4 Bike carrier

[magnatom]

I need a bike carrier. At the moment it is just me in the family who cycles, however, with the kids growing fast and my wife showing an interest (after she has our next child in January of course!) I'd like to get a multiple bike carrier so we are future proof.

We have a Citeon C4 Picasso Grand 7 seater (just as well with two kids and another on the way) which has attachments for a roof rack. However, I am not sure that this is the answer, as the car is quite high and so it probably would be difficult to get the bikes on the roof. I am considering getting a tow bar fitted (£280) and this carrier suggested by shuan looks like a strong contender. (I want to get a 4 bike carrier).

Am I wrong to dismiss the roof rack idea? Also what other bike carriers would people recommend?

 

[ChrisKH]

No I think you're right. I have the roof rack and get sick of lifting bikes on and off. Very difficult to fit the middle bikes as well. Wish I had a tow bar now.

 

[magnatom]

That's what I thought. Although my wife is quite capable, I'm not sure how well she would get on with a roof rack...

 

[magnatom]

I'm probably going to go for a tow bar carrier. I was just wondering, are there any covers you can buy that can cover bikes, on a carrier if it is raining and the roads are grotty?

 

[bonj2]

I need a bike carrier. At the moment it is just me in the family who cycles, however, with the kids growing fast and my wife showing an interest (after she has our next child in January of course!) I'd like to get a multiple bike carrier so we are future proof.

We have a Citeon C4 Picasso Grand 7 seater (just as well with two kids and another on the way) which has attachments for a roof rack. However, I am not sure that this is the answer, as the car is quite high and so it probably would be difficult to get the bikes on the roof. I am considering getting a tow bar fitted (£280) and this carrier suggested by shuan looks like a strong contender. (I want to get a 4 bike carrier).

Am I wrong to dismiss the roof rack idea? Also what other bike carriers would people recommend?

i've got an atera strada (but the two bike one, not the 3) and it's bombproof. Very, very good quality.
Thule probably is as well, but the benefit of the strada is better security - the straps are metal-cored and you need the key to undo them. Wouldn't leave it on there for ages, but no-one's just going to whip it off and walk off with it in a few seconds.

the mounting thingy has a bit of a knack to it - you sort of pull the handle down till it clicks, then "jiggle" it about a bit (this is where the knack comes in) till the hood flips down, then push the handle down hard to lock the hood over the tow ball. but once the hood is down and the handle is down securing it, and the hood is no more than 3mm or so above the top of the tow ball, it's mounted on and ain't gonna come off.
www.roofbox.co.uk were very good customer service when i bought mine - first one i had i broke the mounting mechanism, spoke to a woman there and she said a few people had had problems with it adn it was a known problem, design fault that had since been fixed, and they just replaced it and even picked up the old one from my work.

they are expensive but you get what you pay for.
Advantages over a roof one are it's easier to put the bikes on and off it (this is also one of the advantages of it over a standard strap-on-to-boot one) and you can go under height-restricted barriers e.g. car parks.

 

[bonj2]

another idea is to have two bikes on a tow bar rack and two on the roof.

 

[bonj2]

only problem with the one he then talks about is
"Its only cosmetic and 'entry level' off-roaders are for having fun anyway (not admiring), so it doesn't really bother me, but I don't think I'd like to carry an expensive road bike this way."

they do knock against and scratch each other.

 

[magnatom]

Hmm. More food for thought. Thanks Bonj. I'd thought with the pipe liner I might have been able to protect the bikes, but that might not be good enough. hmmm.

 

[bonj2]

Hmm. More food for thought. Thanks Bonj. I'd thought with the pipe liner I might have been able to protect the bikes, but that might not be good enough. hmmm.

it might - it's more than likely that you'll be able to put pipe liner on in such a configuration that it does protect all the bikes. But you've got to consider how long it's going to take you to put it on in that configuration as well as loading all the bikes on.
Loading bikes on those non-wheel-support racks is a bit like a chinese puzzle at the best of times. You've got to juggle them and faff around such that handlebars/saddles, and cranks, don't get in the way of each other.
My personal advice would be a two-bike strada, and two individual bike roof carriers.
Then when it's just you, you use the strada, as it's the most easy to use. When the kids go as well, you can put their bikes on the roof, as they're smaller and easier to lift up there.

 

[bonj2]

alternatively in JE james they sell bike trailers, they can carry about 8 bikes. the sort they have for the uplift service at places like cwm carn.
I'd link you to it but when you search for bike trailer, all you get are trailers that a bike pulls, rather than trailers that a car pulls that bikes go on...

 

[magnatom]

it might - it's more than likely that you'll be able to put pipe liner on in such a configuration that it does protect all the bikes. But you've got to consider how long it's going to take you to put it on in that configuration as well as loading all the bikes on.
Loading bikes on those non-wheel-support racks is a bit like a chinese puzzle at the best of times. You've got to juggle them and faff around such that handlebars/saddles, and cranks, don't get in the way of each other.
My personal advice would be a two-bike strada, and two individual bike roof carriers.
Then when it's just you, you use the strada, as it's the most easy to use. When the kids go as well, you can put their bikes on the roof, as they're smaller and easier to lift up there.

Aye, I was starting to think like that. At the moment, it's just me and possibly the oldest boy who need the carrier. It'll be a couple of years until we need more bikes, so a 2 bike strada might be the best option. Not cheap though!

 

[grhm]

alternatively in JE james they sell bike trailers, they can carry about 8 bikes. the sort they have for the uplift service at places like cwm carn.
I'd link you to it but when you search for bike trailer, all you get are trailers that a bike pulls, rather than trailers that a car pulls that bikes go on...

Like this one - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BICYCLE-TRAIL...66:2|39:1|72:1688|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

But it's bloody expensive - and its in East Anglia - states no postage and then says Scotland not included...

Not seen (not looked too hard) a commercial supplier of similar trailers.

 

[summerdays]

We are a family of 5, with a 4 bike tow bar carrier and the smallest 20" bike goes in the boot. What we will do when he progresses on I don't know. But I would assume that for a few years you should be able to get stuff in your boot? or would there be too much in the way of buggies etc - not sure of the ages of your kids.

It is a game of twister trying to fit all the bikes on with conflicting saddle heights and and handle bar heights - sometimes I think it would be easier to loosen then all and twist then around to get them to fit.

 

[e-rider]

An important point to note:

Towbars are rated with a vertical load limit of between 50kg and 70 kgs usually - 4 adult bikes and the weight of the carrier will probably exceed this unless they're all lightweight road bikes and the carrier is very light.

 

[magnatom]

An important point to note:

Towbars are rated with a vertical load limit of between 50kg and 70 kgs usually - 4 adult bikes and the weight of the carrier will probably exceed this unless they're all lightweight road bikes and the carrier is very light.

The nose weight on my car is 70Kgs and it will at most have two adult and two kids bikes on it on the carrier.

I'm in a similar position to Summerdays (or will be!) in that I will have a family of 5. However, at the moment the kids are small (one is still to be born) and I am looking to buy something that will do us in the future as well as just now. So as the kids grow and if the bikes get too heavy I could get a roof rack as well.

The more I think about this, the more I realise how expensive this is going to get in the future! I need a better paying job!