Found what i think is a pretty decent deal, various models to choose from but check out this 4 bike tilting tow bar mounted bike carrier delivered for $25. still selling for well over $100 elsewhere. They also have fixed 2, 3 and 4 bike carrier and tilting variants all on clearance.
Never used this brand before (placed my order so yet to see quality), and yes I'm sure there are better designs but for $25 for the odd road trip this will do just fine.
@Yimmy: Brand of Towbar ? Did they do all the electrical work as well ? $650 for towbar only or including labour ?
Yes. That sounds suspiciously cheap. Because of all the elctronic wizmo towbar fitting for our Koleos was over $1k years ago, and that was a good price rather than new car dealer takign advantage of buyer excitement rip off. I enquired when looking at a potential replacement new Subaru earlier this year and towbar fitting is now even dearer.
check amazon, i found it is cheaper to buy from the US than here for my car, install is really easy , but does require physical strength and get hands dirty
Have a hitch receiver on my car. Don't know the first thing about towing, is it better if the bike rack goes straight into the hitch receiver or does it not really matter?
I believe it needs a ball. You can buy one that slides into the receiver
https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/hayman-reese-hayman-rees…
Thank you!
This one needs a ball. But one that slides in to a hitch receiver will have a much higher load rating. You can even carry motor bikes on those.
Thank you, sounds like that's a better bet.
I have one, I used it yesterday.
Can’t fit 4 bikes, we manage 2 adult ones and a kids bike.
The 3 ‘screws’ on top have had the plastic break off, so need a spanner every time to screw/unscrew it.
In the mirror it bounces around, so I used to be nervous, but nothings fallen yet and I’ve done highway and bumpy roads.
As some say, if you have a $1000 bike, buy a wheel holding one, either roof or from the tow bar.
But my bike is 16 years old and a bit rusty, so all good.
In the mirror it bounces around, so I used to be nervous, but nothings fallen yet and I’ve done highway and bumpy roads.
Use some bungee cables to tether the wheels together and then wrap around the tow bar. This stabilizes the bikes and stops them from moving around.
Cheers ! Was looking for one. Thanks.
No way they have enough stock to honour it for all of us. But ordering anyway. Server slowed to a crawl just when I want to pay…
Any options if you don’t have a Towbar ?
Well not for this deal, but you can get the style that strap on to your boot (depending on your car).
I have seen them are they safe ? Thanks
Sure, if you buy a good one and use it properly.
I was able to order it today as well
Greta, now I need a towbar for a VW Touareg. ANy clues on a good deal?
how dare you
Bought one…
thanks OP! been looking for one for ages and for $25 ($35 with shipping) i cant complain!!
Use code FREESHIP24 for free shipping.
ahhh I jumped the gun and didnt read the whole post and paid for shipping. still cant complain for $35 though!
Did the same thing! Maybe the $35 orders get honoured first? ;)
Far out, are all orders going to get fulfilled? It's a clearance item, generally they only have stock for a hundred or so not thousands.
I'm probably stating the obvious (as anyone who owns a carbon bike should know): these bike carriers are not designed for carbon bike frames as they clamp down on the carbon frame in areas that are not designed to take the clamping force.
If you do have a carbon bike, buy a bike carrier that clamps to the wheels and not the frame.
If you have the money for a carbon bike, one would assume you have the money for the correct accessories for it too lol. I'd be hitching a bike like that to a wheel lock mount on my roof racks, not on a cheap rack like this.
Good find. Had a tow bar fitted so I could get one of these bike carriers, but never got around to actually researching and buying one. At $25 who needs research??
I have an older steel bike carrier collecting dust under the house. Now there will be two :)
Thanks Op, bought.
All I need now is a deal on a car, a tow bar and a bicycle
I got one. Let's see if they fulfil the order.
I bought one of the 4 bike ones a couple of weeks ago for $45 inc postage. At the time I assumed it was so cheap that I could not go wrong. Now I feel like I wasted $45. This thing is a piece of junk. All the bikes are held on with a single top plate which is fastened down with several screws. This means that to remove one bike, you have to undo all of the screws, and if you have bikes with different size/shaped top tubes, you will not be able to securely fasten it over the ones with the smaller tubes. If you have cheap bikes that you don't really care about, maybe it's ok, but I won't put my nice bike in this and certainly would not try and put more than one bike that I cared about in it.
