roof mounted bike rack

jjojjas

I have always carried the MTB either in the Land Rover or on the roof of it, but now I have sold it and bought a volvo (I know....don't ask..).
What are the roof mounted bike carriers like? the ones that go in the roof rack.
I have a cheapo halfords boot mounted one in the loft that we used to sling on the back of the Golf, but I don't trust it as the straps stretch on it., and I could do without the expense of mounting a tow bar one.
Any ideas or recommendations/ (apart from "don't go under low multi-storey car parks with it on")

Jas

Neily03

Thule are the daddies. 8)

impished

I bought a Thule one, and yeah, they are quite expensive, but rock solid!!!
Buy it from Roofracks.co.uk, delivered next day, cheapest I could find, and very polite and friendly on the phone (oops, wrong card details :oops: ).
I did baulk at spending £180 on a roof rack at first, but then I thought about the fact that it's gotta hold, in the region of £500-£3000 worth of bike/pride-and-joy up there in the wind without falling off and killing someone!!! :evil: Worth every penny.

And yes, when you're on the way to a favourite ride with the music up loud and the windows down, you WILL forget as you approah a height-restrictor at the car-park!!! :oops: I'm sure the people behind me saw the funny side

dave_hill

jjojjas wrote:

I have always carried the MTB either in the Land Rover or on the roof of it, but now I have sold it and bought a volvo (I know....don't ask..)

What Volvo have you got? Most of them have integrated mounting points for roof bars built into the side frames abouve the doors (nowt wrong with Volvos BTW, I'm 36 and I'm on my third - I'll be getting my fourth this year with a bit of luck!)

Bear in mind that roof bars do nowt for your fuel consumption. If you leave them on expect to get about 3 - 5mpg less than if you take them off, even more with the bikes on the roof.

Personally I'd stick with the boot mount rack. I have the cheap-arse Halfords one too and it's great!

artillerydave

I have Atera Bars and Atera Giro bike mounts and they are spot on, cheaper than Thule but way more effective in my opinion, they are BMW standard fit, and are available aftermarket to fit all cars, I got them from Roofbox. co.uk who advertise in the back of bike mags and if you quote there reference you get 5% discount (or did when I got mine) they won Auto Express award for the level of simplicity and security.

jjojjas

cheers guy, I'll look at the thuel atera ones.
Dave_Hill its a V70 - newer shape. Its ok, but I liked my defenders and this is just a bit too......refined
The boot ones a bit of a pain as I'll have the dogs in the boot and need to open the door to let them out. I always remember driving to 7-staines when it was raining heavy with the D/H bike on the rear rack. I noticed a tapping sound and pulled over, the to straps had stretched and the bottom ones were just dangling around tapping the back of the car. It put me off really (saying that, the D/H bike was bloody heavy)

Jas

jjojjas

anyone used these ones?
http://www.tredz.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=465

Jas

papasmurf.

thule 591 proride are excellent (http://www.skidrive.co.uk/cycle/product ... tno=591000)

though it depends what type of bike you have..its not to good for certain full sus designs

the other option are these http://www.skidrive.co.uk/cycle/product ... tno=729705

papasmurf.

jjojjas wrote:

anyone used these ones?
http://www.tredz.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=465

Jas

can you be arses to mount the bike on it..take the wheel off etc...plus wouldn't trust my bike on something that cost the same as my seat clamp :shock:

scale20

I started with a rear mounted carrier on the car, did my head in try ing to get in the boot. I sacked that and the bike went in the boot, not ideal.

I got myself a roofrack and got a set of halfords premium roof cycle carriers. Best thing I ever did. Bikes are out of the way, you can get in the boot and keep the inside of your car clean. Even managed to talk my mate into getting one.

I will be getting the better thule carrier soon, however the Halfords ones i got are cracking. Ive travelled all over the country with the bike on top and they do the job pretty well, they can be a little noisy and rattly but the bike's not budged.

so if the the thule's are a little steep for ya, try the Halfords ones.

Roof mounted carriers are the way ahead!

dave_hill

jjojjas wrote:

Dave_Hill its a V70 - newer shape. Its ok, but I liked my defenders and this is just a bit too......refined

Don't worry, you'll get used to the peace and quiet and not having to visit a chiropractor every 300 miles!!! Oh and the fact that they don't break down. Ever. I know it's a bit OT, but I sold a 1997 S70 in May last year with 186,000 miles on the clock - the gearbox was like new and it was like driving your favourite arm-chair. Lovely stuff!