5 bikes and lots of camping gear - what roof box/bike carriers have you got?

[KarenG]

We have two adult bikes and two 24" bikes plus an 18" bike. Currently a cheap hangon type bike carrier on the back for 3, two on the roof, everything else in the car (VW Sharan). This year we are going away for longer and will need more gear and clothes, so we're looking for something that will allow us to have a roof box as well. We don't really want to have to install a tow bar.

I'm thinking something like a Linea Atera bike rack for 4 bikes, plus a long medium-wide roof box that can have one bike carrier beside it on the roof, perhaps a Kamei - have done lots of looking on the roofbox.co.uk web site and googling reviews, but I seem to be picking all the most expensive products - bike rack is about £400+ (I'm not too worried about that one as we'll use it a lot) but the Kamei Corvara boxes are £300 ish, I was hoping not to have to spend hundreds and hundreds...

Can any of you seasoned campers recommend a really good combo? What make and model racks and boxes do you have? I'd be really grateful for any advice. Thanks

I think another problem you may have is wieght as there is a maximum about of weight you can carry in a car (look in you car handbook. To go over this as well as being illegal it makes break less affective and can invalidate your insurance as you are not using a car as described in handbook.

We are going to get a trailer as long term it is the best for us. The one we are looking at is this one as you can get a hard cover and get load bars for it. So your current bike fitting that go on the rook will fit.

My car get changed every three years (mobility car) and children are 4 and 9 and during this 3 year period they won't be able to fit in the car for trips to the park, I can't get them on the roof. When we go camping we take a lot of stuff as I need a bed. We also have a fridge. A trailer will give us more room making it easier to pack. The trailer will be able to be left in the garage mostly packed (new house has a garage) If we get a thule carrier on the tow bar we may also be able to take some of their friends camping with us. Our car is a grande renult scienic

Friends of ours have 4 dc and go camping for 4 weeks with a sharan and trailer and roof box will ask her if she takes thier bikes. They do have a fridge.

Thanks, we definitely don't want a trailer or tow bar though...

Any one else?

We don't have an ideal solution, but we do take 5 bikes camping. It's getting harder every year as the dds get bigger and their bikes get bigger too. Now we have 2 adult, 2 24" and a 20". last year we went camping in France with the 3 biggest bikes on a back rack, and the 2 smallest taken apart and piled on top of the camping gear inside the boot. We can't really put them on the roof as that has a windsurfer and a kayak. I think at some point as the bikes get bigger we might have to just rent a couple of bikes at campsites.

We used to have a trailer but that's quite a hassle.

Our roof box exploded on the A9...
We've got a trailer now instead, yet still managed to fill the car too.

We have just invested in lightweight folding bicycles for our family.