doesn't take a big hit either. You can get racks that tilt away from the boot and fold away small enough to be stored in the boot so the old issue of convenience is lessened. Security-wise a long cable with a padlock can go through all the bikes and through the towbar, harder to remove than the roof bars which can be levered off by anyone who doesn't care if they damage your roof.

Looking for a cycle rack for my new gear cycle and I'm confused between roof rack vs boot rack. Thanks everyone for the insights. I think I will finally go for boot rack as loading and unloading is much easier here... considering the size of my car. With roof rack I have to clean the car roof regularly. Also, I guess it will be very noisy while driving.

Tow bar rack is first choice IMO.

Followed by roof.

Having used boot strapped racks for years, I won't be going back to them. They are a pain to get tight enough, damage car and bikes over time, easy to obscure lights or number plates, you cannot get into the boot.

Tow bar mount everytime. It’s so much easier and sooner or later you will drop the bike on the roof because your cold or it’s muddy. We bought a 2 bike one designed for dh and ebikes as it holds the bikes further apart

Boot mounted is fine provided you don't mind seeing your precious bikes slowly slide off in your rearview mirror with nothing whatsoever you can do about it.

Had a towbar one on y old cat and roof on the new. Towbar was loads easier to load/unload (didn't sideways have muddy footprints inside the rear doors...) Had less impact on fuel and noise as well

Word of caution -we bought a Saris ex3 for my wife's car as it was the only one that would fit it, however none of our 3 bikes would fit it due to shock locations, frame shape etc!

Now on various Thule racks, but going to have to buy a new one as the 598 won't fit with the bottle cage on either of my bikes. Grrrrr.

I've had both. As said before depends how much you use it. For occasional use the roof racks. Just leave them on, can load and unload more quickly and conveniently than tow bar where you have to faff about staggering bikes to avoid clashes, with some tow bar rack brands you will have to remove pedals or rotate handlebars to avoid clashing with modern bikes with boost hubs, but with roof mounted just bung on the roof and attach and you're good to go. Much more leeway to stagger racks to avoid clashes and no restrictions on parking as length of car not increased - though keep an eye open for height restrictions! Tow bar rack is a PITA to fit and remove...they're heavy, you've got to store them somewhere, not really feasible to leave on all the time due to inconvenience in parking etc.

For occasional use especially on long journeys the tow bar rack wins out.

In 10 years of using roof mounted racks I have never ever dropped a bike or even come close to dropping, or caused damage to the car. And I used them with an SMax and I'm only 5'9" so was a good stretch for me but never an issue.

I've just moved from 4 bike thule roof rack to the supposed very best towbar rack the Thule Velospace.

It's far harder to use, a faff to load on the car and to store in a shed. Threading the arms through adult and kids bikes is a pain in the 'arris.

The roof rack loaded bikes on and off in seconds and other than a dent in mpg which was irrelevant in all the other costs of motoring, biking and family life there isn't a negative.

Can't wait to chop this car in and go back to roof mounted.

Having used boot strapped racks for years, I won’t be going back to them. They are a pain to get tight enough, damage car and bikes over time, easy to obscure lights or number plates, you cannot get into the boot.

I was here too, til I got a cheap one of these, addresses all of the points that you rightly call Matt - Wee bit of heli tape at 4 outer points is common sense to address marks. Same clamps as the Thule tow racks, and takes a 2.6 tyre no worries.

I have since changed vehicles, and no longer have a need for it, if anyone wants one and lives in West Of Scotland, gimme a shout.

With rear monted carriers on estates/hatchbacks - beware if you have a rear wiper that automatically starts when you engage reverse gear with the front wiper activated.

ive got 2 of the clip on racks the standard one and the one with the rails for the wheels as above.

you wont be lifting the boot lid easily with bikes on. especially the one with wheel rails as its so heavy. i prefer the standard one tbh.

roof racks are the devil.

Hmmmm.. a fair bitt to think about as I'm in the same position.

Mostly once a week, one bike, but in summer maybe 2. The only downside is my car is kept on the street and the chances of the roof rack and carrier still being there after a week is minimal.

@Nobeerinthefridge - our last boot rack was a Thule / Halfords Advanced High mount rack, it had the solid metal straps and clamps. We to used helicopter tape. It was the best by a long shot - I think the big difference was not using nylon straps.

However, my towball rack is just better in every way....!

I've got a Saris and it's a pain for some full suss. I can manhandle 2 onto the 3 bike rack using the downtube then add extra straps... next car will definitely be a boot mounted.

I've got slide bars and roof mount thule racks. V easy to use on a standard height car but was far less useful on the old Mitsubishi SUV. Can get all 4 family bikes on if needed alternating in direction. Mainly used to facilitate the odd MTB trip away from local hills and road miles when we visit friends and family (pre cov) and I want to squeeze a ride in.

Negatives are this is a v heavy set up and needs two to lift onto the car (less of a problem now eldest son is a bit of a unit) and it's a big old unit to store (I store it with the racks on the bars as re-connecting it all bit by bit on the car takes ages). MPG takes a hit even with no bikes on so you have to judge faff of removal/re-fitting Vs how likely am I to use it over coming weeks. Same as rear mount though in that respect.

Aye, towball mounts are better Matt, I just bought it cos it was half price and I wasn't gonna keep the civic long enough to justify a towball.

Went back to a van, better than a towball in every way 😉