Bike rack for Discovery 3 Land Rover
 

Hi.

Looking for a bike rack for my land rover discovery 3. Just want to be able to transport 2 adult cycles on the back.

Can get the two kids bikes in the back of the car no problem, but no chance if getting ours in there too. Want to start venturing further afield now the kids are a bit older.

Any advice or options you know of ?

Cheers.

A hitch-mount rack is ideal. That's what my family members use on their discos. There are a number of manufacturers, but you may want to search craigslist.

Lots of choices. I recently got a Saris Thelma II hitch rack which works well supporting the bikes by the wheels. Depending on your bikes, you may want the type of rack that supports the bike by its wheels rather than suspends them from their top tube. Some bikes don't have top tubes and/or if you have really nice bikes you may not want the top tube getting abraded or otherwise damaged.

Thule Express 970 Vs Thule 5301
 

Been looking at the Thule racks. My LR has a Tow Hook as standard so that´s a good option for me to use. Last night I did quite a bit of searching and the base Thule model would seem to suit my needs... We will only be doing very short distances, no actual car touring, so I think a light one should be OK - The "Express 970" looks amazing, has anyone got one of these ? Would love your thoughts - It looks perfect except for the point you mention Looigi, I am a little bit worried about the hanging bikes swinging to and fro (and potentially into each other) when accelerating, decelerating - The cross bar is supported fair enough,and I am not too conerned about that as there is rubber protection much like on a Mechanic Bike Stand, but will the bottom of the bike not swing - There are no fixed struts to stop this and that is concerning for me, as I said before would love any Thule client feedback on this point !

The other one of interest to me is the Ride On 9502, this comes with a light board attached too so would resolve the issue of Mr PoliceMan getting unfriendly, I guess using the Express 970 would just have to have a separate light/plate board to be sure.

I have to say, I think I would be more comfortable with the bikes being supported by the wheels rather than hanging, although for the short distances we will be doing (10 - 15km only) maybe it is over-kill. I would prefer to buy this one if the swinging could be confirmed by someone, obviously with the 9502 there will be no swinging as the wheels are fixed as well as the frame, but it is a much bigger unit (and more money lol) which is a concern for storage etc.

Decisions decisions - If anyone has either model, or similar options, would love to hear from you.

Those tow hooks are total euro weirdness...from the US North American perspective anyway, where hitches have square receivers that accept a variety of couplings.

Your concerns about swaying to and fro when accelerating or braking are well founded, though it's not much of an issue driving sedately over short distances. When I used racks like these, I'd sometimes use a section or two of pipe insulation strategically placed to pad the bikes and use a bungee to steady them. Once you have the rack, you can swing the bikes and see what you think is needed.

People are saying not to worry about the swaying, I am very reluctant to believe that. As you rightly said, my bikes are my pride and joy and I really don´t want them contacting together, I think some fixed arms between the bikes and one between the first bike and towbar mount would stop this, but no-one seems to sell the arm clamps separately, which surprised me.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=226791
Good idea on the pipe insulation. Cheers.

Receiver-type rack. Can use it on almost anything.

+1, get a solid receiver frame mounted, then you can get a bike rack to fit in it,
or a trailer hitch, and a small enclosed box trailer to keep them both dry and secure.

then, even get an open trailer, instead of a big pickup truck.