'clip on' bike racks

Andrew said:

Hi,
I'm chasing a bike rack that can be clipped onto the back of a hatchback
(Laser trio) that can carry 2 bikes (1 road, 1 hybrid). So far I've found
the Thule ones for $200-300,
(http://www.ettalongbikeshop.com.au/catalogue/group/65/2/Bike_Racks ), but
are there other brands that are worth investigating? I'm in Brisbane, but
don't mind ordering off the net.

Andrew.

At that cost it might be cheaper to get a tow bar added and a normal
bike rack. My experience with the strap on rack (not sure what brand)
was mostly bad. The rack worked fine on a sedan, But on the hatch it was
all over the place because there's a limit to how much pressure you want
on the rear window. The day I looked in the rear view mirror to see the
bikes swinging around the side of the car on a round about was the day
the strap on rack got retired.

DaveB.

Andrew said:

Hi, I'm chasing a bike rack that can be clipped onto the back of a
hatchback (Laser trio) that can carry 2 bikes (1 road, 1 hybrid). So far
I've found the Thule ones for $200- 300, (http://www.ettalongbikeshop.com.au/catalogue/group/-
http://www.ettalongbikeshop.com.au/catalogue/group/-
65/2/Bike_Racks ), but are there other brands that are worth
investigating? I'm in Brisbane, but don't mind ordering off the
net.
Andrew.

Andrew,

May need to get a new car (lol)! I had a rack which attached to the
towball. Quickly ditched it after driving over a gravel road and getting
some little pock marks in my lovely Ksyrium wheels. Still haven't
recovered fully from the shock 😠 I went out and bought a shiny new
Thule roof clip-on gismo which cost a fortune ($165) but I already had
Thule racks. Now I look like one of those surfers with the board
permanently attached to the car. Get a few friendly waves from other
cycle rackers on the road 😉

--

Andrew said:

Hi,
I'm chasing a bike rack that can be clipped onto the back of a hatchback
(Laser trio) that can carry 2 bikes (1 road, 1 hybrid). So far I've found
the Thule ones for $200-300,

Ouch! I paid about $50 for mine, and its done many thousands of km with
2 MTBs. Hopefully you can find something similar locally. Try the
car-parts shops, like Marlows.

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=716279&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=134953&bmUID=1084239850634

MEC can be expensive for delivery though. Maybe try some other
bike/car/outdoors online shops.

$50! Bargain. Where?

That site is Canadian and lists it at CAN$45 which is almost the same in
AUD$, but freight is $50.

I can't find that model on any .au sites, only the towbar ones, under the
Rhino-Rack name.

Marlows = Super Cheap Auto?

How do you find it as far as the bike swinging backwards and forwards? It
looks as if there's nothing to stop that. (Actually, is yours a MEC? If not,
what is it, and where did you get it?)

Thanks for all replies so far, I'll keep looking.

Andrew.

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Ouch! I paid about $50 for mine, and its done many thousands of km with
2 MTBs. Hopefully you can find something similar locally. Try the
car-parts shops, like Marlows.

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=716279&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=134953&bmUID=1084239850634

Quoted message said:

MEC can be expensive for delivery though. Maybe try some other
bike/car/outdoors online shops.

Found one on sale in MEL at a large bike specialty shop. $95 in 1Q2003.
A 3-bike model. Works Very Well, sturdy. It has been a while since I
bought
it, and there is no name on the frame.... full list was only $120! Other
models
went near $200 but did not seem to have anything better for the extra $$.
In
my case, cheap was very good. YMMV

JS

Andrew said:

$50! Bargain. Where?

Canada, from MEC. But its made in China. I would expect something
similar here.

Quoted message said:

That site is Canadian and lists it at CAN$45 which is almost the same in
AUD$, but freight is $50.

As I said, MEC are too pricy for delivery. There are many other online
sites cheaper, but a bike rack is probably too big to post.

See my recent mail-order thread for advice given. I went to aebike.com.

Quoted message said:

Marlows = Super Cheap Auto?

Sounds like the sort of place. What about the car section in K-mart/Big-W ?

Quoted message said:

How do you find it as far as the bike swinging backwards and forwards?

Tie it on with straps and/or bungees. No problem.
For long drives, I put the wheels inside the car, to cut drag.