Looking to put a towbar mounted rack on our VW T5 camper. We already need to carry 3 adult size bikes now and will need to add a further 2 kiddy bikes when our recent arrivals get old enough.

We don’t have a van with a tailgate and already have a towbar fitted so I think a towbar mounted rack is the way forward. We are looking for something versatile to carry mtb’s, road and cross bikes etc without damaging them.

There seems to be a big choice and price variation and I am trying to narrow down my selection from the following list.

Thule Euroclassic / Euroway / Classic
MaxxRaxx
Mottez
Pendle

What are the good and bad points of each please?

Any others than need considering?

Thanks
Phil

We’re currently looking at towbar bike racks and a search on an old thread on here showed the Thule Euro Classic to be one of the best – bike rack link

I’m sure that STW did a magazine test last year, but I’ll have to go through my copies and find it.

**edit** It was issue 57

Hi there bought a Mottez 4 months ago: http://www.towequipe.co.uk/1/1/1512219-4-bike-towball-towbar-locking-cycle-carrier-rack-mottez-a018p4ra.html
Certainly not as pretty as the Thule or the Pendle but for 205quid its VERY solid. Have one on the back of my kia and Sorrento and it will take 4 full sized MTBs (with Bars twisted) easily. Be careful some 4 bike carriers need you to attach a strap to the car. The mottez is heavy and tricky to fit intitally..took 1 1/2 hrs. But now its all set up for the car it literally takes 3 mins including plugging in tail board and padlocking in to the car. For more than 5 bikes Mottez do an extended version with a wheel that will take 5 http://www.mottez.com/index.php?id=82 (in french).
Hope this helps.

I’d be wary about nose weight limits – a substantial rack + 5 bikes will push you over what most towbars are rated for

MaxxRaxx,four full sussers on the 5 size one so should get your 5 on.Easy to operate and very stable.

It depends on what kind of tow bar you have. Some clamp on the ball whereas others slot onto the housing (or whatever it’s called). The latter is more stable and less cumbersome as they don’t need the clamp to hold onto the ball. If you have a swan neck towbar then you have to use those that clamp onto the ball.
I’ve got a Euroclassic (for swan neck TB) which is the one most people favour on the previous thread. TBH I disagree with the good press – I struggle with it a lot, I find it heavy and unwieldy, and can’t get into the boot with it on (you’re supposed to be able to tip it forward but as it’s heavy I find this hard to control and it smacks into my bumper trim). But then I’m a girl and so feeble. Might explain it.

We’ve been looking over the last week and it seems to be a bit of a mindfield with what towbar and rack to get.

It’s put us off a bit to be honest, just because of the potential problems and cost involved.

We did look at roof mounted racks, but my wife was really worried about being able to lift her bike up onto the carrier.

amplebrew – I agree with the roof ones – my wife couldn;t lift her bike over head height and strap it into the rack on our roof.

re: towbar ones – these only get tricky if you;r lookign at more than 3 or 4 bikes. I’ve had the cheap thule one and it’s pretty simple to organise.

Currently have one of these;

as we needed to carry 4 bikes- it’s a bit of a fiddle gettign four bikes on but it’s ecure once they’re there.

re: towbar ones – these only get tricky if you;r lookign at more than 3 or 4 bikes. I’ve had the cheap thule one and it’s pretty simple to organise.

We were looking at a Seat 2 or 3 bike rack and getting a package deal through the Seat dealership on a new Ibiza ST.

The Seat towbar is a detachable swan neck and we’d have to tell them what electrics we needed, I believe there are different pin sockets.

We were looking at getting a towbar fitted by a third party, but we’ve recently had issues with 3rd party companies and vehicles, so were a bit nervous on giving them a new car to mess around with.

At least with the Seat dealership fitting the towbar, we could take it back to them if there was a problem.

yes, most lighting stuff’s moving to a 13 pin socket/plug now I think, not the old 7 pin ones.

best bet is to choose a rack and then see what the lighting board is done up with (although you can get adapters either way).

After having a read of a few reviews, we were going to go with a Thule Euro Classic rack on a Seat swan neck towbar.

