Now had my 500L for a week - all good so far!
Any advice on carrying a mountain bike or 2?
Bike will not fit inside without taking a wheel off, so I'm thinking I need a Thule Euroway G2 carrier (also means getting a tow bar fitted.....)

A towbar carrier is definitely the way to go - no struggling to lift a bike onto the roof

My experience with Thule leads me to recommend buying a number plate holder as I did not want to drill into my shiny new plate.

I also got pee'd off with the alloy bar to tighten the clamp and went for a 19mm ratchet spanner .

Trev

BillR said:

Now had my 500L for a week - all good so far!
Any advice on carrying a mountain bike or 2?
Bike will not fit inside without taking a wheel off, so I'm thinking I need a Thule Euroway G2 carrier (also means getting a tow bar fitted.....)

Click to expand...

I too would say a tow bar mounted one would be the way to go. Anything tailgate mounted is likely to put a lot of strain on the upper part of the tailgate.

I always wanted the Atera Strada DL 3.. Should be able to open the boot with it on too. Chopping in the 500L but still might get the carrier for the new car. There's an adaptor available that can make it into a 4 bike carrier. Something like this might be Ok for occasional use as way cheaper but if filling it up your bikes are going to touch so maybe you don't want your Sunday best carbon roadbike being clobbered by an adjacent bike. Suppose the way the hang off it unsuitable for carbon frames anyway http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rb...o_mxr4_10ma41_/Qx@w,6M42VAwp3@Rb{~cC4ure`KaWb

Thanks for the advice.

Now thinking that a detachable swan neck tow bar (£610 including vehicle specific electrics) and a Thule fold-up 2-bike carrier (£60) will be the way to go.

Just need to arrange it all now......

BillR said:

Thanks for the advice.

Now thinking that a detachable swan neck tow bar (£610 including vehicle specific electrics) and a Thule fold-up 2-bike carrier (£60) will be the way to go.

Just need to arrange it all now......

Click to expand...

That sounds very pricey for a tow bar, do you really need a detachable one??

I know they look better but a fixed one should/could be cheaper.

eg - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Towbar-fi...-kit-NEW-/251592379435?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

Overpriced even for detachable, what area of the country are you in? I investigated towbar prices earlier in the year across the North West...

I'm in Kent; and the price was more or less what everybody else was quoting around here, and I'm assured it will not affect vehicle warranty.

The installation is a 3-4 hour job (even by experienced fitters) and involves taking off the rear bumper and under tray, replacing the crash rail, cutting a slot in the under tray and refitting.

Removeable towbar was not much more than the fixed, and means it can be taken off if it interferes with the rear parking sensors, or my shins!

Vehicle specific wiring at £158 was a fair (?) chunk of the price......