Hi

I would be grateful on your thoughts of the alternatives ways of transporting mountain bikes.

I'm planning on bike weekend to Afan, Wales with 2 of my mates, so ideally want all travel in one vehicle, so it will be the three of us, 3 mountain bikes and our gear.

Would like to there your thoughts of the options, roof mounted, rear carriers. Pro & cons and if possible the potential costs?

Many thanks in advance.
Pete

halfords high carrier will carry 3 bikes around £60 when on offer, its ok for occasional use more frequent usage would call for a more fixed one so you dont have to keep checking the fastening straps. i normally stop after a mile or so to re-tension then all is ok after that.

oh and you cant open the boot with it on, and its not possible to properly lock the bikes to anything. Also take the fuse out for rear wiper, its in the under glove box fuse box At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

http://www.thule.com/en-GB/GB/Products/Bik...09502.aspx

I have this one, very good. Around the £100 mark!

Do you have a towbar? I had the land rover 1 fitted purely for the land rover bike rack (it was all thrown in free as part of the deal) A really good solid bike rack.

Otherwise, thule is highly recommended. My friend has a roof mounted thule on his mazda, its a great bit of kit, locks the bikes in place very well, but may be tricky in getting a bike on to a roof of a freelander, don't want to damage the paint work or the bike.

Being a local to afan argoed, which tracks you thinking of doing?? There's quite a few diversions in place and it does need maintenance. However, its still a blast. Whites level is still good fun and fully open, just a bit rutted in places.

You could stop off at cwmcarn on your way, or go a bit further to brechfa.

Cheers, no tow bar and not sure I like the look of the rear mounted ones.

Yeah, Afan is wicked, 5th time I've been. Is the skyline fully open now?

They are alot easier to load, it's quite a height to lift a bike unless it's a full carbon frame! And I should imagine save a bit of fuel!

I know what you mean about the look of rear racks. Before the freelander I used to take the wheels off and stuff the bike inside the car, and a rear rack just seemed sturdy enough, and didn't feel safe putting expensive bike on. But the land rover rack is real solid.

Skyline has big diversions on it. Whites is fully open, the wall i think its open, penhydd completely closed.

Skyline is due to be closed / shortened to make room for a new windfarm


**Edit** Have a look here http://skylinecycles.tumblr.com/ gives more up to date info on the diversions

Last edited by mini-eggs on 12th Apr 2011 7:07 pm. Edited 1 time in total

More wind farms !

Would I get three bikes inside?

3 bikes inside a freelander ...yes easy


3 bikes + kit + passengers ... hmmmm depends how you pack, and how much you need to take. Might be possible, bit of a squeeze

Problem with bikes in freelander is the return journey home! Muddy bikes in freelander not good!

Had a tow bar fitted so that I could fit a wheel support rack. The bikes sit on their wheels and are strapped by them and an upright. They are pretty solid and have been tested across ploughed fields with nothing coming loose. The rack tilts to allow the boot to open. I've had racks that strap on the boot and a Pendle rack that fitted on the tow bar mount but the problem with them all is that the bikes are to some extent free to swing backwards and forwards leading to rub marks if not cushioned in some way. Wheel mount racks keep the bikes apart and mine even has a trailer board for lighting and reg plate.

I agree with Boss Bob, I fitted a tow bar for the same reason the wheel support rack is the most convienient and best rack I have owned, I use 1 of these.

http://www.buzzrack.com/home.php What if there were no hypothetical situations?

landy19840 wrote:

Problem with bikes in freelander is the return journey home! Muddy bikes in freelander not good!

I regularly have 4 bikes on the top the heaviest a thorn rohloff MTB is a bit of a lift but standing on a milkcrate sized box of bike bits and I don't have a problem.
They are a bit noisy and do affect fuel consumption a bit, but not that much.
Did 265 miles last weekend with the bikes on the top and averaged 39mpg, and mine is an auto so not too big a hit really,

I am so liking the look of those safebags. I assume they just do a standard range of sizes as they list the same size bag for freelanders from 1998 to 2007, and I guess they are a bargin when compared to the offical LR item SD4 Sport LE Firenze Red - no options or modifications yet, but it's early days.