The Thule seemed to be a safe bet, although that’s possibly changed after what you’ve mentioned ‘sok.’

The rack you’ve got wwaswas looks good, but I get the impression that it won’t fit a swan neck towbar.

Phil, I think the best rack for you might depend on what towbar ‘style’ you’ve already got fitted.

I get the impression that a ‘bolt on’ towbar is preferable over a ‘swan neck.’

I’ve got a Mont Blanc Explorer 3, which is good imo. The platform can be tilted so you can get in the boot easily. If I had any complaint it would be that it’s a little narrow, but as I ride small bikes it’s not too much of a problem.

I get the impression that it won’t fit a swan neck towbar

it’s fine – clamps around the ‘ball’ like the Thule ones.

I get the impression that it won’t fit a swan neck towbar

it’s fine – clamps around the ‘ball’ like the Thule ones.

That’s cool, I’ll have a look; thanks for the heads up.

I use http://www.aistoncycleracks.co.uk/ solid and bomb proof, however a change of car left me with a swan neck towbar and had to add Tow bar to Ball mount adaptor from pendle

B

thanks for the advice.

We have a flange mount towbar with a standard round ball so I think we are open to both types.

What are the pro’s /c cons of cross bar support vs wheel support racks?

I have a crossbar support rack a long time ago (recently had a thule roof mounted carrier) and my memory was that it was tricky to stop bike clashing / paint getting damaged etc .

Buzzrack looks pretty solid!

Crossbar type only really work well with traditional frames. Ladies frames and lots of FS designs are a real pain in the neck and you can end up with bikes sitting at some really odd angles – often resulting in the front wheel bouncing off the ground.

With the wheel support type, the only possible downside is finding somewhere suitable for the upper clamp so that it doesn’t damage the paintwork of the bike.

We will be using a combination of road / mtb / kids bikes

I am wondering if a wheel mounted rack will work with really small bikes < 12″ wheels?

I got one of these >>>

and I’d say be careful putting it on the back of a van

My car, Peugeot Bipper is a straight up vertical flat rear end (if you get what I mean) just like a van. Putting all 3 bikes on this rack is a PITA cos the bike closest to the vehicle has the have the bars turned otherwise the end of the bars bangs against the back of the car. On my Clio it’s no problem due to the sloping nature of the hatchback it means the first bike is nowhere near the bodywork.

Other than that they are great, very sturdy and much easier than the roof mounted rack I had on previous cars.

I am wondering if a wheel mounted rack will work with really small bikes < 12″ wheels?

Should do as the wheel mounts slide closer together for the shorter wheelbase of smaller bikes

I had my Thule Euroclassic Pro on the rear of a Fiat Multipla and never had any problems with the handlebars as the fitting is quite different

I actually have the two-bike version with the optional 3rd bike adapter (and I need to sell it)

We’ve got a Thule Euro 908 for our SEAT Ibiza with OEM detatchable TB. Got it from towequipe and its been spot on. Dead easy to fit and bikes are rock solid on it once fitted. Also comes with 13 pin connector as standard which mates up to the SEAT wiring perfectly. Only downside with it is its rather bulky when not off the car. So long as you have plenty of room in the garage to keep it, I’d well recommend it

These look the mutts nuts but we already need to carry 3 bikes and in 12 months time will need to carry 2 more hence a 4/5 bike rack.

ChrisI – Member
We’ve got a Thule Euro 908 for our SEAT Ibiza with OEM detatchable TB. Got it from towequipe and its been spot on. Dead easy to fit and bikes are rock solid on it once fitted. Also comes with 13 pin connector as standard which mates up to the SEAT wiring perfectly. Only downside with it is its rather bulky when not off the car. So long as you have plenty of room in the garage to keep it, I’d well recommend it

That’s good to know.

If you don’t mind me asking…..

Did you get Seat to fit the towbar and electrics yourself of were they already fitted?

I’m just waiting for a call back from the dealer on Monday for a price with a view to getting discount as part of a deal on a new car.

