Can anyone recommend a bike carrier/rack to hold 4 bikes

mp31

After years of eating too much and 'thinking' about losing weight and getting fit ... me and the wife have decided to take up cycling.

We're getting some basic but decent bikes (Giant Escape 3's).

The two boys have bikes already so I want to get a bike carrier that holds 4 bikes and would appreciate any recommendations.

We have a Honda CRV (small 4 x 4) that's 10 years old (but no towbar) so the carrier has to be fixed onto the tailgate. I don't want a roof mounted thing BTW.
Note the glass of the tailgate lifts up separately while the door swings open to the side - dunno if that makes a difference but any suggestions would be much appreciated.

cdaly_

mp31 wrote: »

Note the glass of the tailgate lifts up separately while the door swings open to the side - dunno if that makes a difference but any suggestions would be much appreciated.

This might be a problem for a boot-mounted rack as these use hooks onto the top of the tailgate. These hooks would be hooking onto the top of your glass and would interfere with the glass seal and may put too much pressure on the glass itself.

Most racks are for up to 3 bikes. You might squeeze 4 bikes on but you're adding a good deal extra weight right out at the end. This could put the straps under too much pressure.

smacl

I got the Hollywood f4 rack which is fine for four bikes. We use it with a mens hybrid/cross bike, ladies giant, and a couple of kids MTBs. Most of the weight goes through the top straps, so this could pose problems on the CRV.

Getting four bikes on can be a bit like solving a rubics cube at times, and for long journeys I either take off the pedals on the bike nearest to the car off, or wrap them in a bit of old inner tube to save the paint work. (A lesson learnt from experience)

Lumen

I don't think there are any cheap and good solutions for carrying four bikes.

A roof rack is the gold standard in terms of looking after the bikes (until you drive it into a car park barrier), because you have lots of space to give each bike.

I have a towball mounted rack which is technically brilliant (e.g. slides out to allow easy access to boot) and it holds four bikes, but it was expensive and the bikes sit quite close together, requiring care to avoid handlebars rubbing frames (wouldn't be a problem if everyone had drop bars).

mp31

Thanks for the advice folks, I'm scanning ebay ads for suitable bike racks so hopefully will get something soon.

shamwari

Lumen wrote: »

I don't think there are any cheap and good solutions for carrying four bikes.

A roof rack is the gold standard in terms of looking after the bikes (until you drive it into a car park barrier), because you have lots of space to give each bike.

I have a towball mounted rack which is technically brilliant (e.g. slides out to allow easy access to boot) and it holds four bikes, but it was expensive and the bikes sit quite close together, requiring care to avoid handlebars rubbing frames (wouldn't be a problem if everyone had drop bars).

+1. Towbar mount is the route I had to go with our carrier. Some cars simply can't take a tailgate mounted one - in our case there's a small rear wing just over the top of the tailgate and the weight transferred through the carrier straps would eventually pull it off. Such towbar mounted carriers are expensive, as is the cost of buying / fitting a towbar. :eek:

browneire

+1 towbar. I use a boot mounted strap on type (forgive the innuendo). Even with the weight of 2 bikes it tends to distort the boot. My boot also tends to get scratched because the bikes end up very close to the car, this can be accidently when putting on or taking off the bikes or carry or worse still when in motion. At least with a tow bar, the bikes are a little away from the car and all the weight goes where it should.