Bike racks: Suspended or platform

[Gen]

Superstar Status!

 

it' works great, the trailer is lockable, nothing rolls around and all 4 bikes can be safe and secure, cause you can't leave the kids bikes at home.

 

Still want to have stickers made for the outside that say "sponsored by Daddy!"

[Fatboy85]

VW just fitted this Bosal as part of my Polo purchase (New car, so it would be covered by warranty)

 

 

Thanks Hairy. What dealer did you get it from. Might go threw them then? Was it pricey or in line with what Speedy quoted - R3250?

[TALUS]

I drive a very low car - VW CC and have used a 3 bike Atera rack over speedhumps in our burb and to many MTB races. Much safer than forgetting about your carbon baby on the roof. My wife has a Tuareg and the rack can slide enough for the boot to open with the bikes still loaded. Expensive but clever.

[Lamber]

Yes please do! Thx

 

Here we go! Please bare in mind I built this today with one massive hangover, so my opinion is very subjective!

 

First off, this is a moerse heavy rack- all 18kg of it. But at least it's solid and looks like it will keep the bikes secured. Secondly it's very big and bulky to store in the garage or house, much more so than the suspension rack.

 

The tilting function works a charm and will come in very handy for sure!

 

Only problem i have with it is that it's got a bolt facing the bumper once the rack is fitted. This bolt keeps the "socket" of the rack spaced very close to the ball- which made it impossible to lock down the handle on the ball. They're very specific on this bolt and how many threads must be visible. Stuff that, I removed it and now the handle is able to lock over the ball. Can't see it fit with that bolt in place.

 

Last issue was the lights' plug. It's a 7 pin plug and i have a 13 pin socket on the towbar, so i'll just get an adapter for that.

 

To conclude- if you're an average weekend warrior with aluminium frames and not to concerned about little scratches here and there- get the suspension type. If you love your bike like i love my beer- get the platform type.

 

If i could, i would return this one for the suspension type. This is my opinion, you'll have yours.

 

Oh, and did i mention it's heavy? Moerse heavy!

Edited August 31, 2013 by Lamber

[Lamber]

Not tow bar mounted that can be tilted .... well not that I could find on the site at least.

 

Took a bike and fitted it to the rack in store, shoved the rack around and overall think that the construction is more than decent.

 

What I personally will do though is fit a rubber band or velcro strap around the red spring loaded clip that releases the main body of the rack allowing it to tilt .... in the back of my mind this could lead to am epic fail on a bumpy road and the clip some how disengages. The spring is forcing the pin in at all times, but I recon rather safe than sorry.

 

Also not sure how the rack will fair in time with respect to corrosion, but then again for my personal usage it would be stored in a garage other than when in transit.

 

All in all a decent rack for the ZAR.

 

No need for this, the clip is threaded on the end- allowing you to fasten it with a screw action. very neat.

[ScottCM]

As much as i like all these bike racks that are available nowadays i just dont have the money for that, so this is my first attempt at making my own platform.

 

[Lamber]

As much as i like all these bike racks that are available nowadays i just dont have the money for that, so this is my first attempt at making my own platform.

 

 

This looks as solid as any of the other ones. Nice design!

 

PS remember the xtra number plate!

Edited September 9, 2013 by Lamber

[Brian Fantana]

Anybody using a Holdfast Sprint 3 bike? Does it tilt?

 

I use a Holdfast Sprint 2. I have modified it a bit with aluminium square tube in a few crucial places, and now it is very sturdy and solid. I needed to do this as I travel a lot on gravel roads with our bikes, and some of those roads are quite rough.

 

The rack itself does not tilt, but you can buy an alternative Holdfast towbar bracket that does tilt, which means that you can tilt it out of the way for a hatch back.

 

http://www.holdfast.co.za/?portfolio=baseplates

[Grebel]

I use a Holdfast Sprint 2. I have modified it a bit with aluminium square tube in a few crucial places, and now it is very sturdy and solid. I needed to do this as I travel a lot on gravel roads with our bikes, and some of those roads are quite rough.

 

The rack itself does not tilt, but you can buy an alternative Holdfast towbar bracket that does tilt, which means that you can tilt it out of the way for a hatch back.

 

http://www.holdfast....olio=baseplates

 

Thanks Brian. Had my eye on one of those until I saw this one....

 

EZrack

 

Seen one in the flesh and they look f'ing strong. Only drawback is what looks like a lack of locking facility and no tail light/number plate board (Which I am sure can be rectified with a little DIY). Price is good as well. No tilt function though....

[Pittstop]

Anyone have experience with the Thule Raceway 9003. Its a platform rack without having to get a towbar fitted. Looking to get one as the price seems reasonable in that regard (+/- R4000)

 

[Trench]

I have been using a BuzzRack (3 bike) platform for a year or so now and find it great. Can take 3 x 29er's, with a bit of adjustment and lowering saddles and I dont get the scratches, frame damage etc that I previously experienced with the hanging rack. It has a fair range of adjustments to accommodate bikes of different sizes. Using it on a SUV and the tilt action is simple and tilts far enough to open the back door, with bikes on. Platform is the way to go.

[Bobbo_SA]

Finished my rack this weekend, all in all about 8hrs labor and some useable "spare" steel that was lying around (My brother has been buiding a trailer for his Paraglider thus it was "spare" steel, :-) )

 

Been sent off to the powder coaters this morning, should have it back tomorow or Wednesday by the latest, then to fit the end caps in the sq tubing.

 

Its fully adjustable for wheelbase, width between bikes and various frame sizes (Had my daughters 16" little bike on it with my 29er), just need to cover the frame "clamp" with some plstidip once it comes back from the P/C guys.

 

Edit: Also will get a Number plate / light board on the back to stay legal

Edited December 9, 2013 by Bobbo_SA

[splat]

I would like to get a towbar mounted platform bike carrier for 3 bikes and cannot bring myself to spend Thule kind of money.

The next best seems to be the Menabo range.

 

What is the difference between the Race 3 Project and the Winny Plus 3 besides about R1300.00 ?

It would be for either of my 2 bikes (full sus 29'er and roadie) and/or my wife's hardtail (27.5") or my son's 20" kid's bike.

[El Scorcho]

Don't know the difference, but is it possibly that the Winny has the tilt functionality as well as locking carrier to car and bikes to carrier?

 

I used my Winny 3 for the first time this weekend and it does the job, not sure how much better the Thule racks are. Three bikes might be a bit tight, but I'm sure you could get them on after playing around a bit, I bought it to make sure my 2 bikes fit easily.

 

The only issue I had with it was that it took significant force to lock on to the towbar when I first put it on - but it seems to have loosened up to an acceptable level after attaching and removing it a few times.