OP I think you need one of these…..

http://www.pendle-bike.co.uk/shopping/six-bike-trailer.php

Have the same rack as Smarty (Thule 9403) that goes on the back of a barn door T4 with no problems at all. Bikes usually inside but three on the back with that are fine. I’ve not had to fiddle with bars etc.

Hmm maybe I’m doing something wrong, I’ll have a play with it in the morning.

Smarty, I had the same problem with the Thule 9403 on my old Berlingo, I had to turn the bars on the bike nearest the car to stop the bar end banging against the rear window.
Oh, and the tailgate wouldn’t open with the rack on.
Great rack other than those two niggles.

I now need a 4 bike carrier. Top of the list at the moment is the Pendle 4 bike bike wheel support rack.

I have a tradekar carrier which is agricultural but does the job. The exact model is no longer available. More to the point I got it from

http://www.roofbox.co.uk

who seem to stock carriers for all price ranges and for the terminally confused have some really good info comparing the pros and cons of the various carrier types and brands on offer. They also seem to stock most spares and I have always found them efficiant and helpful.

Just thought I’d put the Atera Strada DL in the mix. Just got mine and it’s a quality bit of kit. I wasn’t sure about the expense but a friend bought a basic Thule one and having seen that and used mine I’m glad I paid the extra. The sliding as opposed to tilt mechanism is better in my opinion.

Oh and if you go through roofbox company, do a google search for vouchers as there’s a 10% of code for some organisation for multiple births that works.

If anyone needs to sell a Thule euroclassic am looking for one (pref 3 bike)

I am right in thinking this one tilts?

😳 😳 😳

Just tried the rack on the van and unless it’s a tiny bike I’d need to turn the bars to use the slot nearest the doors. Oh the shame. I have no excuse for such misleading information other than 99% of the time bikes are in the van and the rack is rarely used.

😳 😳 😳

It’s worth noting that teh Euroclassic name applies to a number of different models. The 902/903 are no longer made (shame – they were always the best). These models have an advantage in that they fold up really small for storage.

I’n going to be taking some pics of my 2-bike model later. I also have the 3rd bike adapter. I’ll post them up here.

Druidh have a price in mind? Will mail you.

That’s good to know.

If you don’t mind me asking…..

Did you get Seat to fit the towbar and electrics yourself of were they already fitted?

I’m just waiting for a call back from the dealer on Monday for a price with a view to getting discount as part of a deal on a new car.

We got it at SEAT purely because all the websites didnt have one for the Ibiza SC, which it now appears most would have fit, so could have done it myself *DOH*.

It was rather expensive, they quoted over £600 for it, but we got them down to a little over £500 as they admitted it was rather expensive! Its because they fit a 13 pin socket which has permenant live feed from the battery which requires taking half the car apart and a half days labour! I think the newer models have the sockets already wired in to the CANBUS system so should be a bit cheaper and easier to fit.

Dan 1502

Just had a look at the Atera Strada DL and it looks really good.

Could I ask a big favour would it be possible for you to measure the distance from the towbar ball to the pivot point of the rack, with the rack extended and tilted as shown below.Rack slide&pivot

We are trying to work out if this will enable us to get the rear doors open with the rack on the van.

I’ve a Thule 908 (2 bike) carrier on a detatchable towbar.
Works a treat but as has been said before you need space to keep it when not in use.

We got it at SEAT purely because all the websites didnt have one for the Ibiza SC, which it now appears most would have fit, so could have done it myself *DOH*.

It was rather expensive, they quoted over £600 for it, but we got them down to a little over £500 as they admitted it was rather expensive! Its because they fit a 13 pin socket which has permenant live feed from the battery which requires taking half the car apart and a half days labour! I think the newer models have the sockets already wired in to the CANBUS system so should be a bit cheaper and easier to fit.

Just over the £500 sounds about right. The retail price for the towbar is £195 and the Seat wiring alone is an extra £192.

A towbar and rack is going to come in around £800 all in 😯

I think it would be easier just buy a cheap 2nd hand van and not have to worry about damage and dirt to the car.

Oh Bagpuss, shame on you !

At least I’m not the only one with this problem.