Mister Paul - interested in what you said above.
I have a Focus with tow bar & want a Pendle Wheel support rack for 4 bikes. I contacted pendle & the lady I spoke to said the weight calculation was:

4 bikes(54kg) + rack(19kg) + towbar(16kg) = 89kg.
......... & I should check the nose weight of my car.
Theres nothing in the manual but the Focus brochure states Max Nose weight 75kg.

Does this mean my nose weight should exceed the weight on the back to be safe?

Not sure what she meant about checking the noseweight of your car. Perhaps she meant caravan, and assumed you would be pulling one?

From my experience the max downward load on a towbar is usually around 75kg (that is what it is for a C-Max, the only stat I could find on the web).

The 75kg generally does not include the weight of the towbar itself. So four bikes and the carrier is 73kg, which shoudl be within your car's limit.

You will notice a difference to the steering with that much weight right at the back of the car.

Ring ford's technical services on
0906-5533441

(50p a min premium rate no IIRC)

I personally would go for 2 on the roof and 2 on the back or a trailer (you can get those caddy trailers for around £120 -£150 and it will come in handy for all the trips to garden center B&Q and the tip as well

BTW Nose weight is the amount of downward force applied to the bracket and subsiquently the car chassis. So IS an important issue as the leverage of the load can dammage the floor pan/ mounting points of the car leading to warenty invalidation and structural failure and a risk of prosicution for exceading the "94/20 EC" regs basically the towbar has the Nose weight on a little plate (on my dads focus its to the left of the ball on the main cross member) which if caught in excess can lead to prosicution for carying an unsafe or insecure load and in the event of an accident you being criminaly (spl) negligent

I use a pendle wheel support rack that carries 2 bikes, excellent and safe, easy to use and bikes are secure and safe.
Look on this site, gave me very good service and quick delivery:
http://www.roofbox.co.uk/

Hi - I also use a Pendle hang - on type - its for three bikes - I can do dips (Like superstars)on it no prob - and I weight 100kg - it ain't going anywhere. Taken bikes to France and mways no probs - much beter than roof mounting

You do get what you pay for - the Pendle fixing kit is really tough stuff. The rack wobbles slightly with three bikes on but its paranoia rather than any chance the bikes will fly off

One easter - I saw at least £10k of bikes scattered down the M4 from boot mounted racks - how much is you bike worth to you?