Thule 9105 ClipOn High Rear mounted Cycle Carrier for 2 Bikes

As my kids grew up, they started to get into riding their mountain bikes and it wasn't long before they wanted to go out and about more on days out etc. The only problem was however, how are you supposed to travel with a family of four and two mountain bikes in a standard 5 seater car? It probably isn't impossible, but wasn't worth trying to tackle that every couple of months! So I spent out on a bike rack. A Thule 9105 ClipOn High Rear mounted Cycle Carrier for 2 Bikes to be exact LOL! I can't remember the exact price I paid but I know it was around £100 - not bad as it holds two bikes.

Setting up was pretty easy, and after a few goes I finally learnt how to master it on my own. It is quite hard to describe how you set it up, but I will give it a go! There are four rubbery kind of bars, two go at the top and two at the bottom. Two get positioned under the rim of your boot, and then you hang it on it's own weight as you move to position the remaining bars. It is then adjustable untill you can work out what length you want it, so if you have a bmx or a mountain bike, they can both be a secure. To make it safe (so your bikes can't fall off!), their is a arm locking mechanism. You simply push down weight and then use the other two hooks that you had left over and hook them over. Then you are done, you need no extra equitment, just 1 or 2 bikes! It also has (I think!) 4 plastic holders that attach to the wheels.

So does it do it's job? I can say, that even though I have only used it about 10 times, it has been extremely useful. We have travelled down the motorway and even been down quite tight county-like lanes. And (touch wood!) it was been perfect so far! Even when going quite fast, it doesn't bob around or atleast I can't feel it. It also doesn't affect your steering, which is quite a essiental thing with a bike rack! One of the only downsides is that it does make you use quite a bit more fuel, which in these times, really isn't very great!

It packs up flat so, for a quick back up plan, I think these are a great kind of thing to just have in the shed. It is quite convinient little thing, but is quite expensive for what is just a fold up bike rack. You can open the boot when it is attached, but it is pretty hard, as the weight of the bikes is against you. So if you put a lot of power (maybe two or three people) you probably can, but it is extremely hard.

Overall I would say that although this is a great, easy to assemble bike rack, a roof rack might be a better investment, as it can hold just about anything!