# Tandems on roof bars



## wuverley (15 Mar 2018)

Hello. I'm new here and after some advice. I've fairly recently taken up riding a tandem with my partner and although cycling round here is pleasant it would be good to take the tandem further afield. On the roof of my car, it's not big enough to get the tandem in it.

I've got some roof bars but don't fancy (haven't got much money) spending quite a bit of money on a tandem roof carrier.

Is lying the bike on its side and just strapping it to the bars a viable approach? How do you stop it sliding about? I'm up for a challenge but don't want to see the bike go flying off the roof bars if there is some sudden braking.

Has anyone here done it? Any advice would be welcome.

Cheers


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## Tim Hall (15 Mar 2018)

Creative use of bungees, plus a bit of handlebar twisting and maybe a bit of pipe lagging where it will do most good and you'll be fine strapping a tandem onto roof bars.


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## Bonefish Blues (15 Mar 2018)

It would be a bit of a struggle but doable. Set up an eBay alert for a Pendle carrier too?


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## Sharky (16 Mar 2018)

In the days before special carriers, we used to turn our bikes upsidedown and rest the brake levers on one of the roof rails, secured by a couple of toe straps. At the other end, the saddle rested on the other roof rail, with a sponge or beret to protect the saddle and another toestrap to secure it.

So could you use the same method just securing the front handlebars and front saddle and leave the rear saddle unsupported.


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## Heltor Chasca (16 Mar 2018)

Sharky said:


> In the days before special carriers, we used to turn our bikes upsidedown and rest the brake levers on one of the roof rails, secured by a couple of toe straps. At the other end, the saddle rested on the other roof rail, with a sponge or beret to protect the saddle and another toestrap to secure it.
> 
> So could you use the same method just securing the front handlebars and front saddle and leave the rear saddle unsupported.



You should be thanked for a great idea and a good excuse to purchase a beret.


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## Sixmile (16 Mar 2018)

What kind of car is it and what weight is the bike. A Seasucker rack might work.


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## Bikepilot (18 Mar 2018)

Hi, when I picked up our tandem, second hand, met the guys who fetched it off roof of his car which I think was a Golf Estate...he offered me a length of wood he'd made I think to extend a standard cycle carrier to fit the tandem...from memory if was over a metre long, about 5 cm wide with a channel cut in it so the bike was carried wheels down. I declined as if I ever move it I removed wheels, mudguards, rack and handlebars.


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## Dave 123 (19 Mar 2018)

We are very lucky. We bought our 1st tandem second hand, it came with a Pendle roof bar. We sold the tandem a year later to buy a new one. We sold the 2nd hand one for what we gave for it a year earlier, but we kept the Pendle rack!

It is solid, and worth the money if you can stretch to it. I'll happily sit on a motorway at 70mph (90 in reality)


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## wuverley (19 Mar 2018)

Thanks everyone. While I'm sure it would be easier to use a purpose designed carrier I'm becoming more convinced that strapping the bike frame to the roof bars is doable and reasonably safe... hopefully.
We got a bargain secondhand Thorn tandem and I can't stretch to paying nearly as much for a carrier. 

Thanks again


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## biggs682 (28 Mar 2018)

I have never tried to even lift our tandem on to the roof of the car as i can imagine it would take a fair degree of lifting and man handling , so my answer is to remove both wheels and remove the rear seats from our C Max and slide it inside , ok it means that only 2 of us can travel at the same time .

This idea works for us , plus its out of sight as well once parked up .


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## Alex H (28 Mar 2018)

With our first tandem, I put a couple of 2m pieces of 5cm x 5cm wood on to the bars.

At least that way there is no metal to metal rubbing while you're driving along.


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## swansonj (28 Mar 2018)

The Tandem Club website still has the Tandem Club Guide to taking tandems on cars. It was written in 2003 by some idiot with too much spare time and a missionary zeal to spread the word that you don't have to spend a fortune if you are willing to do some DIY. Unfortunately it is in their member-only section.


