bike rack, which one?

[steve92]

hi all. am looking to get a bike rack on the bus to carry 2 bikes. have been looking at the fiamma one and the bluebird one.are there any better ones out there,which is best and finally! do they damage the van at all? cheers steve.

 

[angus]

Just bought a Fiamma one (from JK) a few weeks ago - works really well. Apparently it can allow leaks where the top 'hook' brackets squeeze the rubber seal, but no big deal. Really easy to clamp the bikes to (no straps etc) and I load 2 biggish full-sus mountain bikes. However, you may need longer arms to fit bigger bikes, as the ones JK provide are pretty small. DO NOT BUY THESE FROM JK - they charge a fortune - get them from the main importer and they are a lot cheaper! I'm going to get another arm or 2 as at the moment I am using one to fit first bike to rack, then the other one to fit second bike to first bike, if that makes sense.
JK claim it is an 'exclusive' developed for them - thats rubbish, you can get the same kit from the importer - see here:

http://www.agentfiamma.co.uk/erol.html#3863X0

To be fair, the JK price for the initial kit is pretty much the same, but the 'extras' are more from JK. I bought mine from JK in person, so avoided postage, and I shall still use all the bits that came with the JK 'kit', its just that I shall also buy a few more parts, if you see what I mean.

As far as damaging the van, I think as long as you use the provided padding and film, it should be fine.

I'll take some pics with bikes on if it is usefull...

 

[analord]

i've had the fiamma for about 5 years and it works fine, as long as you want 2 bikes

 

[steve92]

great cheers guys,seems the fiamma one does the job well.anyone got the bluebird one? think i prefer the way it looks on the van,but would be interested to know how good it is.

 

[steve92]

on closer inspection the bluebird one is made by pendle.