Bike Rack On Superb?

[Alan16ac]

I've just got my new bike as I want to get back into mountain biking.

Got myself a Cube Acid 29.

Ill need to haul it round to treks and things.

What's the best way? I towbar rack, one that goes on the boot or a roof rack.

Can you get roof racks for the superb?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Gaz]

Buy yourself a cheap van or estate with an MOT?

If you get a towbar mounted one, at least that'd keep the bike a bit further away from the Superb!

Gaz

[Alan16ac]

Buy a cheap van. And who's going to pay the 3 or 4 thousand for insurance!?

[WRCSixtyThree]

Buy a cheap van. And who's going to pay the 3 or 4 thousand for insurance!?

3 or 4 grand? Where the hell do you live, Kabul?

[Alan16ac]

3 or 4 grand? Where the hell do you live, Kabul?

No my post code is fine. However I'm 21, if you can find me cheap insurance on a van with no no claims then great. But as my no claims is being used on my superb it would be a fortune!

[Gaz]

Sorry Alan, I wasn't aware of your age. Not far off 50, second car insurance is quite viable for me and it's easy to overlook what is was like the best part of thirty years ago.

Having said that, at your age I had a mate who had a Transit that was a ex ambulance. We all chucked our bikes in the back of it, we all chipped in for petrol and we all worked on it when it broke.

I watched a bloke with a very snazzy roof mount on an Audi last year. Cantilever system that took a bike from waist height up to the roof mount. That was all well and good until I saw and heard the buckles on the tie down straps clacking on his roof. His carelessness, now't wrong with the straps. I used to use a three bike frame where the bottom foam 'rubbers' sat on the bumper and the top rubbers sat on the bootlid. Worked well for me, but wasn't as good as my Dad's one that fitted just behind the tow ball on his towbar.

Gaz

[sidewaze samm]

pretty sure there was a bike rack in the Superb accessories list, but getting hold of one now won't be easy. Or cheap. Having said that - and I know this has cropped up before on the forum - does a Passat roof rack system fit?

[WRCSixtyThree]

If I *had* to carry bikes, personally I'd rather go for a towbar mounted rack rather than hang something on the bodywork, especially since the Superb's roof rack mounting system seems to involve feet on the paintwork rather than the much nicer fixed mounting points you get on some cars (like my Mk1 Octavia).

Only drawback is that most towbar systems rely on you having a flange-type bar, which personally I can't stand...horrible ugly pieces of ironwork, which look OK on a Landie or a Transit but have no place on a passenger car, IMO. A flange-type bar may also interfere with parking sensors if you have them (which is the 'official' reason my wife has for me spending £170 on a detachable rather than £80 on a fixed flange bar - whereas in reality I didn't want to have to cut the bumper and have a big piece of metal sticking out).

There are towbar mount bike racks available for swan neck/detachable bars, but they're expensive and I've never seen one so have no idea how good they are. An alternative, however, might be available - I forget who (may be Witter) but someone's developed a detachable flange-type towbar which allows you to have the versatility of the fixed flange with the aesthetics of a detachable bar.

[Alan16ac]

My car already has a permanent Witter tow bar. I've ordered a tow bar carrier now and an LED light board.

My parking sensors don't bloody work anyway! :(

[Jigger72]

I investigated this a while back and for the saloon you're looking at roof rack, fitting a tow bar (but I didn't want a tow bar) or there is one rack available that uses straps through the boot but to be honest, it didn't look particularly sturdy.

Here's my original thread with some advice:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/246433-anyone-recommend-a-bike-rack-for-superb-saloon/page__hl__+bike%20+rack%20+for%20+superb#entry2894143

[Alan16ac]

I investigated this a while back and for the saloon you're looking at roof rack, fitting a tow bar (but I didn't want a tow bar) or there is one rack available that uses straps through the boot but to be honest, it didn't look particularly sturdy.

Here's my original thread with some advice:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/246433-anyone-recommend-a-bike-rack-for-superb-saloon/page__hl__+bike%20+rack%20+for%20+superb#entry2894143

Thanks for your advice. My superb already has a tow bar as I use my trailer for hauling stuff about so it doesn't go on my leather! So I've ordered a tow bar mounted one.

Thanks anyway

[Alan16ac]

Arrived today. I'm surprised at how sturdy and safe it feels. My LED light board arrived too. Happy days.

[Cown]

Nice

[Jigger72]

Hmmm, maybe I should get a tow bar? Looks a lot sturdier than the alternative

[Alan16ac]

It really is sturdy. Very happy with it.

[dieselV6]

Hmmm, maybe I should get a tow bar? Looks a lot sturdier than the alternative

Flange towbar is best for securely mounting things rather than towing. Also, flange towbars require smaller bumper cutout compared to other towbars. My Superb had a detachable towbar earlier, now both Superb and Roomster have flange ones. I take a towbar box carrier quite often on trips.

PCT flange towbars are very good and repeatable quality. Westfalia ones are only good if they are made by Westfalia, note SIARR is now owned by Westfalia but makes extremely poor quality towbars so beware false advertising on Ebay etc.

Parking sensors work just fine, despite the steel mounting plate for the towbar box.

Towbar is a good anti-tailgating measure, I notice a lot less of a problem with this since I fitted one

On my cars it looks like this

and an older picture of Superb's back without the towbar box plate, just the towball guard (now the flange has similar plate to Roomster attached).

.

Edited 27 January, 2013 by dieselV6