Decathlon cycle carriers - any good?

"Gary B" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Need to buy a 4 bike carrying tow bar mounted cycle carrier - which typically cost upwards of
£200. see

decathlon.co.ukproduit.aspOpen ↗
=961305&mscssid=PBUJ3CLJDG9R9M4J42PVU8K7HUHJ8LN4

Quoted message said:

Have now seen one on the Decathlon web site for only £130 - and so

wondered

Quoted message said:

what the quality/ ease of fitting/ attachment of bikes etc - would be

like?

Quoted message said:

Any advice / and or experience of this rack or any other tow bar mounted 4 bike carrier would be
welcome.

IMHO avoid the Decathlon carrier - I researched the whole topic and felt that the design was poor
and the materials/finish seemed to be prone to rusting very quickly (the metal had a bright finish,
not powder coat like all the others)

I ended up buying a Thule towbar mounted rack and have to say it has been excellent - although it
was quite a bit more than the Decathlon - BUT if you have 4 bikes then that's probably a fairly high
value and worth carrying carefully.

The Thule is secure, holds the bikes apart and avoids damage/scratching, quick to load, built in
lights and number plate etc - I have the rack on a Discovery (the one small issue is that I had to
fit longer bolts and spacers so that the upright frame of the rack cleared the spare wheel (NOTE -
this may be an issue on some 4x4s with rear spares and no deep bumper - e.g. Freelander) No problems
cruising along the French motorways at high speed!

Have a look at autorack.co.ukautorack.co.ukOpen ↗ - excellent service and good price (I ordered at 3pm and
got delivery at 10 the following day) - also have a look at the 4x4 Centre at Stone, Staffs - they
have a heavy duty rack that takes 4 bikes, again standing on their wheels - also look at
droponcarriers.co.ukdroponcarriers.co.ukOpen ↗ (this may be the one that 4x4 Centre sells)

From experience I would avoid the type of rack that supports the bikes by the crossbar - the
"hang-on" variety - they are suited only to very conventional shapes bikes (even a sloping top tube
is an issue) and tend to bash the bikes together and cause scratching etc

Usual disclaimer !

Rob

Gary B said:

Have now seen one on the Decathlon web site for only 130 - and so wondered what the quality/ ease
of fitting/ attachment of bikes etc - would be like?

The price may be an indication of the quality, I would want to see one in the metal as the picture
on their site is insufficient to form a judgement.

Some of us have bought carriers from www.roofbox.co.uk, who have a good selection and seem to know
their stuff - I have their Tradekar 4-bike rack which is sturdy if somewhat agricultural (so suits
my Volvo just nicely). You also need to watch the nose-weight; many cars can't actually carry a
4-bike rack without exceeding their nose-weight limit (I guess you will already have researched
this?). Old-fashioned rigid-mounted 2" hitches are allegedly better for this than modern 1.5"
retractable hitches.

--
Guy
===
WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

Just zis Guy, you know? must be edykated coz e writed:

Quoted message said:

Gary B said:

Have now seen one on the Decathlon web site for only 130 - and so wondered what the quality/ ease
of fitting/ attachment of bikes etc - would be like?

The price may be an indication of the quality, I would want to see one in the metal as the picture
on their site is insufficient to form a judgement.

Some of us have bought carriers from www.roofbox.co.uk, who have a good selection and seem to know
their stuff - I have their Tradekar 4-bike rack which is sturdy if somewhat agricultural (so suits
my Volvo just nicely). You also need to watch the nose-weight; many cars can't actually carry a
4-bike rack without exceeding their nose-weight limit (I guess you will already have researched
this?). Old-fashioned rigid-mounted 2" hitches are allegedly better for this than modern 1.5"
retractable hitches.

Even if the quality of finish is not so good, it is easy enough to paint the metal with "PLASTIKOTE"
plastic paint, as long as the design is ok, I would like to have a look at one before I fabricate a
trike mount up.

--
Ian

catrike.co.ukcatrike.co.ukOpen ↗

Guy - re tradekar rack

Thanks for your comments. I have looked at the above rack and I do like the look of it - and
wondered if I could ask you a few more questions.

