Bikes and Cars.....
 

Hi,

I wasn't sure which forum to ask this question, so I'm trying here....

It would be handy to be able to carry four bikes on my car for a family outing.

I've got a rear carrier that goes on that tailgate and might carry 3 bikes at a push.

I've also got 2 or 3 manufacturer's roof bars that I haven't fitted yet.

Any ideas on safely attaching cycles to roof bars ?

Should I:

a) get a larger rear carrier (I don't have a tow hook)

b) try to fit all four bikes on the roof bars

c) put two bikes on the roof and 2 on the carrier

d) none of the above ?

Answers on a postcard please....

TIA...

:)

Good quality roof racks are very safe. On my last car I had a Yakima two tray fork mount style. I drove to many out of town events with the bike on the roof at highway speeds (75+ mph) with no problems.

I've got 4 racks on the roof (Yakima setup) of a 2dr Ford Focus, so it can be done. Two face forward, two face backward, but all fit.

-R

It sounds like you already have an investment in a rear carrier and roof bars. I'm not sure what you mean by getting the roof bars "fitted". If you have bars and towers and only need the vehicle-specific clips to fit them, that sounds like a good option. Then you can invest in one or two bike mounts for the roof rack and still use the rear mount rack. Roof racks work great as long as you can lift the bike on - tougher on some sport-utes or with a heavy bike.

One a separate note, I use a roof rack for our tandem and a single bike. I have noticed that with the rack and the bike on the car, I lose at least ~3-4 mpg. I'm only looking at the computer on the car and haven't really done a long trip and actually calculated mileage - something to think about with fuel around $4.00 gallon. I'm curious what others have seen and if anyone has actually done a more quantitative test.

Is it possible to carry 4 cycles on a rear carrier - non tow hitch mounted ?

TIA....

I've seen 4 bikes on a rear carrier.?.?.?.?.?. or i would mount 2 on roof and 2 on carrier.