Questions about bikes, cars, tow bars, bike racks

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#3022486 17-Jan-2023 07:34

timmmay:
Thanks all. Any recommendations for bike racks, ideally ones with light extension built in?

I have Thule Euro something. I mostly like it but I don't like the clamping mechanism as it requires a little bit of tetris to figure out. It's fine with traditional hardtail bikes, but with full suspension it starts getting a little tricky. Again, OK if you are always taking the same bikes.

I have a three bike one but removed the middle row as there is no way I'd get three adult bikes on it.

Here it was when new

CokemonZ

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#3022504 17-Jan-2023 08:53

You might be surprised at what you can get to fit weird cars.

We have a Kia Carnival (Mini van) and were able to buy an off the shelf Thule kit with some extra brackets to fit it.

Takes 3 bikes, easy to put on and remove, and goes in the garage when not in use.

They have a configurator on their website which you can enter your model of car and it tells you what base unit and extra parts you need.

Trunk mount bike racks | Thule | New Zealand

timmmay

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#3022512 17-Jan-2023 09:21

Interesting, thanks. The Thule bike rack costs about the same as a tow bar and rack, and the tow bar will be much more sturdy, so will just do that. It's already booked now.

Handsomedan

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#3022530 17-Jan-2023 10:04

timmmay:

Thanks all. Any recommendations for bike racks, ideally ones with light extension built in?

I have one of these.

It's an older model one that I have, so will need to be upgraded at some point as bikes have gotten longer over time.

Works great though and we take the bikes all over the place from Auckland to wherever (usually Rotovegas or similar distances) with no issues.

https://www.torpedo7.co.nz/products/T7CATN9QT/title/quattro-towball-mount-4-bike-channel-rack

Quattro Towball Mount 4 Bike Channel Rack

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tanivula

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#3022643 17-Jan-2023 12:12

I've got one of the earlier models of the rack that Handsomedan linked - have had it for 10yrs if not longer now. Things I would do differently next time would be

pay a bit more and get a tilting one (so that you can tilt the rack with bikes on and get access to the boot). Not usually an issue other than the big road trips with the fam when you're fully loaded up.
look at a hitch mount (rather than tow ball)

@mudguard - have you had any issues/wrist slapping with your not official supplementary plate?

CokemonZ

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#3022692 17-Jan-2023 12:32

timmmay:

Interesting, thanks. The Thule bike rack costs about the same as a tow bar and rack, and the tow bar will be much more sturdy, so will just do that. It's already booked now.

True about the cost. I think I ended up importing ours from Australia for a ~30% savings.

Opinions on sturdyness are interesting. My parents have a towball one for their two bikes and it feels bouncy as all hell, but their car is fairly small and light so that might account for it, vs a large heavy minivan.

Anyway - I've moved away from using the rack and now have a towball and trailer that can carry 6 bikes and camping gear :) It did us several years of great service though.

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MikeAqua

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#3022697 17-Jan-2023 13:00

Another option you have is a hitch receiver. That's a ~100mm wide square tube, that fittings slide into and are secured with a pin.

You can get bike s racks that are specifically designed to slide straight into a hitch receiver, no tow bar required and they are very stable (Examples here - sorry about your wallet!) You may have to buy a hitch receiver as a package with a tow tongue, but you don't have to use it.

I have a hitch on my towing vehicle. It's great. When I'm not towing, I pull it out. That means there is nothing sticking out of the back of the vehicle to walk into. If my shins could thank me, then I'm sure they would.

And if you do want to tow something, you just slide in the tow-tongue. I use mine to tow >2.5T a times.

As others have said, whatever you do, get the wiring done at the same time.

Mike

timmmay

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#3022710 17-Jan-2023 13:12

Interesting again, thanks. A hitch receiver looks like it'll be more expensive again, I might leave that one for now. Yep I'm doing wiring with it.

MikeAqua

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#3022718 17-Jan-2023 13:34

timmmay:

Interesting again, thanks. A hitch receiver looks like it'll be more expensive again, I might leave that one for now. Yep I'm doing wiring with it.

