Luggage racks/ Bike racks

Hello all.
Ive just got a TF and due to shortage of space/money etc it has to be my only car. As one of my main hobbies is cycling there will come a time when I will need to transport it on the car. On previous cars I've carried it on the roof as Im not a fan of the rear carriers. Now I think I can get around the problem by buying a luggage rack (chrome of course) and attaching my cycle carrier to it. At the moment the carrier would overhang the boot by quite a bit, but I figured that if I removed the front wheel of the bike I could cut the carrier shorter and fabricate something to attach the front forks to. The overhang would then be brought down to something acceptable.
Has anyone carried a bike on a TF and if so what are there preferred methods? Also, the rack Ive been looking at is a removeable one, are these safe to use or are they likely to leave any mark on the boot?
All advice gratefully received and thanks in advance,
rog

This is the MG boot rack. I know it's not chrome, but reckon more than strong enough to cope with a bike. Has the added advantage of being lockable so not so easy for a toe rag to run off with it.


Sorry only pic I've got with the rack on.

They can mark the paint where the feet sit despite the rubber shoes, and may also rub the paint where the clamp hooks over the edge.

Unfortunately it's either that or drill holes in the boot lid for the bolt through type.

I used to have a matching mountain bike in the same colour as the car, ok ok I know but it happened by chance not planning

Its a distance pic of the car but you can see the bike rack




it was just a standard rack from Halfrauds an it held really well, at one point I had the bike on the back and a reclining black leather office chair on top, it took the lot ok

rog1963 wrote: Hello all.
Ive just got a TF and due to shortage of space/money etc it has to be my only car. As one of my main hobbies is cycling there will come a time when I will need to transport it on the car. On previous cars I've carried it on the roof as Im not a fan of the rear carriers. Now I think I can get around the problem by buying a luggage rack (chrome of course) and attaching my cycle carrier to it. At the moment the carrier would overhang the boot by quite a bit, but I figured that if I removed the front wheel of the bike I could cut the carrier shorter and fabricate something to attach the front forks to. The overhang would then be brought down to something acceptable.
Has anyone carried a bike on a TF and if so what are there preferred methods? Also, the rack Ive been looking at is a removeable one, are these safe to use or are they likely to leave any mark on the boot?
All advice gratefully received and thanks in advance,
rog

The boot rack that Tigger is showing you is a proper MG part and as far as i am aware only comes in black paint. it has four large rubber feet (100mmx50mm) which sit on the boot lid and is clamped at either side with a lockable clamp tthe hat hooks over the boot edges. There are others that bolt through the boot lid with four s/s domed head bolts. I would not trust a clamp on rack to secure an expensive bike! My son in law is a biker, and has proper roof rails fitted to their Honda CRV which the complete bikes can be clamped to, knowing they will not budge. he has five bikes at the moment and the most expensive one cost more than an average MGF. :whistle:

Thanks for the replies. They've given me food for thought. I was given today a Halfords rear cycle carrier for a hatch back with some good felt padsss to protect against marking. Im going to have a play iwth it over the weekend and see if it can be made to fit. I'll let you know if I have any success.

thanks again for the comments
rog

I've just added one of the MGF Accessories Brochures to the site, The book racks are included in this one here

Strange - in the brochure it states max weight of 9Kg but on the rack itself it's rated at 20Kg

I don't understand and my head hurts now!

Ooops... I think my chair was about 25kg at least + the wind hitting it

an on top of that the mountain bike, guess I was pushing it a bit