Transporting family, bikes and camping stuff

[KneesUp]

1 am I got to bed last night. 1am. And my conclusion? My roof bars made by Citroen for Citroen are fecked because they have a stupid design that lets water drain onto the only moving part - which is made of mild steel and rusts solid. Genius, Citroen, genius.

Incidentally I think the reason after market bars don't fit is that the gap between the mounting point and the glass roof (which sits proud of the metal) is too narrow for the 'feet' of the after market ones.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Not much to add, with the trailer, you may find it's easier to reverse with once it has some weight on it. Also sticking a flag in the back offside corner, so you can see what it is doing, is an option. Having said that I've always been useless at reversing a trailer so just unhitch and manhandle it. Works fine if it's packed right.

 

[User482]

Well it's nearly summer - time to cram things in to the car.

I'm just after a bit of input as to what you would do with the following list of equipment:

Citroen Xsara Picasso with a tow bar
A chuffing huge tent (fabric in its bag is the size of the torso of a very tall, very fat person and there are three bags of steel poles)
Two adult sized bikes (one with a stuck stem so I can't turn them sideways on to save space)
One 16" wheeled-bike
Camping paraphernalia - stove, tables, chairs - all that gubbins
Clothes, toys, shoes - all the other things people take on holdiday
A 5ft x 3ft trailer that needs new tyres (ones on look fine, but are c.20yrs old)
A roofbag (tent should just fit in it - will check later)
Roofbars made specifically for the car, but one of them has rusted and cannot be tightened up so will need new ones.
No bike carriers

How would you get everything on holiday? We have managed the bikes in the boot whilst going on holiday, but not with tent and camping stuff, so in theory if the tent fits the roof bag we could do it that way (albeit with quite a lot of weight up top - tent and poles is c.60kg) But that would mean buying new roof bars, and for about the same I could get new tyres for the trailer - although the trailer also needs a new numberplate (I've never actually used it - I bought it because it was a bargain - I've literally towed it 3 miles in total) There is no way we can fit the bikes and the camping stuff all in the car - last time we went camping I had to remove two seats as it was, and the only wheeled thing we took was a child's scooter.

So anyway, I'm bored at work thinking about holidays. So would you go for the trailer option or the roof bag option?

We have a c-max - about the same size as your car - for camping & cycling we do the following:

Roofbars & box - takes all sleeping bags, mats & travelcot
Towbar mounted bike carrier - to take two adult bikes & one trailer
Remove middle rear seat and leave at home, to give more boot space.

That way we can (just) get in all our cycling & camping paraphernalia (including a mahoosive tent).

Don't forget to pump more air in your tyres!

 

[steveindenmark]

I have just bought this trailer to carry our 2 bikes and we will probably sleep in it as well. I have installed cushioned floor and our bikes are fastened to the bike rack which goes on the back of the car but is strapped Inside the trailer. We can then use the rack on the back of the car when we get to our destination.

The trailer is made by Debon.







Steve