Good Car Racks

dom17

looking to buy a rack for my hatchback,can anyone recommend a good one that will hold at least 2 bikes and not damage the paintwork

dom17

dom17 wrote: »

looking to buy a rack for my hatchback,can anyone recommend a good one that will hold at least 2 bikes and not damage the paintwork

obviously the paintwork of the bike its worth more than the car


anyone ??

Lumen

Some previous discussions here and here.

If you want to avoid risk of paintwork damage you might consider a hitch mounted rack.

dom17

Lumen wrote: »

Some previous discussions here and here.

If you want to avoid risk of paintwork damage you might consider a hitch mounted rack.

thanks lumen
i assume by hitch you mean towbar ? not really an cost effective option for me looked at the racks as a cheap option, but am worried about damage to the bike paintwork wouldnt want to damage my baby
(hope the misses and daughter dont see this)/I]

Lumen

dom17 wrote: »

am worried about damage to the bike paintwork

Ah, bike paintwork, sorry I assume you meant the car paintwork. I wouldn't worry about that - if you use the racks properly your bike won't get scraped.

Gunth

Just wondering if it is suitable to have the top frame of a carbon bike resting on a bike rack for a journey of 100 miles for example? Would the weight of the bike that is being supported by the frame damage the top tube in any way? I would assume that an Al frame would be more suitable to this type of transport?

Lumen

Gunth wrote: »

Just wondering if it is suitable to have the top frame of a carbon bike resting on a bike rack for a journey of 100 miles for example? Would the weight of the bike that is being supported by the frame damage the top tube in any way? I would assume that an Al frame would be more suitable to this type of transport?

You would assume wrong.

Carbon frames are very strong, and the stresses on an unladen bike are very low.

DirkVoodoo

Lumen wrote: »

You would assume wrong.

Carbon frames are very strong, and the stresses on an unladen bike are very low.

To back this up some more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrjId0-K-Ts

and this one (can't hotlink): Ridley design and testing procedure.

doozerie

dom17 wrote: »

looking to buy a rack for my hatchback,can anyone recommend a good one that will hold at least 2 bikes and not damage the paintwork

I use a Hollywood rack with my hatchback, and it has carried two bikes with no problems. I'm not sure which model of Hollywood rack it is though (or even whether they have more than one model for hatchbacks). The second bike butts up against the first, and although I'm not aware of any paint damage caused to one bike by the other it might be worth considering putting some kind of padding between them - pipe insulation/cladding works well as it fits around some of the frame tubes quite easily and fairly securely (depending on diameter of tubes, obviously).

A rack such as the Saris Bones is designed to carry multiple bikes separated from each other. It is a lot more expensive than some other racks, but might be worth it if you are really worried about two bikes scraping off each other. Having said that though, I haven't used a Saris and I'm not sure whether it will prevent one bike from swinging into the other during transit.

daymobrew

I have a Halfords rack. It was fine on my Golf and still works on my Passat.

I generally only carry 1 bike (a carbon one) and have carried it Dublin to Kerry a few times.
Just be careful putting it on the car :eek: