Hi,

I have a Scout arriving June / July time (hopefully) and browsing through the accessories brochure I see a picture of the Internal Bike Rack being used in an Octy estate. I have one of these and have used it in both a Roomster and Yeti, but I would have thought that the Octy would have been short on hieght, to be able to get a full size mountain bike in (in our case 2 mountain bikes).

Has anyone used this in an Octy estate?

Thanks,

Tony

After looking at the google image results, I'd be include inclined to agree that the octy wouldn't be tall enough. It also depends on your bikes of course. My preference has been front wheels off and the bikes lying on their side. I use a safebag, see roofbox.co.uk for info. It means the bikes can't be seen, ideal for a weekend away or the post ride coffee and cake, leaving the bikes in the car. Also if you crash, it's designed to keep it all together

I bought the Audi one "half price" at just over £80 not knowing that there was a Skoda one available. I presume it works the same way in that there is a board which drops into the empty spare wheel well. 2 connectors hold this to the front forks (one for each bike) and the seat post is removed to allow webbing to hold the whole lot down using retianing plugs inserted into the upright tube of the frame. Logoed (Audi in my case) bags then hold the front wheels.

When I collected the kit I thought £80 was a bit steep for what it comprises, so the original Audi price is just daft. The mounting board on mine measures 23" at its widest and is designed for an A6 so should fit into a Scout as there appears to be more headroom for my dogs in the Scout. (Not exactly a scientific measurement).

If this sounds like your setup, I'll try my bike (18" frame) and see if it fits OK. I think the height of the frame upright will be the critical bit as the 26" wheels will be on the (not quite flat) seat back.

I bought the Audi one "half price" at just over £80 not knowing that there was a Skoda one available. I presume it works the same way in that there is a board which drops into the empty spare wheel well. 2 connectors hold this to the front forks (one for each bike) and the seat post is removed to allow webbing to hold the whole lot down using retianing plugs inserted into the upright tube of the frame. Logoed (Audi in my case) bags then hold the front wheels.

When I collected the kit I thought £80 was a bit steep for what it comprises, so the original Audi price is just daft. The mounting board on mine measures 23" at its widest and is designed for an A6 so should fit into a Scout as there appears to be more headroom for my dogs in the Scout. (Not exactly a scientific measurement).

If this sounds like your setup, I'll try my bike (18" frame) and see if it fits OK. I think the height of the frame upright will be the critical bit as the 26" wheels will be on the (not quite flat) seat back.

Thanks for the response. Sounds like a different set up, to achieve the same thing, ie remove the bikes front wheel, lock the front forks into something and hold the bike upright. The Skoda set up uses an adjustable bar across the car that fits into lugs, and then this has 2 bars off this that has the fork locks attached.

Either way I agree, the height of the frame into the car is the critcal bit, if your 18" frame fits that would be great news.

I carried two adult medium size mountain bikes in the back using the carrier for a two week camping holiday last year. With the bikes upright, there is stacks of room for camping gear. The rack is well recommended, easy to fit and no rattles or squeaks on the move. It comes with a strap that goes round both seat posts and fastens to the bar that goes across the car with carabiners. You will need to lower both saddles on the bikes, but the handlebars clear the rear window easily. The only thing is that if you have a raised boot floor, this has to come out before you fit the bar across the car.

I carried two adult medium size mountain bikes in the back using the carrier for a two week camping holiday last year. With the bikes upright, there is stacks of room for camping gear. The rack is well recommended, easy to fit and no rattles or squeaks on the move. It comes with a strap that goes round both seat posts and fastens to the bar that goes across the car with carabiners. You will need to lower both saddles on the bikes, but the handlebars clear the rear window easily. The only thing is that if you have a raised boot floor, this has to come out before you fit the bar across the car.

Fantastic, that's just what I wanted to hear. I know the carrier is really good, as I've used mine in the Roomster an Yeti, but I was really concerned about the height difference to the Octy estate, so this is great news.