There is 0% chance that anyone ever bought this at the supposed RRP. I have since seen many of the same ones on gumtree and FB marketplace because obviously a lot of people had the same thought.
So having an adult bike and a kids/teenager bike with a smaller frame wouldnt fit right on this carrier?
Not so much about adults vs kids but about the size and shape of the top tube. If the top tubes on the bikes are very different, it might not be possible to properly clamp the top plate down over the bikes evenly.
Just shove half a pool noodle or similar in there. Should provide enough padding to clamp down on
This means that to remove one bike, you have to undo all of the screws
I think generally people who carry bikes would take them all on and off at the same time…… Don't see why you would carry 2, 3 or 4 bikes only to get 1 off? Unless its like a pickup and drop off situation with an ex wife……
Pickup and dropoff situation with a friend, going for a ride together at a location that required driving to. Not sure why it would be an ex wife?
Not sure why it would be an ex wife?
Take the kids for a bike ride and have to drop them + the bikes back to the ex wife…..
@geekcohen: ok, sounds unusually specific but you do you! If you always want to load/unload all bikes (good luck fitting more than two on the four bike carrier, btw) at the same time, this won't be a problem for you, but just raising the issue for those that might want more flexibility.
sounds unusually specific but you do you
Don't have an ex wife, so not a problem. But just more of a scenario that I thought of.
Is $25 at Repco too with bad reviews on Repco and autobahn sites, one guy lost a kids bike on the motorway
I bought one from Rolla today with free delivery but now I’m wondering if I should of because of the bad reviews Re safety
@J B S: Just secure the bikes with some extra ropes or a ratchet strap? You probably want to tie the wheels in some way anyway besides otherwise they'll spin. Whilst you don't have to, always a good idea.
@J B S: They work fine. Secure the bikes properly, don't overload (weight), use common sense, don't have a rear ender and you'll be fine.
Mate have to say that you're making a mountain out of a molehill.
At SRP, these days these are still an inexpensive bike carrier that gets the job done. At $25 it's a steal.
Having experience with transporting bikes over more than two decades on this style of carrier fastening prior to acquiring my Thules, I wouldn't have bought the Rola FX 4 bike carrier for a 4 bike carry unless transporting $200 K-Mart bikes, and didn't. However I did buy their FX 3 bike carrier with the intention of only ever transporting 2 bikes at most, although ordinarily only 1 (mine) to any ride. Bottom line, the 2 or 3 bike carriers of this tilting style work just fine as an inexpensive carrier for anyone on a budget with a need to carry 1 or 2 bikes regularly as does the fixed (non tilting) version. They get the job done. Unless one wants to take the rack off the car when parked or risk it stolen, the beauty of this type of rack is that it's less likely to be stolen than a Thule et al, & if it is stolen whilst riding the financial loss is mitigated.
They won't fail structurally, fall off the car on the freeway, & neither will the bikes. Nor will bikes be damaged in transit for anyone with a modicum of common sense.
A downside is that with pretty much all of this style of top fastening rack save the expensive ones with soft fastenings, the recesses are one standard size which doesn't seem to have been updated since the days when top tubing was a standard diameter iron or CroMo. They are generally not designed to carry fatter top tubes nor optimum for carbon fibre (due potential of crush). However with bikes of similar fatter top tube thicknesses of alloy & even carbon applying practical smarts, they will still work fine. That said, if I was regularly transporting a $5-$10k carbon bike, I would buy a Thule for that job. Hey, hold on. I did. For better cushioning with these, as someone else has recommended, fit pieces of pool noodle cut to fit or go to Clark Rubber and buy some speciality higher density foam rubber tubing to make your own protectors.
I haven't seen the actual screw downs on the FX yet, but have used that type. Even on the 4 bike version, there are just three. Two on the 2 and 3 bike versions. 20 seconds to remove all. Hardly a major or challenging job. The plastic encapsulated top screw down nuts worked without issue on previous versions I have had in the past for many year without failure. Don't be hamfisted or insecure and overtighten and these should too. Prior to that, this type of carrier commonly used all metal wingnuts facilitating toolless fastening. That would be an alternative. Any decent nuts and bolts store should be able to sort that for you for pennies.
