Advice on carrying 2 bikes on car, please.

[phil m]

After a couple of years thinking about, the wife and myself are now both proud owners of a Raleigh Motus.
Not ridden further than the end of our road yet, but hope to get loads of use out of them this Summer.
I'll be sure to write a review when we've got some miles under our belts.

Even though we tried them before buying, I didnt appreciate the increase in length and weight compared to our old bikes. So carrying them on the car is going to be a bit trickier.
We've tried them with our roof bar carriers. They seem ok once up there, but getting them up is a 2 man job.

Had hoped to use our other carrier , back of car sort that straps on, so that we could put a roof box on the roof bars. But I dont think its up to the weight of 2 bikes. And the bikes seem much longer too.

So I'd appreciate any advice on carrying 2 bikes.

Currently we dont have a tow ball fitted to the car (a Corsa).

Thanks in advance.

 

[phil m]

Am I allowed to say we bought the bikes from Martin at the really helpful
e-bikeshop.co.uk in Farnham ?

 

[RobF]

The Motus should be a fairly standard length for a hybrid bike, although it may have been designed with a slightly longer wheelbase for ride comfort.

Two of those on a roof rack sounds a bit too much to me, but if you've done it and it seems OK then fair enough.

Tow ball mounted carriers are reckoned to be the best.

The weight of your bikes - minus batteries - will still be best part of 40kg.

Some cheaper twin racks are specced at 30kg total - a bit tight.

But pay £200+ and you can get one with a 40kg+ rating.

Roofbox is known to be a good supplier.

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/bike-carriers/bike-carriers-racks-range-towbar-mounting.php?flt1=43&flt3=&sort=&type=category&catin=435#filterform

 

[Wander]

Have you taken the batteries out before lifting them? Saves a few kg.

Personally I'd fit a tow bar to the car then get one of those Thule tow bar mounted ones.

 

[phil m]

For the roof we've got 2 of these Thule carriers fitted to the roof bars.
I hadnt thought about weight maybe being an issue for them. I guess with batteries off, the bikes are 20kg each.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Time to get a tow ball fitted!

You can then fit a Wilco towball rack, which is adequate. The Thule, Cykell, etc are brilliant, but expensive.

 

[Linfitter]

Time to get a tow ball fitted!

You can then fit a Wilco towball rack, which is adequate. The Thule, Cykell, etc are brilliant, but expensive.

I bought a Wilko tow bar carrier a while ago.

It consists of a frame with square channel outriggers with a set of holes in them. These outriggers hold a lesser diameter square channel which can be slid in and out of the bigger diameter outriggers to adjust for differing size bike wheel bases. The narrower adjustable channel has a hole near the end through which a spring loaded half ball shaped protuberance sticks out. The protuberance has to be pressed in to enable the small channel to be inserted into the larger one and when pushed in will lock at the first hole it meets where if further movement is required (which it will ) has to be pressed in again sufficiently to clear the hole. Doing this is a pain in more than one sense and so I made a tool to alleviate the problem. I got a strip of metal about 180mm by 25 by 4 and drilled and tapped some small holes in it that corresponded to the centre of those in the outrigger. I then screwed some small bolts in them filing the heads so that they fitted nicely in the outrigger holes. Now all I have to do when inserting the smaller channel is put it in the larger channel until it will go no farther put the tool in the holes squeeze it up to the channel and then push the small channel the required distance in, loosen the pressure on the tool and the protuberance will locate painlessly in the required position.

I can strip down the carrier and put it in the boot in no time at all. Building it back up is equally fast and and pain free.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this carrier but only with the tool. Buy one and you will see what I mean.

I had mine powder coated to match the car.

Linfitter.

 

[phil m]

Thanks for advice so far.
Looks like i might have to go for the tow ball option.

Seems to be various options for that too.

Any advice on which to get for a Corsa that currently wouldn't actually do any towing ??

 

[timidtom]

Currently we dont have a tow ball fitted to the car (a Corsa).

Thanks in advance. [/QUOTE]

Hi. From our experience of carrying ebikes and etrikes Thule is the way to go. You will need a towbar & electrics - shop around! Prices vary. We bought our first Thule rack at 60% new price on Ebay - a 916, if I remember. Then, when the trike joined us we sold that for what we had paid for it and bought its replacement at Halfords. Rock solid on the motor way and very easy to load by either of us - both now nearing 80. Good luck with your bikes & keep us posted!
Tom

 

[markrl]

As regards your Corsa I think you'll find that all of Vauxhalls OEM racks and towbars are also manufactured by Thule who supply GM Europe and most of the other big European manufacturers. I have a BMW roof rack and cycle carrier which is also made by Thule although branded BMW. The OEM kit can often be more expensive but not always. Its worth shopping around.

 

[marwigan]

I'd have difficulty lifting a 23 kilo bike onto the roof; two sounds very heavy - not least for the car; Solution ? maybe put the open frame on the roof, and the crossbarred one on a rear carrier; sure tow balll is best, but an 'old fashioned' strapped on carrier would work I reckon . n.b the Halfords 'cross bar' inserts - to mount ordinary female bikes are only specced < 10 kilo so i wouldn't buy [and bend ] one of those.

 

[marwigan]

The Halfords [distributed] 'cross bar' insert that i looked at will carry more, is it, 13/14 kilos perhaps? But certainly not specced for a 20 odd kilo electric bike; just to be clear , ta

 

[phil m]

Thanks again for replies.
Seems to be different options for the tow ball itself. Do I need any special type of ball? Or just what I would get fitted if I had a small trailer?

 

[Jimod]

Thanks again for replies.
Seems to be different options for the tow ball itself. Do I need any special type of ball? Or just what I would get fitted if I had a small trailer?

A standard tow ball fits the thule cycle racks. Just don't grease it. It clamps on well.

 

[Black Dog]

My car already had a detachable towball, and I think that's the best way to go, especially with a small car like a Corsa. I dread to think how heavy it is to lift the bikes onto the roof (and if your hand slipped ...), but on a towbar they are low and stable, and being behind the car a) you can keep an eye on them in the mirror, and b) they don't affect fuel consumption as much. We got the Thule 3-bike model from Halfords and I have to say it is very solid and easy to use. Only thing is that they are designed for 'normal' bikes, and our ebikes are bulkier than that, so it's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle getting them to fit together - cranks one way, handlebars the other, kind of thing. Really needs two people, one to hold and one to adjust and then fasten the straps. Definitely take the batteries off and keep in the car. With that done, there is still about 45 kg on the carrier, which is pretty much the limit. I would not like to put that kind of weight onto a strap-on type carrier, where the weight is on weaker things like door edges and so on.