Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Just purchased the new bike (yay!)
What sort of bike carrier / rack should i look at getting?
For a Ford Territory. (Getting it up on top may be a little difficult)

Huff wrote:Just purchased the new bike (yay!)
What sort of bike carrier / rack should i look at getting?
For a Ford Territory. (Getting it up on top may be a little difficult)

Huff congrats on the new bike. What a glorious feeling!

I can help you out with an iSi carrier to suit your Territory. The compact model shown below is the right size for that vehicle.



The carrier also pivots down to allow free access to the rear of the vehicle without having to unload the bikes. There's a good deal of info on the iSi website and I'm happy to answer questions here if you want.

I am however mindful that I respect the forum rules because I own the business that manufactures these bicycle carriers so it can be argued that I have a vested interest in discussing the product. Regardless, here to help if I can.

That's one impressive rack!

The bottom line....cost?

I have a Territory and use a Thule roof rack with the Thule bike carrier that attaches to the front fork (cant remember the name). The height of the vehicle is no problem for me (180cm). This rack combo is good as it all locks. i.e. Racks lock to the roof; bike carrier locks to the racks; bike locks to the carrier.

Cheers.

Huff, sorry for the delay in responding. I just wanted to clear it with Christopher first. This is such a fun forum that I didn't want to compromise future involvement.

Huff wrote:That's one impressive rack!

The bottom line....cost?

Yes thanks Huff. There's a lot of love that's gone into that product. Actually, there's a lot of Engineering dollars that's gone into the product as well but that's most probably my fault for the sake of thorough testing



There are a bunch of general features of the iSi Extreme Duty carriers on this web page: http://www.isi-carriers.com/features.html

RRP is $495 including GST. It's a carrier that you will have for life and if you're in Melbourne, you're welcome to visit and I'll sort it out for you.

Hi Garry,

Am interested in your bike rack as we have been chasing this style for a while.

We have a Discovery Series II 2003 and off your web site the dimensions are a=182mm b=175mm c=585mm d=52mm e=60mm f=195mm.

We need a rack that when folded to the ground will enable us to open our rear door fully to get access to our fridge on a slider.

Which model would be best and can you provide me with your contact details?

We will be touring the Flinders Ranges in Oct=Nov this year and want to take the bikes with us.

Cheers,

Anthony

abaker wrote:Am interested in your bike rack as we have been chasing this style for a while.

We have a Discovery Series II 2003 and off your web site the dimensions are a=182mm b=175mm c=585mm d=52mm e=60mm f=195mm.

We need a rack that when folded to the ground will enable us to open our rear door fully to get access to our fridge on a slider.

Which model would be best and can you provide me with your contact details?

We will be touring the Flinders Ranges in Oct=Nov this year and want to take the bikes with us.

Cheers,

Anthony

Hi Anthony, what a great time you have ahead of you cycling through the Flinders! Though given the great weather conditions and the time of the year, take fly nets and make sure that you are comfortable wearing one over your helmet......

The Mid Length carrier is the best choice I think because it will keep the load nice and tight to the rear of the vehicle and when the carrier is lowered, give you a good 400mm or more clearance to work around the rear of the car without having to unload the bikes from the carrier.

I don't have any images of the carrier on the back of a Discovery however the closest dimensionally is the 150 Series Prado as shown below. This also gives you the ability to slide a fridge drawer out and have easy access to it without having to unload or adjust anything. Just pull the security pin, flip the latch and lower the load. Takes seconds.



and



If it helps at all, the image below is a CAD generated model of the mid length carrier with your dimensions in the up and lowered positions superimposed.



Depending upon where you explore in the Flinders, there are a few very tight spots so regardless of which solution you choose to carry bikes, don't go overhead loading, minimum sideways overhang and you will need plenty of departure angle clearance without any carrier movement or bounce. The last thing you need is to have to worry about the bikes when the going gets interesting. That of course and you have to be able to operate out of the back of the car with zero hassle.

Happy to help a fellow adventure traveller Anthony.