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## wuverley (9 Apr 2018)

I still haven't tried the tandem on the roof bars yet. But the day is getting nearer, I'm sure of it. Cheers


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## jongooligan (13 Apr 2018)

Been thinking about how to get our tandem on the car roof cheaply and easily. Cheap meant it would have to be a home made solution. Easy because we don't want to knack ourselves getting it up there. A bonus would be if we could come up with something that we could use to lift the canoe onto the car roof as well.

Here's a picture of the prototype.





The tandem is easily lifted onto the hooks and fastened to the frame using toe straps. It's then it's simply a matter of lifting the ends of the cross members and sliding the frame across the roof. The blue cord looped around the top spars is to prevent the whole thing falling towards you when the tandem is hooked on. There are more elegant ways to do this but I couldn't think of anything simpler.
Once the frame is on the roof it's then strapped to the roof rack using one of our canoe straps and the blue cord is slipped off. I've tried it and it works. It needs some fine tuning though. The pedals are perilously close to the roof and the handlebars are touching the windscreen so I'll need to add some thickness to the longitudinal spars.
I'll post another pic when it's finished.


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## Alex H (14 Apr 2018)

That's a wooden version of the Helton carrier.


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## Bonefish Blues (14 Apr 2018)

Alex H said:


> That's a wooden version of the Helton carrier.


OP's for it now!


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## jongooligan (14 Apr 2018)

Alex H said:


> That's a wooden version of the Helton carrier.



Mine cost less than the p&p on that one.

I've put the extra thickness on now to keep the pedals away from the roof. Means that the toe straps aren't long enough to fasten the tandem to the rack now but I'll sort summat else out. Trial run tomorrow I hope.


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## jongooligan (18 Apr 2018)

Tandem hung on side of car. Pilots seat/stokers handlebar unit removed and fastened to frame with toestraps. Front wheel also strapped to frame to prevent handlebars banging on the car windscreen






Tandem on the roof rack.




Easy peasy.


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## jongooligan (19 Apr 2018)

Shake down test this morning had mixed results. The rack is rock solid but the straps that hold the bike to the rack are incredibly noisy. The one you can see in the middle of the pic above vibrates at the same frequency as a hammer drill and is equally as loud at 40 mph. Back to the drawing board - U bolts instead of straps I think.


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## Oldfentiger (19 Apr 2018)

I hope you get it working satisfactorily.
I weighed up the options and won one of these on Ebay for £32 :

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/etc-...OD_M7_FVsbUvQhlMz4civF7Ydg_8X-1gaAn3qEALw_wcB

Ex-display with the end caps missing.
I bought the end caps and the kit for bolting the carrier to aero bars for £20

I'm hatching a cunning plan to help me lift the tandem onto the rack now, which will involve adapting a telescopic brush handle


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## Alex H (19 Apr 2018)

jongooligan said:


> Shake down test this morning had mixed results. The rack is rock solid but the straps that hold the bike to the rack are incredibly noisy. The one you can see in the middle of the pic above vibrates at the same frequency as a hammer drill and is equally as loud at 40 mph. Back to the drawing board - U bolts instead of straps I think.



That's what the Helton uses, not a full U more like a J. A couple of months down the line and you'll be saying the wood is too heavy and you want to change it to metal tubing


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## jongooligan (21 May 2018)

Bought some 300mm x 6mm stud from a well known DIY with some washers and wing nuts - total cost ~£6. Trapped the stud in a vice alongside a piece of pipe that is roughly the same diameter as the tandem frame tubes. Simply wound the stud around the pipe to form a couple of J bolts and slipped three layers of old inner tube over them to prevent them scratching the frame.
These J bolts now replace the straps that were vibrating so badly before.
They're not perfect as there's still a low frequency hum when the car is travelling over 30 mph. I've added some rubber washers to the set up and if that doesn't eliminate the noise I'm not sure where to go from there.


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## jongooligan (25 May 2018)

Rubber washers worked a treat. Done ~300 miles with the tandem on the roof this week with no problems. So with a very little skill you can have a tandem lifter/carrier for around £20.
Final picture showing hook bolt and rubber washer detail.


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## Bazzer (25 May 2018)

jongooligan said:


> Been thinking about how to get our tandem on the car roof cheaply and easily. Cheap meant it would have to be a home made solution. Easy because we don't want to knack ourselves getting it up there. A bonus would be if we could come up with something that we could use to lift the canoe onto the car roof as well.
> 
> Here's a picture of the prototype.
> View attachment 404111
> ...