Just one follow on question, when you say 'medium size mountain bikes' any idea what the frame size is?

Thanks.

Mediums are usually 17" or 18", but how this is measured depends on the manufacturer - some are centre of botttom bracket to top of seat tube, some are to centre of BB to centre line of where top tube meets seat tube, and none are particularly accurate. I'd have thought it was the length of your forks that would be the restrictive part - it was when trying to put a bike upright in my last car, but this was a smaller car (Punto) with a long forked bike. Haven't tried in the Octy yet - will have a play this weekend. My cost saving thought on doing it was to remove the wheels, put a sheet of mdf in the boot, put the bike in upside down and secure it to the mdf with straps of some description (velcro?) around the handlebars and saddle. May not work in practice though!

If riding something a bit 'burly' winding the forks in is more important than frame size to get the bike to fit internally.

Before I 'saw the way' with roof bar mounted holders and then later the 'epiphany' of towbar mounted racks, we used to put our bikes in the Scout. Front wheels off, seat posts out, wheeled backwards in past the 1/3 spilt upright and then bungee'd in place, worked fine (apart from the odd bit of mud here and there). That was with a VBF too.

Niall

(Giant Reign M (18") - His, Giant Trance M (18")- Hers)

Just be aware that some forks aren't designed to be put in holders like this. They aren't designed to take the lateral movement you get going round corners and it knacks them.

If riding something a bit 'burly' winding the forks in is more important than frame size to get the bike to fit internally.

Before I 'saw the way' with roof bar mounted holders and then later the 'epiphany' of towbar mounted racks, we used to put our bikes in the Scout. Front wheels off, seat posts out, wheeled backwards in past the 1/3 spilt upright and then bungee'd in place, worked fine (apart from the odd bit of mud here and there). That was with a VBF too.

Niall

(Giant Reign M (18") - His, Giant Trance M (18")- Hers)

Niall,

Many thanks for the reponse, however I have to show my ignorance regarding 'winding the forks in'. Is there some mechanism for shortening the forks on some bikes or is this done by more 'heath robinson' means?

Thanks and regards,Tony

Has anyone any experience of carrying racing bikes like this , I'm guessing the roofline may be too low to do this in the Octy .... ?

Yes, there's a mechanism on some forks for adjusting the amount of suspension travel - not normally found on bikes at the lower end of the range. Some folk swear by it (helps with climbing to drop them down) but I can live without. It could possibly be done by more heath robinson means, but would most likely involve dropping the air out of the fork and clamping it down somehow, which is a) a ballache, b ) not the most sensible thing to do and c) probably not possible on a cheaper fork.

Agree about the clamping lateral movement comment - there's a chance the dropout (bit the wheel fits into) will crack and fail.

Racing bike in the boot? - easy with front wheel off and seat down I'd have thought - short axle-to-crown of fork takes away your biggest obstacle. Might need rear wheel off too? - not sure, I don't ride on the darkside!

Edited 17 March, 201115 yr by matt.will

Fantastic, that's just what I wanted to hear. I know the carrier is really good, as I've used mine in the Roomster an Yeti, but I was really concerned about the height difference to the Octy estate, so this is great news.

Just one follow on question, when you say 'medium size mountain bikes' any idea what the frame size is?

Thanks.

Sorry, but I don't know, the bikes are just size M. They are, however, about the same size as my road bike which is a Specialized Sirrus, size M which has a 54cm back tube and a 55.5 cm top tube. Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the responses, very much appreciated.

Out this weekend with tape measure in hand to measure up bikes and then to th dealers to measure up an Octy estate, to compare.

Has anyone any experience of carrying racing bikes like this , I'm guessing the roofline may be too low to do this in the Octy .... ?

You can get one or two on the roof

Anyone every try putting racing bike in octavia combi with the internal bike rack ?

With the internal rack can one back seat be left up so that there is still one seat as well one bike ?

Lastly, anyone selling one of these ?