Hello George,
Here is Maurizio (Garri) .. I wrote using your site form, but only one mail had replies.. So I'm tryng to have a conctact here.
I think There is my registered e- mail here in, anyway it is garri_it@yahoo.it if you are so glad to get in conctact with me, i Will apreciate, I have some questions to ask you.
First of all the shipping cost to Italy for an extended heavy duty rack for my DH bikes, and second ..any advices for the correct fittings to a jeep wrangler with 37' wheels
Many thanks

we use this

http://www.thule.com.au/details.php?p_i ... Way_3_Bike

fits sedans and hatches and has securely carried bikes on the back of a Ford Escape, Subaru Liberty (sedan) and Toyota Starlett

Great if you dont have a tow bar or roof rack

Does George still haunt these forums, I'm trying to get some info on his carriers but he doesn't seem to answer query requests from his website and has no other contact details listed.

phild wrote:Does George still haunt these forums, I'm trying to get some info on his carriers but he doesn't seem to answer query requests from his website and has no other contact details listed.

Hi Phil,

Yes mate I'm here. Sorry about any hassle you've had with communicating. We are usually dynamite with responses to enquiries from our web site.

What's up?

Not sure why your webpage query interface isn't happenning, I've tried it twice, both times no response.

I have a 2007 120 series Prado, I think I need a Mid size in the Extreme 2 bike rack, is that correct?
Also what's the availability, do you have them in stock or make to order.

A suggestion, wouldn't hurt to put a contact phone number on your website, often a simple question can be dealt with in less than the time it takes to compose an email. I for one get nervous when I see sellers online wo don't give any contact info.

phild wrote:Not sure why your webpage query interface isn't happenning, I've tried it twice, both times no response.

I have a 2007 120 series Prado, I think I need a Mid size in the Extreme 2 bike rack, is that correct?
Also what's the availability, do you have them in stock or make to order.

A suggestion, wouldn't hurt to put a contact phone number on your website, often a simple question can be dealt with in less than the time it takes to compose an email. I for one get nervous when I see sellers online wo don't give any contact info.

Sorry mate, I can't explain why you haven't heard back. Pm me your email address and I'll investigate. We do often have typos in the email addresses supplied but it's rare to have that happen twice. We had phone, fax and email on the web site and I had them removed because of all the Chinese suppliers constantly hounding us to manufacture our carriers. They never gave up. It's tough to run a business when you have a hundred other businesses hammering at your door.

Anyway, to your question. Yes the mid length carrier is perfect on the back of a 90, 120 and 150 Series Prado. I'm happy to include one of our special multifit pivot bases that give you the ability to adjust the position of the carrier assembly relative to the tow bar receiver in case you install large off-road tyres in the future. We generally keep good stock of carriers but if we are out if something it's usually a week before we manufacture more.

We are away bush at the moment freezing in the high country so mobile reception is a bit of a luxury. The tracks are just sensational though!

I've got the gripsport from melbournes gripsport.com.au

Fantastic rack, fantastic service... Been on the scene and supported various things for ages... Checkem out....

George, check your PM.

phild wrote:George, check your PM.

Done.

We are back in range now after a harrowing ride out from Sheepyard Flat in the high country. Down along the horsey tracks with log jumps at 30kph. Each of us left blood up there.

gcouyant wrote: The carrier also pivots down to allow free access to the rear of the vehicle without having to unload the bikes. There's a good deal of info on the iSi website and I'm happy to answer questions here if you want.

Hi George,

Checked out your website, the rack is almost what I wanted.

Couple of questions re isi town and country carrier:
(1) Any idea the best way to attched a number plate and tail lights to the rack?
(2) How to prevent thiefs removing the two pins from the base plate and carry the whole thing away?

Thanks.

zr953 wrote:

gcouyant wrote: The carrier also pivots down to allow free access to the rear of the vehicle without having to unload the bikes. There's a good deal of info on the iSi website and I'm happy to answer questions here if you want.

Hi George,

Checked out your website, the rack is almost what I wanted.

Couple of questions re isi town and country carrier:
(1) Any idea the best way to attched a number plate and tail lights to the rack?
(2) How to prevent thiefs removing the two pins from the base plate and carry the whole thing away?

Thanks.

On the number plate issue, we do offer a licence plate holder for vehicles that need to display an axillary plate however with the advent of mandatory traffic authority manufactured plates, I think that the best solution is to zip tie the plate on to the rear wheel loop.