I am not a tandem owner and have only ever risen one once, many years ago, but one solution to the weight problem might be a pulley or pulleys. (Assuming of course you have a garage with suitable joists you can attach them to.)
I have a car which had as an option a removable hard top.(Which is bloody heavy). Some members of the car club use pulleys to lower the top on to the car. Some have gone stage further and use electrical ones.


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## jongooligan (25 May 2018)

Bazzer said:


> I am not a tandem owner and have only ever risen one once, many years ago, but one solution to the weight problem might be a pulley or pulleys. (Assuming of course you have a garage with suitable joists you can attach them to.)
> I have a car which had as an option a removable hard top.(Which is bloody heavy). Some members of the car club use pulleys to lower the top on to the car. Some have gone stage further and use electrical ones.



Thanks for that @Bazzer but your assumption is correct, I don't have room in my garage for the lifting equipment. Apart from that, if I did have such a set up and got the tandem onto the car roof at home how would I get it off again when I got to where I wanted to ride it?

Anyway, if you read the thread you'll see I've got a cheap workable solution.


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## swansonj (26 May 2018)

I did a similar wooden frame to hold the tandem horizontal when we started tandeming (it was a wedding present). Then kids and trailers and further bikes and in due course a second child back tandem were added and alternatives were needed. I have been through three or different DIY solutions. I've just put it on the roof for a trip to the ferry this afternoon so here is my current solution.

It's basically a solo bike rack at the front and a vertical post at the back. The wheel channel of the solo is extended and bolted to a second wheel channel with spare bits of wood. The vertical post is a table leg from B&Q which is useful cos it's welded to a flange. The flange is bolted to a cut up plastic bread board. That is hinged to the rest of the breadboard so it can be folded down when the tandem is off the car. It's held upright by a sash window locking catch.

Fairly obvious tip: don't try to lift the tandem straight into position. Lift it almost horizontal over your head, locate the wheels in the channels, then hinge it up the rest of the way.


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## srw (26 May 2018)

This isn't going to be helpful for anyone in the thread, but it might be for someone else. I can highly recommend the following:

Buy a tandem with S&S couplings. They are a robust, easy-to-use, reliable, long-lasting way of making a tandem smaller.
Make your car a Ford C-Max. It's a reliable, economic, good value car with an enormous boot, but it drives like a standard hatchback rather than an estate or a minibus.
Don't have children.
I realise the last point is a little contentious!

Yes, I know that S&S couplings are expensive. However, given the choice I'd advocate saving money on the car in order to spend on the bike.

One of us can easily load the tandem into the boot on our own. There's then enough room for luggage for a week and both of us. At a pinch you can even get a third person into the car, plus their luggage, in reasonable luggage. If you pack carefully you can even put in a bike for them.


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## Bazzer (26 May 2018)

jongooligan said:


> Thanks for that @Bazzer but your assumption is correct, I don't have room in my garage for the lifting equipment. Apart from that, if I did have such a set up and got the tandem onto the car roof at home how would I get it off again when I got to where I wanted to ride it?
> 
> Anyway, if you read the thread you'll see I've got a cheap workable solution.



I saw you had a workable solution, I just offered a potential alternative. And with pulleys from a fiver upward, not breaking the bank if you had somewhere suitable to fit one or more to.
Yes you still have to get it off and back on again when you have finished your ride, but half of the lifting and potential damage to your car would be relieved.


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## JDR (27 Aug 2020)

It's no more Heath-Robinson than the Helton, it holds the bike lower, it's no more work to make than essential adaptation to the Helton - and it costs a lot less.


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## VJOCK (4 Sep 2020)

I have the altera tandem lift which does not seem to be available anymore. Roofbox do a tandem roof mounted rack for sub £200. 
i can see how you might use som scaffold tube and keyclamp fixings might work too


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## Gunk (4 Sep 2020)

I recon two cheap eBay bike racks bolted together would do a better job, they’re about £18 each, you would then have a long trough and two frame clamps.


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