If I was as concerned as you are & wanted a hitch 4 bike carrier, then go with this Alternatively for 2 bikes, this I have the latter for my everyday transportation of one or two bikes to a ride, and an older version/previous model of this one for longer distance multiple bike transport. Thules are outstanding, but they are expensive & not a fit for everyone's need nor budget.
.
Sure. Don't disagree with any of that. I don't deny this rack will be good enough for some people. The fact is though, that this rack is not useful for me, and $45 wasted is still annoying, and now I have to have this large rack taking up space in my shed or deal with gumtree or FB marketplace people. I posted so that others who might be discerning about their choice of bike rack wouldn't waste their money, even though it's not much.
My bike has a carbon frame, and while not $5-10K, it cost enough that I'm not going to load it into a crush machine. And even if I wanted to, the very first time that I had the opportunity to use the Rola rack, was going for a ride with a mate who had a different sized tube bike. Bikes are pretty variable these days and it's very likely that any two randomly chosen will have different sized top tubes. Luckily my mate arrived to pick me up with his Thule rack on the back of his vehicle ;).
You can use these with a carbon frame. I have. Just do the pool noodle thing and don't be overzealous with tightening it to 1000ft/lb torque.
That said, if you have a cabon frame, the $249 Thule 2 bike unit I linked to is a bargain and does a great job. I'd buy the same again as my primary everyday carrier without hesitation. Best carrier I have ever used for everyday 1 or 2 bike practical transportation.
This would sh1t me to tears trying to use.
Extremely cheap design, although $25 is $25
I have a towbar and I have a 4wd and I need one of those. Hoping they honour this!
EDIT: Have read the comments here and online…. hoping they don't honour this!
Got one. Thanks OP.
Looking for a 4 bike carrier for occasional use, bought one. Thanks.
Thanks for the heads up OP. Didn't really need one as I already have two Thules, but for $25 I wasn't not getting one of these. Bargain! Seems too good to be true. We'll see Rola AU come good with dispatch and delivery. I bought the three bike tilting as both of our cars are SUVs.
The three bike fixed type similar to this was my only bike carrier for an aeon. Provided me with sterling service for more than 20 years from a time when that type was pretty much all that was available. It'll comfortably secure two adult bikes with sufficient space not to cause interference damage one another, three at a pinch if you don't care about such things..
Thanks OP, just what I need. Not sure of my chance getting it though
Bought the 3 bike version last time and have been using it to transport 2 bikes. Feels secure and has been fine for me
Hi All, I have Honda Odyssey 2014 model. I don't have tow bar yet want to buy this bike carrier. Is this ok for my car?
You need a towbar for this.
I already have a 4-bike carrier from Repco. I am guessing most people here will buy the 4-bike version, so I just ordered the 3-bike version, hoping Rola has more stock available. But I am suspecting with so many people ordering during public holiday, most people will receive a cancellation email tomorrow.
They are based in Keysborough, VIC. No public holiday there.
What's the chance of losing all the bikes and causing a major incident on a freeway with this cheapie ? But at least you saved some $$$ right ?
Have you ever heard of such an incident in Oz? Anecdotally, there's your answer.
They say fits all towbars. But it looks like it goes inside the hole after removing the ball. My towbar is one piece, the ball can't be removed. Now what?
Angle grinder? Blow torch?
Get a new tow tongue with a removal tow ball? They are like $50……
You have a euro don't you? I'm not sure if there's an option for these hitches
If you're constrained by an integrated Euro towball, buy a Thule. They clamp over the towball. See here The Thule Hang On if you want a 4 bike carrier in that type.
These FX sold by Rola are fine for standard towballs.but mount under the ball between the tongue & ball. To fit you have to remove and refit the ball. A simple but dirty three minute job requiring nothing more complex than a decent shifting spanner. That's why they make hitch mounted carriers tiltable these days with the popularity of SUVs where the rack obstructs boot opening.
The TX-104 4-bike carrier shown here https://rola.com.au/tx-104--4-bike-carrier/ is on special at Super Cheap Auto here https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/rola-rola-folding-bike-c… for $180. Not on special at the Rola site. Got my worried for a minute there after my purchase yesterday!
Any idea for tow bar installation options on Mitsubishi ASX in Melbourne west/north and expected cost?