The issue with the official plates is that they are very thin and sharp. When the going gets rough over endless corrugations the plates fracture and fall apart. The zip tie solution allows the plate to swing and stay in one piece. The other benefit is that if you brush past the plate, you don't slice your thigh open.... With lights we discourage fixed light boards on the Extreme Duty carriers because they will fail and most likely affect the vehicle electrics as well. To illuminate the plate (which is mandatory at night) I use a little knog led lamp. In the case of the Town and Country carrier however, then the light board is hung from the rear horizontal heel support tube.

Security is pretty easy actually. I use a bicycle lock cable and pass it through the bicycle frames and wheels and then pass the cable through the carrier beam/pivot base interface shown below - and then attach to a secure point on the vehicle tow bar or chassis.



The thing with security is it's a bit of window into the human spirit. You need to show a reasonable attempt at security so that you do not tempt the innocent, but not so hard to issue a challenge to the criminal.

On the Extreme Duty carriers that Phil above was considering, there are a number of lanyard points to attach a security cable so that the bikes can be locked to the carrier and then the carrier itself locked to the vehicle. This just adds convenience when you're living out of the back of your 4WD.



Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info George, will have to source a lightboard first and see if it can be zip tied to your wheel stabilisers.

For the two bike verison of town and country carrier, how far and up is the hortizontal bar from the central base the tow ball, and what's the length of wheel stablizers? Reason being I dont want the bike tyre to be right at the car exhaust.

zr953 wrote:Thanks for the info George, will have to source a lightboard first and see if it can be zip tied to your wheel stabilisers.

Happy to help. Give me a yell when you get a chance and I'll give you a run down of what the policing requirements regarding lights are in your state or territory. Please use the contact web page http://www.isi-carriers.com/contact.html and mention that you're from the BNA forum and it will come to me. I do prefer to handle forum member enquiries.

zr953 wrote:For the two bike verison of town and country carrier, how far and up is the hortizontal bar from the central base the tow ball, and what's the length of wheel stablizers? Reason being I dont want the bike tyre to be right at the car exhaust.

Sorry mate I just saw the next part of your question. I could have sworn it wasn't there the other day when I responded.

I think that these are the dimensions that you're after.



I have included the tow bar tongue and the vertical dimensions are from the top face of the tow bar tongue and the horizontal dimensions from the centre of the tow ball. You will have to use your bicycle wheelbase figure however this should be pretty close.

If you do need additional clearance from the exhaust then the Extreme Duty carrier will give you that and more.

phild wrote:George, check your PM.

Thanks for the purchase Phil. Sounds like we have a bit in common..... We're busting to get back to Tassie when the weather is more kind to weary bones and the West Coast is more fat bike friendly.

Next trip in a couple of weeks is up to the Kimberley and the Gulf country for more remote adventures. This time it's with a bit more luxury. It's cheating when you have a fridge full of frosty recovery drinks, a shower to wash the crusty bits away, a bed that is safe from those pesky crocs and the bicycles always at hand.



Woo Hoo! Can't wait!

Now thats an awesome setup, camping in style

recurveron wrote:Now thats an awesome setup, camping in style

Yes, it's nice to come back to this



BUT, it's not all beer and skittles. It's actually a work trip to do with field testing and a schedule. We created this bicycle carrier for the van manufacturer and the carrier will be used on an exciting new full size van they are about to release. There is synergy between the two businesses because each of us are all about zero hassle - and we thrive on the engineering challenges in achieving that goal. Even simple stuff like having the carrier move out of the way for access to the front storage compartment.



It actually makes me jealous of our customers because without the work commitments, they are free to enjoy the products fully. Though it is cool when we come across others out there in the middle of nowhere because invariably we are all of like mind and heart. And the adventure stories we swap....over a frosty one.

Hmm testing in the Kimberleys, not all beer and skittles, I'll swap you jobs for a month....

My rack has arrived, hopefully will be assemble and test tomorrow, I'll post a pic of the completed install.

Thanks to George for your advice and prompt service, nice Kimberley Karavan you have there BTW, is it yours or a loaner?