1 I'm not sure from the picture how the top of the bikes are held? Do all
four bikes have 'grabber arms' that come across from the vertical bars?

2 Does the vertical bar(s) fold down easily for storage?

3 Can you fit/ secure children's bikes - I have a 6 year old who has a 20inch bike and a 3 year old
that we would like to buy a bike for shortly - and which will obviously be smaller.

4 Did you look at the twinny rack that seems to hold the bikes by pedals?

See

fisheroutdoor.co.ukindex.htmlOpen ↗

And

5 What is the rack made of? Has it rusted at all?

"Ian" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just zis Guy, you know? must be edykated coz e writed:

Quoted message said:

Gary B said:

Have now seen one on the Decathlon web site for only 130 - and so

wondered

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

what the quality/ ease of fitting/ attachment of bikes etc - would be like?

The price may be an indication of the quality, I would want to see one

in

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the metal as the picture on their site is insufficient to form a

judgement.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Some of us have bought carriers from www.roofbox.co.uk, who have a good selection and seem to
know their stuff - I have their Tradekar 4-bike

rack

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

which is sturdy if somewhat agricultural (so suits my Volvo just

nicely).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You also need to watch the nose-weight; many cars can't actually carry a 4-bike rack without
exceeding their nose-weight limit (I guess you will already have researched this?).
Old-fashioned rigid-mounted 2" hitches

are

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

allegedly better for this than modern 1.5" retractable hitches.

Even if the quality of finish is not so good, it is easy enough to paint

the

Quoted message said:

metal with "PLASTIKOTE" plastic paint, as long as the design is ok, I

would

Quoted message said:

like to have a look at one before I fabricate a trike mount up.

--
Ian

catrike.co.ukcatrike.co.ukOpen ↗

Gary B said:

1 I'm not sure from the picture how the top of the bikes are held? Do all four bikes have 'grabber
arms' that come across from the vertical bars?

There are three grab-arms, we usually use these to secure the three closest to the car and then
strap the outer one with bungees (see below).

Quoted message said:

2 Does the vertical bar(s) fold down easily for storage?

Yes. The rack lives on end in the bike shed. It is heavy, mind, being a welded steel construction -
but that does mean that minor parking issues do not risk the bikes!

Quoted message said:

3 Can you fit/ secure children's bikes - I have a 6 year old who has a 20inch bike and a 3 year
old that we would like to buy a bike for shortly - and which will obviously be smaller.

Absolutely. Our normal load is two adult, one 24" child's MTB and one 16" or 20" child's bike. The
wheel supports slide freely.

Quoted message said:

4 Did you look at the twinny rack that seems to hold the bikes by pedals?

No. My LBS stocks them and they look quite good, but it might be a challenge to fit unusual bikes, I
don't know. This rack was not, to my knowledge, available when I bought mine.

Quoted message said:

5 What is the rack made of? Has it rusted at all?

Powder coated steel. There is light surface corrosion where I scratched it and haven't got the
Hammerite out yet, but it's pretty good. The metal is good and thick, and the scratches are only on
the hoops which protect the light clusters. Which were included in the price, BTW, which is not the
case with some racks.

The Tradekar is big and solid, works well for a Volvo estate but would probably be a liability on a
lighter car. Pendle and others bear investigation of course - but the Tradekar had the merit of
being cheap! One other thing - you can't open the boot once the thing is loaded. TBH I think you'd
have to be Superman to swing any rack loaded with four bikes anyway, it's just a matter of planning.
It is pretty quick to load and unload, because it's a nice open design. And it projects nearly 2ft
from the back of the car.

If you are near Reading at any time you're welcome to have a look.

--
Guy
===
WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Some of us have bought carriers from www.roofbox.co.uk, who have a good selection and seem to know
their stuff

Yep, I can vouch for their competitive prices and efficient service.

Pete

Gary B must be edykated coz e writed:

Gary, if you are interested in the Twinny, email me through the website, I can do a decent deal on
these, just tell me which model you are after.

--
Ian

catrike.co.ukcatrike.co.ukOpen ↗