Cycling marathons or cycling holidays rarely start at the front door. And if you need the space in the car for family, friends or luggage, you have to transport the bikes on the outside of the car. The decision as to whether to put them on the roof or at the rear is quickly made for some, as rear carriers are mounted on the towbar. If you don't have one on your car, you would have to spend around 500 euros just to retrofit one. Basic carriers for the car roof, on which you can mount a roof box as well as a wheel carrier, for example, are significantly cheaper at around 150 euros. One disadvantage of roof transport is that it is more difficult to load. Handling at lofty heights can be expensive if the wheel slips and dents or scratches in the paintwork of the car or wheel are the result. Loading and unloading the towbar carrier is much easier, with a grab rail facing the tailgate providing additional protection to prevent the wheel and car from colliding. Incidentally, fuel consumption increases by around 15 per cent with both systems, depending on the type of car.
We scrutinised ten hitch and five roof racks in TOUR 06/2012. You can find the video of our practical test of the bike carriers here.
The test results of these products can be found below as a PDF download:
- Rear carrier
Atera Strada Sport M2
Eufab Jake
Fabbri Bici Exclusive Deluxe 2
MFT Aluline
Mont Blanc Explorer 2
Paulchen clutch loader
Thule Euroway EuroClassic G6 929
Twinny Load Compact PA
Uebler X21 Nano
- Roof rack
Atera Giro AF
Elite San Remo
Fabbri Bici 3000 Alu
Westfalia Portilo
Mont Blanc Discovery
Thule Outride 561
Downloads:
download
Matthias Borchers
Editor