You get what you pay for with bike racks etc and it's easy to end up regretting thrift.

I'd base my budget on what kind of trips you'll be doing ...

If you're simply driving across town, you can go lighter/cheaper.
If you're going open road to the boondocks and bouncing down a gravel road, you'll need something more robust and therefore expensive.
If you only have a couple of lightweight bikes you can go cheaper.
If you see 4 bikes and/or e-bikes in your future, you'll want something more substantial and easier to load.

Mike

timmmay

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#3022771 17-Jan-2023 14:55

We'll have one kids bike and one light adults bike to start with. We will probably end up with another adults bike at some point. All fairly basic models, nothing fancy. We'll be going around town, but in Wellington that means motorways.

MikeAqua

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#3022802 17-Jan-2023 16:02

timmmay:

We'll have one kids bike and one light adults bike to start with. We will probably end up with another adults bike at some point. All fairly basic models, nothing fancy. We'll be going around town, but in Wellington that means motorways.

Motorways aren't too bad because they are smooth and you don't have a gust effect from oncoming heavy traffic.

Mike

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pdh

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#3022851 17-Jan-2023 16:56

Just home from 3500 Km with 2 eBikes on the Thule tow-ball rack.
(Auckland - Molesworth - Greymouth - Roxburg - Christchurch - Home).

Bought it ten years ago - and over that time it's convinced me that paying the crazy price was a good decision.
The tilt mechanism has been worth its weight in gold.
The lights and supplementary plate have avoided hassles.
The locking mechanisms (rack & bikes) have prevented casual theft - but not much would stop an angle grinder.

It's a three-bike rack and has often carried three adult bikes.
Last week it had two eBikes and a non-E - all adult. No worries.
On long distances &/or super-bumpy roads, I pull the batteries out of the bikes to ease the load.
They're heavy suckers !
For in & around Auckland, I don't bother.

Many of the Euro racks have weight limits that are actually a result of Euro tow-ball/hitch regulations.
These can be surprisingly low - 65 to 100 kg.
So Thule (for example) builds more 2 & 3 bike racks than 4-bike ones.

Ge0rge

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#3022884 17-Jan-2023 17:42

pdh:
Many of the Euro racks have weight limits that are actually a result of Euro tow-ball/hitch regulations.
These can be surprisingly low - 65 to 100 kg.
So Thule (for example) builds more 2 & 3 bike racks than 4-bike ones.

This does make a lot of sense when you consider that the rule of thumb for vertical loading on the coupling should be no more than 10% of the trailer gross weight. 650 to 1000kg is quite a lot of (generally unbraked) load behind a car that may only weigh 1500kg itself.

pdh

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#3023198 18-Jan-2023 13:13

It's not all that hard to approach 100 kg of bikes + rack.
(Our full-suspension eBikes are 22.8 kg each - and the rack weighs 10+ kg.)

So don't assume that a bike-only load will allow a 'lesser' design of hitch on the vehicle.

Yes, the hitch doesn't have to resist 800 kg of trailer pushing forward in a panic stop /collision... but it does have to cope with very similar downward forces. Plus, as someone else pointed out, once there's a hitch on the car, the next guy's going to tow a trailer with it.

blackjack17

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#3023331 18-Jan-2023 17:34

Have used one of these tow bar racks for years. Hate it, takes ages to strap the bikes on if more than one, can't open the boot while it is on. The mountain bike with the kid seat fits badly. My wife got a new company car and we wanted to take it away on a holiday but the cost of a towbar was eye watering.

Put roof racks on and grabbed some second hand Thule bike racks off trademe and I can't believe how much easier it is.

Putting the bikes on takes seconds. We got three off trademe so put two on the work car (an SUV) and one on mine (station wagon). The SUV is slightly harder as you have to step up with the bike but still pretty easy.

Our bikes go on the roof, kids in the back, or on the tow bar rack (as a last resort).

Plus racks are very useful, kayaks, roof box, timber can just throw it up there.

Unless they are ebikes I would highly recommend roof racks over towball racks

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