New rider

[Deleted member 17694]

Thanks for all the comments. I have surfed carriers relentlessly, taken on board the comments and narrowed it to three candidates; Buzz Rack Scorpion 2, Atera Strada Sport M2 and Thule Velocompact 925.

The Scorpion 60kg load at £250 is cheapest, folds up which is nice. The instructions imply a more involved connect and disconnect to the car, which bothers me because it looks a tad fiddly. It supports a 13 pin plug (all lights). It's the heaviest at 18.5kg.

The Atera 60kg load at £275 was my previous fave, it's simple to mount, it does fold flat but could be a pain to store when not in use. It supports a 13 pin plug (all lights). I read a lot of good things about this one and it got top spot in various reviews. Lightest at 13.5kg.

The Thule is the most expensive at ~£330 but looks very quick and simple to connect. It does fold down and also compresses widthwise. Appears to be very well built. But it's odd that its load is 46kg, is for two bikes but specifies a max bike weight of 25kg each. But isn't 2x25=50???, what am I missing? It has a 7 pin plug so not all lights. Light at 14.3kg.

All three are tilters.

I think my fave is still the Atera. Looking at the Thule offerings there is also the Thule EasyFold 931 for a whopping £560, but it looks sooooo good, but for £200 more I fear swmbo might protest.

 

[Angelnorth]

Not trying to sway your choice at all as I have no experience of any of them but I did find a video of the fitting on the Scorpion that might help you decide whether the process of fitting it seems too fiddly: here

I don't think there's a reason that an individual bike weight limit should be exactly half the overall rating - I think for that Thule rack if you were loading one bike that was 25kg you'd have 21kg of capacity left for the second bike to keep it within the overall rating. I'd be inclined to take the battery off any bike I put on a rack anyway so you'd probably be coming in below the 25kg for most bikes (my Wisper 705 is 21kg without battery).

 

[Suseka]

Interesting topic and I've saved some of the references for a later date -not sure Mr As little Festa could take the load of two e-bikes on a tow bar- lol. Thought I'd mention though that a google search proved you could get the Thule 931 for circa. £419 +pp -okay, still expensive, but worth considering for long term purchase if you have the money

 

[anotherkiwi]

A small cheap motorbike trailer would work better for a small car @Suseka. You can get one for £50 on e-bay.

 

[Suseka]

A small cheap motorbike trailer would work better for a small car @Suseka. You can get one for £50 on e-bay.

That's useful to know. Will have a look around but planning to change his car next year and get a tow bar fitted. Until then we're unlikely to fit any kit for the bikes. Need to get my bike legs trained first

 

[Deleted member 17694]

Interesting topic and I've saved some of the references for a later date -not sure Mr As little Festa could take the load of two e-bikes on a tow bar- lol. Thought I'd mention though that a google search proved you could get the Thule 931 for circa. £419 +pp -okay, still expensive, but worth considering for long term purchase if you have the money

You're right it's not as expensive as I first thought. In fact it's working its way onto the shortlist because from time to time I need to carry a 20kg wheelchair. I can get the chair into the car but only when the boot is empty and the chair fully collapsed (I also seem to crock my back every time I load it in/out). After some measuring I think it will fit onto the Thule because the tyre rails can be moved inwards. So it would have a double purpose. I'm still a tad reluctant to spend an extra £150 for it, but then again it's built like a brick light house and would last forever. I can talk myself into anything sometimes

 

[Suseka]

.....I can talk myself into anything sometimes

Me too.... But that usually involves shoes of a high heeled nature

 

[Croxden]

Me too.... But that usually involves shoes of a high heeled nature

Ooh, kinky.

 

[Deleted member 17694]

I went for Thule 931 EasyFold and got it for £428. This was still more than I was expecting to pay for a carrier, but I can also use it to carry the wheelchair (which is a big positive for me).

But a quick note, when buying a carrier make sure it's a UK spec (I luckily found this out before I bought one). The reason is that the Euro models have the reversing/fog light connections for LH drive. So if you buy one from elsewhere in Europe, it's most likely Euro wired not UK wired.

 

[lozw]

FWIW, not an answer to the OP's question, but if you are buying a new car its sometimes worth looking at whether the car has a fitted bike rack option. They can be expensive at list price(but then so is £428 for a Thule), but are often quite good.
My BMW one is excellent, and I haggled a very good deal on it when I bought the car.