Buzz Rack Buzzrunner

If you’re a bike rider with a family there will come a time when the roof racks on your car are simply not enough. For most people, adding just a single child’s bike to the mix can throw it all out of whack, particularly at holiday time where most available space is taken up by luggage and other peripherals.

Most people faced with this dilemma will choose a towbar-mounted rack and there are many to choose from beginning with budget models of just over $100 right up to designs touching four figures. Many people will tell you that towbar racks are no good because your bike gets wrecked if someone crashes into the back of your car. In my experience the same people will tell you that roof mounted racks are no good because you forget your bike is on the roof when you into your garage or a shopping centre. My advice is not to surround yourself with these sorts of people.

Buzz Rack are a Taiwanese company who have a large range to suit all types of vehicles. The set on trial here are called the Buzzrunner and are available to carry two or three bikes of up to 15kg each. They come in a big, heavy box but I was pleased to see that most of the assembly work had already been done. The base of the frame was already completed, as was the U-shaped frame that goes over the top. All I had to do was join the two using a series of screws and add the numberplate holder. That said, adding the U-frame was a bit tricky and two people doing this is a good idea. Additionally, the instruction diagrams showed where to put the screws, but they weren’t very specific regarding which lengths and which nut combinations were the correct ones. Still, after a while the job was done without too much loss of temper.

Mounting the Buzzrunner to the car towball is childishly simple. A nice touch here is the key locking mechanism meaning someone in a ute can’t just drive up and pinch the whole thing while you’re in the café. Similarly, each bike can be secured with a key lock while on the rack. The tube mounts are padded to limit damage to frames, the wheel mounts are adjustable to suit different frame sizes and there are the standard quick-release straps for your wheels. The rack doesn’t fold up while on the towbar, but once removed you can fold the U-rack down flat for easy storage, including in the back of your car.