Hi All, very grateful for any advice.

 

I have a 2023 1.5 TSi manual Karoq, which does not have towbar preparation.

 

I am keen to carry two bicycles and initially thought a tow bar, along with the following bike carrier would be my preferred option: Thule

 

I took advice from my local main dealer however and they indicated having a towbar installed may lead to issues with the cars manufacturers warranty (which I extended at initial purchase to five years).

 

I had obtained a quote to fit a Westfalia detachable tow bar (from PF Jones), along with seven pin electrics and vehicle specific wiring.

 

There is the option to roof mount, but with the car being relatively tall I can foresee this being a difficult option in practice.

 

I also trialled carrying the bikes in the car with the seats folded down and this will not be viable option going forward.

 

Grateful for any thoughts.

7 hours ago, pinkpanther said:

Hi All, very grateful for any advice.

 

I have a 2023 1.5 TSi manual Karoq, which does not have towbar preparation.

 

I am keen to carry two bicycles and initially thought a tow bar, along with the following bike carrier would be my preferred option: Thule

 

I took advice from my local main dealer however and they indicated having a towbar installed may lead to issues with the cars manufacturers warranty (which I extended at initial purchase to five years).

 

I had obtained a quote to fit a Westfalia detachable tow bar (from PF Jones), along with seven pin electrics and vehicle specific wiring.

 

There is the option to roof mount, but with the car being relatively tall I can foresee this being a difficult option in practice.

 

I also trialled carrying the bikes in the car with the seats folded down and this will not be viable option going forward.

 

Grateful for any thoughts.

 

A towbar is a hell of an expence just to carry 2 cycles. Thought a rear door cycle carrier would serve the same purpose? In the past I had a Saris Bones cycle carrier which was excellent.

 

You say you trialled carrying bikes with the rear seats folded. Why isn't that a viable option?  What model of Karoq do you have?

 

Easy Peasy solution if you have the flex seating - you either just remove one seat or fully fold the base upwards. ( I had flex seating ). I never tried carrying the bike in the karoq with just the rear backrest folded but don't see why that should be an issue. I now carry the bike inside the Kodiaq - fork mount on shaped plank of wood does the trick. Could easily carry two bikes if I wanted.

Edited 21 September, 20232 yr by kodiaqsportline

On much the same theme as @kodiaqsportline, what type and size of bikes are you using?

 

I have fitted three upright small frame road bikes (sans front wheels, and lowered/removed seat posts) inside our mk3 Octavia Estate, and three people with a small amount of luggage.

A bit of reassembly faffing at the other end but was worth a lot of set up expense, our bikes were secure during stops and better protected from the elements during the journey.

 

I'm only 178 cm so I'm not sure that large bike frame would have fitted in this way in our car but I'm surprised that larger bikes cannot be fitted if the rear seats can be removed from your Karoq?

 

 

Edited 22 September, 20232 yr by Gerrycan

If you have flex seats it's easy to do to fit 2 bikes if not I dont know,

I have flex seats and remove all the seats, remove front wheels on 2 MTBs fit a piece of wood with cut outs between the seat posts and use 2 buckle straps from the tie down points around the seat posts and they are realy secure. If I didn't have Flexy seating I would use a tailgate carrier, ( last resort )

In my view it depends how often it will be used. I certainly wouldn’t want to faff about removing seats or bits of the bike other than for occasional use.  I routinely have my bike on the car three times a week which is why I specified the (admittedly fairly expensive) tow bar on my 2019 1.5 Tsi Karoq.  No regrets here….

46 minutes ago, Greentree said:

In my view it depends how often it will be used. I certainly wouldn’t want to faff about removing seats or bits of the bike other than for occasional use.  I routinely have my bike on the car three times a week which is why I specified the (admittedly fairly expensive) tow bar on my 2019 1.5 Tsi Karoq.  No regrets here….

 

Absolutely up to individual circumstances and If the boot is being used for other things then fair enough. But I open / close the boot far more times than I remove the bike. If the bikes are on a towbar, don't you need to remove the bikes to access the boot?

Not if you use a Bike Rack on the tow ball that flips down with or without the bikes on it.

These are usually heavier bike racks.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/466857-thule-velospace-xt-2-bike-carrier-anyone-with-experience

 

Edited 22 September, 20232 yr by toot

Yep Bike rack slides down if boot access needed. But it’s only on the once or twice a year trips that I need to get into the boot when having the Bikes on the back.

Many thanks for all the helpful replies 👍

 

These are the recently acquired bikes.

 

Admittedly with the front wheels still fitted we did manage the get them home (and take them out for a subsequent ride), although taking the seats out made no difference unfortunately. 

 

The bike retailer strongly advised against laying them on top of each other, given the potential for damage.

 

I took advice from several keen cyclists at work and of those I spoke too 2 had used the hatch mounted bicycle carriers, but had unfortunately had a bike come off, which understandably put me off this option!!

 

The guys at PF Jones were extremely helpful, but my local / supplying main dealer was of the opinion a towbar, irrespective of dedicated wiring / coding may have implications for the car's warranty (which I extended to five years). On this basis I cancelled the order for towbar installation.

 

The car is a SE-L

 

Roof mounting does not seem a viable option, given the height of the car.

 

I have instead opted to buy a roof mounting kit (likely Thule) and will use my SEAT Mii to transport the bikes.

 

I did previously own a tour de France Yeti, which came with the option to internally mount two bicycles, although I never used the kit and sold it on here some years ago🤦‍♂️

 

 

 

 

Carrying two bikes on a towbar carrier is far better from a fuel economy point of view, and also seems less noisy. I carried two bikes that way on holidays all over France very successfully - except when an impatient Italian driver nudged a bike wheel trying to push onto a ferry, and I had to get it straightened when I got home. I already had the towbar on that car to tow a dinghy.

 

Bikes on a roof rack are noisier and hit your fuel consumption at higher speeds - and are also a pain to lift up and down! But I did it for years when I changed cars and no longer needed a towbar for my dinghy. 

 

I would not trust a bike rack fixed to the hatch, and think that they are officially discouraged due to the risk of damaging the plastic wing on the top of it.

 

Chris

8 minutes ago, CJJE said:

Carrying two bikes on a towbar carrier is far better from a fuel economy point of view, and also seems less noisy. I carried two bikes that way on holidays all over France very successfully - except when an impatient Italian driver nudged a bike wheel trying to push onto a ferry, and I had to get it straightened when I got home. I already had the towbar on that car to tow a dinghy.

 

Bikes on a roof rack are noisier and hit your fuel consumption at higher speeds - and are also a pain to lift up and down! But I did it for years when I changed cars and no longer needed a towbar for my dinghy. 

 

I would not trust a bike rack fixed to the hatch, and think that they are officially discouraged due to the risk of damaging the plastic wing on the top of it.

 

Chris

Definitely plan to avoid hatch mounted options and have settled on Thule bars/ bike carriers for the Mii.

 

Mileage will be minimal and fuel economy hit inconsequential 👍

Another, no doubt not cheap, alternative:

 

https://insideevs.com/news/680018/pender-ebike-rack-easy-lift/

 

Many years ago VW did something similar.

 

tom

The solution😁👍

 

Edited 8 October, 20232 yr by pinkpanther