Bikes flying off racks?  Been biking for 20 years with a club and this has happened to exactly no-one I know.  If a person can't attach a bike properly to a rack they probably should be operating any kind of machinery!

I once wiped the roof rack and bike off my VW Polo by driving under a tree in the car park at Burnham Beeches  it was in 1992 and the car was a bit of a shed, the bike was considerably more expensive and survived with no damage! I have a friend who did similar but with 4 bikes and a car park height restrictor which had less pleasant consequences. That's not the fault of the racks though, its 'pilot error'.  I was surprised that in both of those situations, the thing that failed was the gutter/rainguide part of the car rather than the rack - in both cases it just straightened out the metal.

 

I do prefer to put a bike inside the car if I am away for a weekend and may need to leave it unattended, and in that case I just move my load net to the forward mountings to stop anything flying forward. if we are all full up and/or have more than a couple of bikes the rear-mount rack it is. If we are away I just take my bike into the hotel room with me

100% agree on never leaving a bike on the rack unattended, not for a second, even filling with petrol has me nervous!  Lots of very sad stories from pals who took a chance, madness.

Yeah plus the thule proride carriers are not very secure, the bike can easily be pulled out of them. There is a newer version with a better clamp but still, I agree with others, even nipping into a shop gets me worried especially with a few £Ks worth of bikes on the roof

2 hours ago, drewellis said:

Yeah plus the thule proride carriers are not very secure, the bike can easily be pulled out of them. There is a newer version with a better clamp but still, I agree with others, even nipping into a shop gets me worried especially with a few £Ks worth of bikes on the roof

 

I chain mine up if leaving them on the roof for any time.  Chain the frame and wheels to the roof rack itself.

 

Yes if someone really wants the bike and is tooled up to take it - they will take it.  Locking with chains will /should slow them down however.

 

 

 

 

On 25/02/2019 at 13:30, drewellis said:

Yeah plus the thule proride carriers are not very secure, the bike can easily be pulled out of them. There is a newer version with a better clamp but still, I agree with others, even nipping into a shop gets me worried especially with a few £Ks worth of bikes on the roof

Perhaps showing my naivety here but I thought the carriers that go on the tow bar all have locking mechanisms for both the bike and carrier itself. Appreciate these will not stop a determined thief but I had assumed they would stop an opportunist? Or are we talking about roof carriers now?

 

Anyway, as the insurance on my Octy is due at the end of March and I don't want to pay an insurance company £40+ to press a button to cancel my policy, I decided to look around to see what used Superbs were available locally. Gone for a hatch as there seemed to be a sufficient number of you saying the hatch has enough space. Picking her up in a couple of weeks after they sort out a scratch on the rear panel and a mark on one of the seats. Will definitely be putting some blankets down before I try putting the bikes in for the first time!

I suppose if my son is still interested in cycling in a few years, I might invest in a tow bar and carrier. Currently, once I have got mine in, his is so small that it is inconsequential but that won't be the case for long!

 

Thanks for all your responses.

14 minutes ago, budster said:

Perhaps showing my naivety here but I thought the carriers that go on the tow bar all have locking mechanisms for both the bike and carrier itself. Appreciate these will not stop a determined thief but I had assumed they would stop an opportunist? Or are we talking about roof carriers now?

 

Some do, some don't, but the bottom line is no matter what you use don't let the car out of your sight.