Bike Roof Racks

A short vacation in the family station wagon is coming up and you need space in the interior of your car for your family and luggage? Then a roof bike rack is a practical way to take your bike or electric bike with you on your trip. The advantages of these bicycle roof racks are manifold: roof bike racks can be attached to the car by one person in a few simple steps and with little effort. Robust mounts for the bike frame as well as for the front and rear wheel ensure that your bike is transported safely. And thanks to the modular design of the carrier systems, you can decide for yourself how many bikes you want to transport on your car roof.

• Thanks to its low weight, you can easily mount a roof rack on your own.
• Roof bike racks are a good option for a vehicle without a trailer hitch or with a suitable tailgate.
• Roof bike racks are particularly suitable for cars with a low height, for example estate cars and saloons. The reason: the bikes have to be lifted onto the vehicle roof with a roof bike rack.

There are different systems for roof bike racks - depending on whether your vehicle already has roof rails: In this case, the two basic carriers can be clamped transversely to the two longitudinal railings. If there is no railing, there are also base carriers for roof bike racks that can be attached directly to the car roof using a clamping mechanism.

In a second step, the actual roof rack can be attached to the mounted base rack: Using a ratchet system or bolting, a front and rear wheel support are attached to the two installed crossbars on most models. Depending on the model, these are either positioned individually or attached to a length of rail.

Due to the exposed layers on the roof of the vehicle, a bicycle roof rack has a significant impact on fuel consumption and the driving behavior of the car. A special feature of this is fuel consumption. We will show how this is noticeable in the following example:

Due to the increased wind resistance, a vehicle with a loaded roof bike rack has increased fuel consumption: a roof rack with two bicycles, for example, increases fuel consumption by around one liter per 100 kilometers at speeds of 80 to 100 kilometers per hour and even by up to two and a half liters at speeds of 130 kilometers per hour. As the influence of wind resistance increases exponentially with increasing speed, the effect of the roof bike rack also increases. A noticeably increased susceptibility to wind and louder driving noise at speeds above 100 kilometers per hour are also common when using roof bike racks.

But for comparison: bike carriers like rear mounted bike racks also have a significant effect on the aerodynamics of a car. This is because the bikes are transported across the vehicle. Roof bike racks are not a bad choice for cars with a low cross-section and low center of gravity and for short trips. A money-saving tip: It is worth removing the bike rack when not in use, as even an unloaded roof bike rack already results in a noticeable increase in fuel consumption.

If a roof bike rack is generally suitable for your intended use, you should also consider a few other points:

• Bike weight: Which bikes do you want to transport? The weight of the bikes plays an important role in the ease of loading the carrier. If you often travel with electric bikes or heavy mountain bikes, you should make sure in advance that you can still lift and secure them on your car roof after a strenuous day on the bike. The roof bike rack must also be approved for the corresponding bike weight.
• Roof load: Not only the load capacity of the carrier, but also the maximum roof load of your vehicle is crucial - especially if you plan to transport several bikes. Roof bike racks themselves are relatively light, weighing just a few kilograms, but the weight of bikes depends heavily on the type of bike: It can vary between seven kilograms for a petite road bike and just under 30 kilograms for a large electric bike.
• Vehicle model: There are suitable basic carriers for a roof bike rack for almost every vehicle model. For many vehicles, this is the best transport option if they have neither a trailer hitch nor a suitable tailgate, as is the case with high-roof station wagons, for example. There are even carrier systems for high-priced sports cars such as Porsches and the like.

Once you have mounted your roof bike rack on the roof and loaded it, it is important to consider the change in clearance height of your vehicle. In addition to the change in driving behavior, caution is now also required when driving into the parking garage or even when entering your own garage: Because with the unfamiliar vehicle height, it can quickly happen that you forget about the bikes on the roof for a moment and hit a height restriction or the garage door - your bikes don't deserve that!

• Alongside rear bike racks, roof bike racks are the most popular option when it comes to bike transport by car.
• Roof bike racks are a good option for a vehicle without a trailer hitch or with a suitable tailgate.
• These carrier models are also very suitable for lightweight bicycles that you can simply lift onto the car roof.
• Bicycle roof bike racks are either mounted on a base carrier on the roof rails or on the car roof using a clamping mechanism.
• Due to the increased wind resistance, a vehicle with a loaded roof rack consumes more fuel.

The clearance height of your car also changes when the bikes are mounted on the car roof.