I got my Nissan fitted with a Tag brand tow bar for around $1200. The towbar itself was around $700 and the rest was labour.
I searched a towbar for the asx on the Tag website and it's $380 for a standard towbar so add 3-4 hours at $150/hr and that's a rough cost.
Obviously that's just a rough guide and you don't HAVE to get a tag brand.
After ordered, did anyone get a confirmation email?
Yes, but it could just be an automated reply email during this public holiday. Will have to wait till tomorrow to confirm if stock is available and if the order can be processed. Not holding my breath though.
sigh 😔 wished this comment https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/14363331/redir was posted right after the OP - I wouldn’t have purchased it…
It's unlikely you'll get it, doubt they have 1000s in stock…
But then: even if the specs are exaggerated, and it isn't really suitable for 4 bikes, I'm pretty sure it will be just fine for 1 bike, and that's all I need :-)
is it considered a click-bait tactic? and got our details for “free” 🤷♂️
Did not provide my real name for the order. Used Commbank travel card to pay. They got nothing on me baby…
interested to see if it arrives and by the sounds of it, more interested if its worth $25
Only this one has a tongue that goes into the hitch receiver.
The one linked in this deal requires removal of the tow ball, then sandwich it in between.
You may use a tow ball spanner, but chances are it's not going to give you enough torque. So you may need a large adjustable spanner, or to it properly, a 1" 5/16 deep socket and a 1/2" breaker bar. Or get your mechanic to do it.
Probably the reason why it's going cheap.
Only this one(rola.com.au) has a tongue that goes into the hitch receiver.
Providing you have one of these - Designed to work with 50x50mm (Hayman Reese - Class 4) towbar recievers.
50x50mm hitch receiver is probably the most common in Australia.
Some OEM tow bars (especially European) have a one piece tongue and ball design, they don't have a removeable tow ball nor a 50x50mm receiver, so neither this deal nor the one I linked is compatible.
The reference to "Hayman Reese - Class 4" is probably just to say that the bike carrier is not compatible with certain OEM tow bars.
@browser that one also gets sandwich on the towball
https://pro-series.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/FX3F-02…
Strange, it says designed to work with 50x50mm hitch receiver, not sure why the tow ball is in the picture.
These are terrible will end up in land fill
Just a suggestion, if your car doesn't have a tow bar and thinking of installing one to use this bike carrier, you would be better off to get a platform type carrier.
Spending $1,000+ to install a tow bar, just shell out another $200 to get something like this: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BR8M4NM4
Spend more if you fancy a Thule or Yakima, basically you want a carrier that holds and secures both wheels, instead of clamping and hanging the top tube.
My towball only cost $300
Has anyone received any shipping info as yet?
ordered late in the piece and just got this ..
Thank you for taking advantage of our FX Bike Rack clearance.
We're clearing out space in our warehouse for the new Titan Tray and Ridge Mount, and you've got a great deal.
We've experienced a huge demand for our bike racks and there may be some delays in dispatch, up to 2 weeks. Please be patient as we work through the backlog and we hope you get great value from your bike rack.
Yeah, I got the same just now. Order was #4671x
My order is about 300 on top of yours! Maybe it’s not a conventional numbering system otherwise they’ll have to ramp up production again.
Or do a lot of refunds.
Same
Got the same email just now.
Damn… first to order last to get my confirmation. such is the ozbargain life :(
note to self to await confirmation before posting :P
Just received mine today. For $25 cant go wrong considering the frequency ill be using it, but not exactly comparing it to a Thule design/quality either. Pretty happy for the price.
Hope everyone gets theirs too.
Damn received too. We have not even got confirmation yet.
Great you got yours. Did you even get email saying it’s been shipped? Or just rocked up at door. I just got order email after I ordered. (Automatic email).
@paulpavs glad you got it. did they provide a tracking number or updates when it was shipped out?
No tracking email or text. Literally checked the front door as the dog was barking and vuala it had arrived.
Actually a pretty good bargain. Very heavy and solid although i wouldnt put anything too expensive on it. Its a very basic design but $25 its a buy now think later scenario.
@paulpavs: Was it sent via Startrack? I've got a random tracking code showing is Auspost and there is no info on who sent it.
2011