Hi,

Have a Skoda Superb estate. Need to be able to put 3 bikes on the back. Roofbox on the top so not an option there. I don't have a tow bar.

Any recommendations?

Get a tow bar fitted. The Thule tow bar bike carier is amazing. Initially had real concerns, the fact that the carrier only contacted the car through the ball itself. The weight of the bikes and driving quite fast around europe. I thought that this was a recipe for disaster. Not the case, over the last two years I have covered more than 4500 miles and it has not budged an inch. Tomorrow I am having a Westfalia removable tow bar fitted to my pride and joy to utilise the three bike Thule carrier. Whilst the bikes are on the carrrier, you can flip the carrioer to gain access to the boot. Can't rave enough about this device.

Ok thanks. Had a Maxx Raxx bike Rack that fits 5 bikes on my previous car (Discovery) and that had to be via tow bar. When I bought the Skoda they recommended somewhere to get a tow bar fitted and said it would be about £250?

The Thule bike rack is the way to go . I totally agree with the previous post. We have travelled abroad on several occasions and it has been great. Well worth the large-ish initial investment. Also Thule make several models so look closely and get the best you can for your budget and shop around because prices vary dramatically.

Yep, +1 for the Thule. I have a 3 bike towbar mounted carrier (I think its a 9403) and its excellent. I got mine used but as they're built pretty solid, I wasn't worried about it falling to bits.

Used ours today and the more often you use it the quicker you get the rack fitted and the bikes loaded. Takes me 5 minutes tops from attaching the towball.

Are you guys using permanent or detachable towbar?

We use the detachable towbar which was a factory fit on my wife's Octavia. The most important factor is that you must make sure that there is NO grease on the tow ball from any trailer. We have a motorcycle trailer which we never use so it is not a problem.

Are you guys using permanent or detachable towbar?

I use a detachable towbar (Skoda supplied and fitted) with a 75kg limit. We have a Thule 929 + 4th bike extension. With two adult and two kids bikes it's right on the limit of 75kg. Fortunately the kids steel framed Halfords specials are about the same weight as the adult bikes, so I'm hoping that as they get bigger the overall weight will stay the same. I notice that the Atera Strada DL4 weighs 14.4kg, +2.5kg for the 4th bike extender and gets good reviews on the Yeti forum.

We use the detachable towbar which was a factory fit on my wife's Octavia. The most important factor is that you must make sure that there is NO grease on the tow ball from any trailer. We have a motorcycle trailer which we never use so it is not a problem.

Just to add, having never towed anything in my life, I had no idea that I had to remove all the paint with wet/dry paper and clean the tow ball regularly with brake pad cleaner. Leaving the paint on allows the bike rack to twist laterally when going around corners and that's never going to end well. Fortunately I did some research before fitting it.

I hope you all use light boards with your bike racks, it is very dangerous to have the rear lights of a car covered with a bike and illegal but I see it so often.

So don't be an idiot make sure your brake lights can be seen.

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I hope you all use light boards with your bike racks, it is very dangerous to have the rear lights of a car covered with a bike and illegal but I see it so often.

So don't be an idiot make sure your brake lights can be seen.

Yep, its one of the reasons I use a towbar mounted carrier rather than one that just hooks onto the boot. Built in lightboard. I've seen some utter idiots with 3-4 bikes on a boot mounted one and no visible lights or plate.

Arrgggg, wrong window!