Rear mounted bike rack for Cooper S

[FV1974]

Hi,
I am looking to carry two adult bikes and one child bike preferably on a rear mounted bike rack. I have been to Halfords and their bike rack does not fit Minis with a spoiler. Has anyone found a bike rack which fits a Cooper S?
I have looked on Saris web site but not sure whether it will work or not. Can anyone advice me? Thanks

[theexpertise]

Hi,

I have recently purchased one for my Mini One which has the Cooper S spoiler installed. The Saris Sentinel 3-Bike Car Rack is what I currently have, it is very stable and easy to install. It can be purchased from Evanscycles £59, I also ordered the Saris Hatch Huggers, so that no weight is pulled on the spoiler directly but from inside the car frame wiggle sell them for £14. I have so far used it twice with 2 bikes without a problem.

you can see the pictures here, flickr.com/photos/theexpertise/

Hope this info helps

[FV1974]

Many thanks - I bought the Saris Bones 3-bike rack which fit both my BMW and the Mini. Your suggestion of buying the Hatch huggers is a great one. I tried it on the Mini and the Saris hooks catch on the spoiler quite a bit. regards
Frederic

[theexpertise]

Glad to be of help

[timp]

Sorry to resurrect this one but.... does the strap that goes over the spoiler not put strain on the spoiler or do the hatch huggers eliminate that somehow. Or, does the Cooper S spoiler have holes in that the straps come through? It's difficult to see from the photos and I'd like to put that rack on a Dooper with std Chili pack spoiler

[theexpertise]

The Saris Hatch Huggers are trapped inside the car once the boot is closed, the weight is distributed evenly between the boot & roof from within the car, so no strain is put directly on the rear spoiler. This was the reason for buying the Hatch Huggers, they are foam padded so no damage will occur to the interior once the rack is fitted, I have used it several times without an issue with 2 bikes attached. I am quite fussy about ensuring my car does not get damaged, and I am happy with this solution as it has worked well.

[spiney]

I have a Saris too, that I used on a 2007 MCS and on my current Mitsubishi. I seem to remember that there was room between the spoiler and the top part of the hatch to get the hooks in between. What I have to do on the Mitsubishi is to take the strap out of the buckle and thread the end back down from the top, as there isn't enough room to push the hook up from below. This works fine. I didn't use the Hatch Huggers on the MINI, I didn't know about them then, but I will look at them for when I get another MINI in the next couple of months. I only ever carried two road bikes, combined weight maybe 45lbs.

I tend to put the rack on in the Spring and leave it on until the end of the year. On the Mitsu (and I think on the Mini too) the contact points are on the license plate and on the glass so there's zero body damage, and my Saris lets you point the bike holders vertically without having to adjust the fit so you don't constantly walk into them, and you can close your garage door. You can also open and close the hatch with the rack on very easily.

I can't find the one that I have on their website any more, but it looks similar to the Bike Porter style. The Bones looks like it rests on the bumper. I'm not sure I would do that with my car, however well you fit the rack, plus I don't see how you would open and close the hatch with that on.