I received a call the other day from Customer Services at Decathlon asking me to kindly return the "port-vélo" I had bought from them last year and if I did there would be an extra 15 Euros in it for my efforts.  Seemed a bit strange to be offered cash just to bring back a defective product.

Turns out there is more to the story than a bad batch of "port-vélos". Decathlon has stopped selling all "port-vélos" that use the strap system to secure them to the back of vehicles. This, I am told, is due to some nasty accidents recently caused by the said faulty batch and also due to the bikes getting in the way of the brake and indicator lights. The later has prompted new legislation to be drafted and hence the decision by Decathlon to stop selling strap on "port - vélos". The only options available now to transport bikes are roof racks, tow bar attachments and bike trailers.

Now my 30 Euros strap on "port-vélo" worked just fine and given the width of my car I am sure the wheel spokes didnt obscure visibility sufficiently to warrant me now either installing a tow bar and then purchasing a bike trailer or buying expensive roof racks.

So having searched the Internet for some more information on this I have come up with nothing. Perhaps someone might shed some light on this for me? Has anyone heard of any new legislation about this? Can anyone recommend a good place to buy a strap on  "port vélo" other than Decathlon?

There 's a good  bike place called Newway Cycles (?) behind Decathlon on the exit on the route 202 to Grenoble . thy have a pretty good array of bikes and carriers. barter hard however. Regards.

Norauto appear to be doing "strap-ons" http://www.norauto.fr/securite/transport_securite.asp

I trust you are talking about bike attachments danonimes, and thank you for that advice. Was intending to go to Decathlon very soon for just this article, so will change direction. How many bikes can one strap hold?

Now what a coincidence, I was in Decathlon only yesterday and spotted that they have signs everywhere imploring me to return my strap-on, bike carrier asap. I have also been very happy with mine, and find the covering over of the number plate to be a bonus, if my auxiliary one happens to have fallen off (thanks for telling me officer  ;o)

Mine is grey and with blue stretchy straps, but apparently it is only certain production runs that are a problem? I always ratchet strap mine on as well, as you dont want anything to fall off in mid trajectory do you?

Have they now decided to recall all of them then?

If there is legislation pending to ban them, as per our salesman at Decathlon, there wouldnt be much point in buying one. So how would one go about confirming that one then.

I haven't heard about the legislation, but I do have a (non-Decathlon) bike carrier and it once came loose going over a speed bump. The bike swung upwards, and the top straps unhooked from the boot.  The side straps still held it, so it didn't come off.

Now I use a bit of duct tape to stick the hooks to the inside of the boot.

I also take the wheels off on long journeys and keep them in the boot. A pair of MTB wheels weigh about 3 Kgs

I also tried a roof carrier, but on the motorway the fuel consumption increased by 30% and it makes a hell of a noise.  Also you cant use the Carte Bleu booths in the toll stations.  The boot rack makes almost no difference to consumption or noise