Bike Racks: Roof Mounted Versus Tow Bar Mounted


Do you need a carrier to transport your bike? Are you unsure whether to choose a roof mounted carrier or a tow mounted carrier? This article will discuss some of the main benefits of both options and explain why a tow point mounted unit is that bit better than a roof carrier. Although roof carriers are a good investment, they just don’t offer as much as a rear mounted tow bar carriers.

Bike Carriers

There are other types of bicycle carriers to choose from, one being a rear mounted unit, but this article will focus on the 2 most popular bicycle rack units in the UK. A rear mounted rack attached to the back of your car without using the tow bar, this makes it unstable and a lot less solid than a tow mounted rear rack. For this reason, we will dismiss the rear mounted unit and discuss its more stable counterpart when considering rear mounted carriers.

Rear Mounted Tow Point Carriers > Tow bar mounted rear carriers are outstanding for transporting your bike using your vehicle. They are one of the best bike carriers on the market because they are perfectly engineered to carry your bicycle in a safe and secure manner. They clamp onto the rear of your vehicle using your tow bar for added support, with this unit you won’t experience any wobble like you would with a basic rear mounted model.

Tow bar mounted bicycle carriers used to be heavy, cumbersome units that were difficult to attach to your vehicle, but this has all changed. They are made from lightweight, durable material that even allows owners to fold them when not in use. There was a time when accessing your boot while you had a tow bar mounted rack attached was impossible, but not anymore. These units now tilt even when you’ve bikes sitting on the rack. They are safe, secure, robust and highly dependable bicycle carriers that can be fitted to all kinds of vehicles.

Roof Mounted Carriers > These units fit onto the roof of your vehicle, they clamp to each side of the car and hold your bicycle on top.  There are various types of roof mounted carriers on the market and each uses a different mechanism to secure their load. A roof mounted carrier can safely secure about 4 bikes, whereas a rear mounted tow point rack can handle more.

One the biggest issues with roof mounted carriers is the extra height it adds to your vehicle, you must be careful when accessing car parks or driving under low lying bridges. This isn’t an issue with a rear mounted bike carrier, you also must be quite tall to secure bikes on the rack.

Tow bar mounted rear carriers are very safe and secure, they make transporting numerous bikes easy. They are accessible to all kinds of individuals unlike roof mounted carriers which require someone to be of a certain height to easily fit a bike. Roof mounted carriers also restrict your driving options, meaning you’ll have to avoid certain roads due to height limits.


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