Car rack.

It's a pity I didn't have the camera rolling at the time.

The Black Flash had a version of it that failed spectacularly at 110km/hr on the freeway on our boys' weekend away a coupla months ago.

Very lucky to avoid totalling two bikes, very very lucky that it was me following, and very very very lucky that I had spare room on my roof for two bikes and in my car for the dead rack. The damage to the tailgate, which got bent in the incident, was much more expensive.

UV rots the webbing. Use at own risk.

Just made me shiver at the memory.
In fairness, my straps had really weathered, my bad.
But yes, as hawkeye stated we were very lucky to have him come along. Not only could he carry 2 more bikes (albeit slightly lighter than when they left) but he had room in his car for the rack itself.
So Black flash owes him one....

Back to racks...
Thule 591 on roof racks.

+1 for the 591. Very convenient, quick to put bike on/off and ready to ride straight away!

So ill get the tailgate rack and ill bring hawkeye with me in case The problem with the roof ones are that its a really big faff and very expensive to get roof racks for my car as i dont have the rails, along with the fact that the thule 591's are expensive in there own right. Ill end up spending closer to 1k to get roof racks where i could spend that money on my bike rather

Hmmmmmm, quite a predicament.

And towbar isint an option. And inside my car isint an option either so im sorta limited.

Thule store Botany. 591s are $195. Have been for ages, plus free shipping aust wide too.
Don't only need Thule bars, I have had my 591s on Holden VE factory racks and now on Mopar racks. They slide straight in.

Worth the investment

Just paid $230 ea for 3 more 591's at Artarmon - Tried to haggle too. Don't go there peps. The dude had a point though - originally I wanted the cheaper version for the inner bikes - but the 591 with the arm allows you to steady the bike. A bike falling on your roof nasty.
I now get 4 on the roof no worries two fwd, two back and no noise, drama's until I try a Macca's drive thru

He keyed them all the same and set them up - perhaps thats why I paid more??

Towbar unit with soft jaws and wheel anchors so it doesn't swing is fine for one bike, but if fitting 2 or three it's like a two-wheeled version of Twister trying to get everything in place without the bikes rubbing or knocking on each other and taking off paint or rubbing holes in fork stanchions. Takes ages, and half the time you need to wrap things in rags to prevent damage.

Roof is soooo much simpler. Bikes are up in a minute or two. Just ask Black Flash. We spent longer going ooh-aah at the bikes after the incident than mounting on my roof. (We just won't talk about what I had to do with the rubber mallet ... kidding).

The only significant risk is forgetting about them on the roof and driving somewhere you shouldn't. I haven't done that yet.

Whilst slightly pricey compared to Saris Bone, I've been using the Thule 9001 '2 Bike' rack for a good while and have done numerous trips down the Freeway to Wingello with no concerns once on the road.

I will say that that fitting two bikes simultaneously does require you bring your Tetris 'A' game. Unfortunately with the model I have the horizontal arms the bikes sit on are fixed and with the geometry of most XC bikes this means the bikes sit on a fair angle however no where near as precarious as the upside down/sideways mounted kiddies bikes seen on the backs of cars over the Christmas holidays - strewth!

If you could do a towbar the racks from GripSport are excellent, have recently purchased the two bike downhill version and loving it.

http://www.gripsport.com.au/products

Try this place on ebay for car racks
http://stores.ebay.com.au/Roof-Rack-City

Just got the Swagman hitch rack, very happy with the quality and low price

That looks and sounds promising. I take it you can't open the boot with it attached can you? Wheres the best place to get one?

Im in sydney for reference.

Cheers,

Jono

Just a comment which you may already know of - many people and manufacturers don't recommend carrying carbon frames by the top tube. Though many riders do with no problems (yet?) but a few have and regretted it. If carbon frame then a carrier that holds the bike by the wheels may be more applicable. eg. Thule, Grip?? means a tow bar mounted carrier though.

No tow bar or roof racks, and no carbon bike either. My mum has all the goodies on her car thou so this rack for my car (hatchback) is just for during the week running around locally so only short trips (20 min max). When i wanna do longer runs i can always use my mums car.

So the thule raceway option looks to be quite promising, how hard is it to scratch a car with the hooks/straps?

Cheers

http://www.isi-carriers.com/products.html
Australian made tough. I have taken my bikes all over the outback, Simpson desert, Birdesville track. Believe me these aren't the places you want to be stuck with a busted bike rack. I can have my bike off the rack before you roof carriers, have even the first wheel strap undone.
Got a qspear and a rhino roof discovery, and the isi carrier is way better. Yes it is a little more expensive, but holds the bike solid, even over the roughest ground. Always have a laugh at people who spend mega bucks on carbon bikes, and then throw them on a cheap rack.

Out of curiosity does anyone have a thule 9001 i could possibly try fit my bike too? I was thinking about it and with my suspension design im really not sure if the bike will fit on the rack. Preferable someone close to cascades as i have a hard time transporting my bike :P

if possible, as said, try and get a tow bar and Tb mounted rack. I originally made a twin bike rack for the back, now run a Thule XTR 917 extension and extended the pipe to fit in the rack. Much cheaper option compared to the main unit with the hinge setup to open the tailgate with loaded rack.

Only reason I went to the 917 was the way it grabs the tyres, as my old rack was a bracket that grabbed the frame. Extremely secure way to do it, but limited, as I could only run my model bikes, running somoene elses that wasn't the same, it wouldn't fit in. I had a solution for it, but didn't like it. This 917 rack takes anything from a mtb, roady, to 29r and literally takes about 10-15secs to load. Add 5-10 secs if you want to use the built in wire rope lock. You can also add key barrels to the actuale release mechanism for extra security. I haven't bothered with them and leave them in carparks etc. People don't often carry bolt cutters or cordless angle grinders on the off chance they find a locked up bike. lol If they do, they're insured.

Hi all,
I'm new to this site and already learned a bucket load on bike racks which I'm currently looking at buying for my forester. Can anyone who owns a forester recommends a specific model/brand? Also if anyone has a second hand one for sale? I'd be looking for the tow ball hitch type for 4 bikes, with the tilt mechanism would be a bonus from what I've been reading here.

I also drive a Forester (running heavy duty king springs in the rear) and I've got a torpedo 7 4 bike platform carrier. It doesn't tilt, which is a bit of a pain. I have only had 3 bikes on it so far, but it held them fine. It actually sits up pretty high and the back is higher than the front to improve clearance - mine is yet to scrape on anything.
It attaches to the towball with clawlike metal things and you tighten them up, then tighten a bolt to stop it from undoing. Very secure. There is also a base plate that stops it from rotating but needs to be removed to tow a trailer.
I was almost set on an ISI but their before sales service was terrible and they couldn't even answer simple questions. Any email, PM on rotorburn or question in a thread resulted in the same copied and pasted answer. They wouldn't return emails or PM's when asked specific questions. I didn't bother with them.
The torpedo 7 one is very basic and I don't see it lasting more than a few years but it was only $180 so worst case is I buy a new rack in the future. The bikes are secure which is the main thing, but straps to hold bikes on will never last - I'll add some clips in the future.