Since Eliza learned to ride her bike without stabilsers we have been keen to go out with family and friends for bike rides.
Up until now I have always managed to squeeze all the bikes in the boot of my car, but when we upgraded Isaac’s in April I realised it just was not going to be possible anymore.
Although we have a lovely heath to ride over 5 minutes from the house, we also enjoy rides through the New Forest which is a half and hour drive away, so I started looking at bike racks for the car. I am
I concentrated on looking for bicycle racks for SUV cars that are compact, able to hold at least 3 bikes, and is not prone to rust over time. Jason May, a bike expert on MyProScooter, reported that “having one that does not corrode easily will stop you from having to spend more money having to replace your bike rack when rust settles; safety is always a top priority.
Finding a bike rack was much easier than I thought. Halfords have a nifty little tool where you enter your car registration number on their website and they list all the bike racks suitable for your car.
We opted for the Thule RaceWay 3 which is a strong, secure, and easy-to-use hanging style trunk bike rack for all types of cars for 3 bikes and can be extended to 4 bikes when we need to.
It comes with clear instructions on how to fit to the car and was much easier than I had imagined and although it took us around 20 minutes to put on, has been much quicker since as we now know what we are doing.
It is quite a heavy piece of equipment and is much easier to attach with two helping, although Hubby has managed to fit it by himself. If you don’t want to keep taking the bike rack on and off, it can be folded down to fit flat over the boot and the moulded rubber pads provide firm hold to vehicle whilst protecting against scratches.
The Bike Rack fits very tightly to the boot using the Sure-Tight ratcheting cables, and you can adjust the tension on the straps using the FitDial system to keep it snug and secure. As my car, a VW Touran, is quite tall, the bikes sit quite high up though and being on the short side, I do struggle to lift the bikes onto the rack – thankfully I have Hubby and the teen to help.
The bikes are then secured on the rack and the NoSway cages prevent bike-to-bike and bike-to-vehicle contact and the narrow cradles arms hold a variety of bike frames including smaller children’s bikes. It also locks the bikes to the bike rack and the bike rack to the car, so there are no security worries if you leave the car unattended.
I am was really impressed that there is very little movement when driving, even when driving on a bumpy country road.
The only issue we have is that my bike doesn’t fit on the rack with the baby seat attached, however, we are planning on getting Sebby a Tail Gator which will solve the problem as his and Eliza’s bikes still fit in the boot.
Do you enjoy cycling as a family?
I love Thule stuff, such good quality. My roof box in Bavaria was Thule, and it was so solid, I never had to even think about it flying off! 😀 I like the look of this bike rack!
growing up, I can’t remember us ever going cycling as a family. we always either drove to places or walked which was always lovely because theres so much to see!
now that ive moved out. my boyfriend and I tend to cycle to and from the gym! its amazing! and so freeing
Looks great !!! Perfectly secure and fairly easy to attach which is great.
This looks great. I would love to drive out and take the kids bikes with us. I had never thought of anything like this before.
Oh this looks great. Very sturdy too!
We have one of these but I find it really awkward to use on my own, much better with two people.
My younger brother loves cycling and its such a shame he doesn’t get to do it as often because nobody else in the family does! I am sure this handy little gadget will force my dad out the house with him!
http://www.nmdiaries.com
Wow this is so cool! Good to know there was little movement even on bumpy roads. I will check this bike rack out.
Thus is cool. We’ve turned into that family too. Scooters and bikes galore.
We really need to invest in one of these! Looks great!
Now this looks really handy and it doesn’t stick out as much as I had expected. Some bikes racks are just enormous and as big as cars themselves x
I love the way it folds down – we have a bike rack which I must admit I’ve come close to knocking myself out on several times.
Ooh I love the look of this. We are looking for a bike rack but with our boot being electric I don’t think that it would support one like this. I love Thule.
Great review- so bizarre as we have been looking at buying something like this for the car. Looks great 🙂
This looks like a fab product. We’ve been looking into getting a bike rack so we can visit different places instead of riding around the same places over and over again.
Ami xxx
Wish we had considered this instead of the one we did. Love that you can keep this attached to the car.
I can’t ride a bike (shocking but true!) but I definitely want an easier way of transporting the children’s bikes as they are so awkward getting in and out of the boot so this product looks fab
This looks fab, we really need one with 5 of us in the house. This looks so sturdy and robust
This looks very decent indeed!