Hi all,

i got a mountain bike a week ago after not sitting on one for a few years. Totally got back into the sport but now need to transport it all over the place. I've been putting the rear seats down and took the back shelf out, but this is a bit inconvenient and a pain to do every time I want to go somewhere. Plus it means i can't take more than one person and no luggage.

What's the best way to carry a bike on a twindoor? There seem to be various options: roof rack, boot rack and towbar rack (maybe even a trailer but that seems even more inconvenient).

I think roof rack so that I can whack on some skis in the winter, but has anyone had experience and where is the best place to get roof bars? Is the best place from a Skoda dealer? Or are non-skoda better? Realistically how much sould I expect to fork out?

Cheers

You won't get better value than this: http://goo.gl/p261x

I have two bikes and carry them on my twin door roof. I use Thule equipment as I find it very good quality and excellent fitment.

I use a standard square bar with Thule 530 cycle carriers. I have recently purchased a Thule wing bar for the longer driving holidays.

All my thule equipment is off eBay. It's expensive new and don't mind having secondhand. If you buy clever you can save lots on retail price. I got my full set up for approx £60!!

I wouldn't buy the skoda roof bars. They are not as adaptable as the Thule and are only suitable to the superb so therefor have limited re sale. My Thule equipment fits straight onto my wifes fabia (simply with different feet adapters, £8 on eBay)

thule csnt be besten in my opinion, Go for aero bars they look nicer and give off less wind noise plus theres,more options for accesorys

http://www.thule.com/en/Global

I went down the towbar route (fitted as a Skoda option when I ordered the car) with an Atera Strada 3 bike rack (with optional 4th bike extension). The roof rack looks a nicer solution once the bikes are fitted, but getting the bikes up there looks far more difficult than with the rear rack (we usually have 4 mountain bikes, not the lightest of machines). I've been very happy with the bike rack solution, no regrets.

I too bought an Altera tow bar mounted bike rack, in my case the slightly smaller DL2;

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-specific-accessories/atera_strada_dl_2_to_3_bike_carrier_uk_lights_no_ar2602/Qx%40w%2C6M42VAwp3%40Rb%7B~cC4ure5K%7BWW with the optional 3rd bike unit.

It's really easy to fit on to the tow bar and to use (there's a video demo on the above site).

JB, I know you've posted on the other thread about tow bar electrics but can I ask you if your Columbus shows trailer attached when you have the bike carrier plugged in, plus all of the expected features of the recoded CANBUS too?

Jim

JB, I know you've posted on the other thread about tow bar electrics but can I ask you if your Columbus shows trailer attached when you have the bike carrier plugged in, plus all of the expected features of the recoded CANBUS too?

Jim

Hi Jim-

Since the local dealer refitted the electrics following the initial installation hiccup, I can confirm that when I connect the bike trailer plug to the towbar swivel socket, the following all work:

- The towbar now shows up behind the car on the Columbus screen when I select Reverse gear (in my version, the car is horizontal, with bike rack showing on the right on the picture, behind the boot of the car). This previously did not show after the first installation (i.e. it showed the same screen image with and without the trailer attached).

- The rear parking sensors do not beep when I select Reverse gear (they previously did beep constantly after the first installation - to which the original dealer advised the solution was to manually turn the parking sensors off!).

- The lights on the trailer work when the car lights are switched on, and the indicators work correctly.

[Not having read all the threads on this topic on the forum, and I am not sure if correct Canbus coding should also switch off certain rear lights on the car when the towbar electrics are being used (if someone can confirm, I can check this).]

I think this should cover everything? If I've missed anything, please let me know and I shall check and confirm.

Andrew.

Thanks Andrew, looks like the same issue.

Jim