Try a paddy hopkirk rack

Mate of mine swears by them

Andy

 

The Scoobie management must have found me worthy of the title of scooby regular now !
*Phil steps up a step on the ladder in life*
cheers Andy - I'll take a look

 

Hi there - when will I loose the title of Scoobie Newbie ? hmmmm - I'll give it a month then I'll complain ! hehehe
ok ok - I need to carry my Mountain Bikes around - just wondered if anyone has got one that they can recomend - I'll need to carry 3 at the most really - The only other thing I'm bothered about is that I dont want either the bikes or the car damaged - my Scoobie is a 4dr model btw - cheers big ears ! )

 

watch the paintwork though, can be a bit fiddly to fit I hear :-)

 

come on fellow mtb ers and scoobie owners need some help soonish

 

I've tried a boot mounted rack I was given - OK, but it needed padding between the support and boot-lid spoiler on a MY99 four door - earlier models with the smaller spoiler you could probably get away with. I was always concerned about the pedals scratching the boot etc etc. We tend to go two to a car and cram the bikes in with the seats down. Tight, but you can. Just.

I bike a lot, and as a general rule of thumb my mates and I have found roof rack mounted systems that clamp the front wheel (with the wheel out) to be the best, safest and most secure for when you hit the cafe after a long ride. The disadvantage is that all the $hit falls on your roof. Subaru do their own roof rack and cycle carrier, but I seem to remember that its based on the AutoMaxi system (i.e.cheaper elsewhere - Halfords?)which was the creme de la creme a few years ago (when I worked in the industry)and has the advantage that you can get different feet for different roof designs, e.g. gutters, built in strip like Scoobies etc.

The other alternative is the tow bar style systems, but you'd need a tow bar before you even look at the rack to go it. Cost etc etc.

Absolutely avoid the roof rack system where the bike goes on upside down with the saddle in a crappy plastic bracket. A mate wrote off a £1500 Cannondale when it fell off and was squished by a Volvo estate on a dual carriage way...

The only other thing to check if you go the roof rack route is that the system you buy will take your frame design. Some have a trough the wheels sit in and a braket that attaches and locks to the diagonal down tube. Many modern full-suss mtbs don't have one! At least not in the shape or angle the racks are designed for.

Hope this helps,

Andy

 

Philip,

Try shaving a sheep instead of ******** it and then glueing this with cold gravy to your roof and bootlid. This layer will ensure that no damage is caused to your panels

[This message has been edited by sunilp (edited 30-01-2000).]

 

hey cool idea Sunlip ! not where are you mint sauce ? *baaa baaa*

 

Oh bugger it - I think I'm going to make my own ! - Then I can flog them to you lot - cheap you understand

 

I asked a similar question to this several months ago and came to the conclusion that a roof mounted system was preferable to a boot mouted rack. After investigating the costs etc. I decided to buy a Thule system. These are available from Halford but as the mounting system is made up of several commponets which are specific for the Impreza it is highly likely that they will not have all the components in stock. I Ordered mine and they were in within a couple of days. Had no problems with it and I use it on a regular basis.

If you are intending to mount mounting bikes with an over sized frame I would not opt for the cheaper Halfords bike rack, which can be mounted on the Thule system as I have found that it is akward to load the bike.

If believe that Thule have a website

 

I've got an STi so with an aluminium boot there was no way I'd even consider a boot mounted rack.

I got the Thule roof mounted one and it works well. I've got bars that locks onto the roof, then carriers that lock onto the bars and lock the bike frame to the carrier. Both wheels stay on and there is an arm with a 'claw' thing which locks around the frame (Tour 510). It only takes a minute or so to load or un-load the bikes.

I've also got bars for my wifes Jeep and a roof box, all equipment has the same key - the lock barrels are interchangeable.

If you order them from a specialist (I got mine from a local bike shop) then you can get them to match all the locks from new otherwise its about £7 per lock.