Preferred roof cycle carrier

[mat205125]

I'm in the market for a roof system to carry 2 bikes at a time (sometimes road, sometimes mtb). There are two main design types that I am looking at. The first where the bike goes on the roof complete (clamped on the downtube), and the other where the front wheel is removed and the bike mounts by the fork (wheel in the boot)

I am pulled towards the latter design, if for no other reason that my friends road bike says that it should never be clamped by the down tube (carbon), and his would be on it quite regularly.

http://www.roofracks.co.uk/main/cycleracks_roof.ht...

What experiences do people have of roof mounted racks, and what would you recommend. I don't mind making the investment in a thule setup if the extra expense is justified .... is it?

[agent006]

mat205125 said:

What experiences do people have of roof mounted racks, and what would you recommend. I don't mind making the investment in a thule setup if the extra expense is justified .... is it?

I've got a mostly thule setup for mine. The quality of the thule stuff is excellent and the non thule stuff really seems cheap in comparison. If you're buying bars as well then a benefit of the thule stuff is you can change the mountings when you change car, for about £40.
I've got two upright downtube clamp racks, and two upside down saddle and bars mounts, so i can fit 4 bikes at a time. Thick mtb bars would struggle on the upside down ones.

[tjdixon911]

I was looking at the Thule 591 the other day, it does look good quality, better than the two I have but I did only pay £10each for them....

www.skidrive.co.uk seemed to be the cheapest I could find the 591.

[neil_bolton]

Thule roof racks that mount via the forks rock - I have two, and they are rock solid.

I've had many a back country road blast with the bikes on and surprised people

Very much worth the investment IMHO - just be careful not to drop the forks onto the rook when putting the bike on and off the rack

[mat205125]

Cheers Neil! That's the kind of "not fking about" endorsment that I'm looking for .... You don't work for Thule do you

Looks like the way to go for me .... Just gotta decide what car to buy now.

Thanks to the poster reminding me that my investment can be transferred to my next car with some new feet. Hadn't considered that.

Edited by mat205125 on Monday 11th February 14:22

[neil_bolton]

mat205125 said:

Cheers Neil! That's the kind of "not fking about" endorsment that I'm looking for .... You don't work for Thule do you

Looks like the way to go for me .... Just gotta decide what car to buy now.

That's to the poster reminding me that my investment can be transferred to my next car with some new feet. Hadn't considered that.

Two secs and I'll go out and photograph the car with the bike on...

[neil_bolton]

Here we go:





This one shows how a 20mm fork is mounted. The newer Thule's come with this adaptor as standard, the old ones (i.e. the one my Meta is on, didn't...











Make sure you get the locking thingies, they help you chill a bit when at Motorway services and such like stops.

Also, consider the wheel holders - I have a couple of the older ones (Ebay for 2 of the old racks and wheel holders cost me £50 ) and they are very helpful in a boot which may already be full of kit and toolboxes...

Well worth the investment, as mentioned, because they fit nearly any car with the appropriate feet...

p.s. yes I know, worst I've got DT Swiss and XTR wheels and all sorts of bling ever...

Edited by neil_bolton on Monday 11th February 14:26

[neil_bolton]

p.s. Don't drive into a low archway with your pride and joys on either, and then think "Ooh, I'll reverse out, that'll do it" when they get stuck:

This happens:

[atom111]

Second the Thule stuff had it for years change the feet and move from car to car unless it's way wider or narrower than the last one , well made and reliable.

[mat205125]

neil_bolton said:

p.s. Don't drive into a low archway with your pride and joys on either, and then think "Ooh, I'll reverse out, that'll do it" when they get stuck:

This happens:

Will have to remember that one! Do the bikes fit under the height restriction bar at Cwmcarn?

[neil_bolton]

Yep, Pete and I both took the Y Bikes on my car, so must do - else we'd have noticed

[WildCards]

Those DT Swiss wheels look nice Neil

[atom111]

I've not noticed the height bar at CwnCarn must be new or very high as i'd have knocked my bikes off when I last went

Neil - those photos are a stark reminder of remembering the bikes are there!!, it's easily done, have had a couple of close calls but no damage yet, mainly low hanging trees rather than static immovable objects.

[JPJ]

Another option if you can cope with the wheel on-downtube holding type is the Atera Giro. I've got three on the roof and they work really well, and they don't clamp the downtube so tight that they are going to damage it, so no issue with the carbon bike. They are also very secure at more than one lepton.....

[neil_bolton]

My best VMax achieved with a bike on the roof has been 135 so far - 125 with 2 bikes (obviously in France) and I've had no issues bar a serious fuel bill.

Its certainly quite a chuckle when you annoy the repmobiles with bikes on the roof

Atom: Know what you mean - however it was more of a "Yeah, no worries, loads of height" bump scrapppppppe "oh crap" type situation...

[atom111]

neil_bolton said:

Atom: Know what you mean - however it was more of a "Yeah, no worries, loads of height" bump scrapppppppe "oh crap" type situation...

[mat205125]

The time has come to buy. Picked up my new car last weekend (bought an Audi A3 1.8T sport for daily hacking duty), and was about to place my order for my roof bars, feet and carriers mounting by the forks when I read there line about the carriers placing high loads on forks, and therefore not being recommended for bikes with carbon forks. As the carriers must suit my road bike as well as the the mountain bike, this is a concern.

Are the frame clamped designs that keep both wheels attached any less stable? This looks like the best compromise to carry both types of bike. I plan to buy a pair to carry an accomplices bike if we are off for rides which will be a mountain bike most of the time. Could it be worth ordering one of each? Maybe it could be worth accepting that they put on the line as a disclaimer for carbon forks, or is that just stupid? I imagine that the tension that a lateral wind would put on a fork is completely different to normal designed loads. Anyone use the latter of the two below designs with a carbon forked road bike?

http://www.skidrive.co.uk/cycle/product_detail.php...

or

http://www.skidrive.co.uk/cycle/product_detail.php...

DAMMIT! Just when I thought I had made up my mind

[atom111]

I use 591 but only on Ali and Steel mountain bikes, the only think I read was that you can crush the down tube with the clamp so you need to be careful there.

If you google there is some research on the carbon forks and roof racks. I would expect that the forks fixed are more stable but with my 591's I haven't noticed any abnormal instability.

[Nuggs]

mat205125 said:

...I read there line about the carriers placing high loads on forks, and therefore not being recommended for bikes with carbon forks. As the carriers must suit my road bike as well as the the mountain bike, this is a concern.

IIRC, the Thule UK website says the 561 has an "easily adjustable snap-on fastener for all types of forks, including carbon fibre forks with steel dropouts".

See here

[mat205125]

Nuggs said:

mat205125 said:

...I read there line about the carriers placing high loads on forks, and therefore not being recommended for bikes with carbon forks. As the carriers must suit my road bike as well as the the mountain bike, this is a concern.

IIRC, the Thule UK website says the 561 has an "easily adjustable snap-on fastener for all types of forks, including carbon fibre forks with steel dropouts".

See here

This site seems pretty black and white to me.

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/allprods/Thule_OUTRIDE_fo...

My conclusion, therefore, is that I'll go with 591 racks that keep both wheels attached. Also has the benifit of not needing to sling a filthy pair of mountain bike front wheels in the boot.