Roof carriers

matthooper

Hello everyone

In the process of purchasing a roof carrier for my bike (it will need to fit Thule aero bars by the way) but not sure what to get. A lot of cycling websites seem to sell the San remo 3 carrier which you need to take the from wheel off (which seems like a bit of a pain?) but i'm also looking at the Thule carrier too.

Can anyone tell me from their personal experiences which one they use, recommendations are always best I feel...........

Cheers guys

feel

thule 8)



can't get the type that i have now , but this is similar http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Thule ... 360036121/

nicklouse

another one for the 591.

fatfreddy

and another (591)

ff

paulieb2006

I have a Doae Roma rack and it is really great. Sorry I dont have any other details on it. Does creak a lot when the bike is on, but I have checked it over and over again and it is fine. Think it is the clamp on the frame.

NB Dont go anywhere near multistory car parks or low bridges. Have seen some disasters!!!

Cheshley

I had the Thule 951 and didn't like that the arm that lifts and holds the frame doesn't lock down when not in use. I have the Mont Blanc Discovery racks and can't recommend them highly enough and they come with fittings for aero bar or standard square bars.

blackhands

A vote for the San Remo - I've had 4 bikes on the roof doing about 100mph with no problems.

With roof bars (going across the car) I often just turn the bike upside down with the brake levers on the front roof bar and hold it down with toe straps - haven't had a problem in 40 years.

paul_or

I used http://www.roofbox.co.uk/ and found them to be very good. I bought their cruz bici racks and roof bars which are a very reasonable £75 all in for 2 bikes. The quality is good, they are definitely not cheap and nasty and they work well!

richa

Elite San Remo. Great value. Much less obtrusive when the bikes aren't onboard. I also think the bike is more stable having the forks clamped in place.

Gary D

I have both a Thule Velovise which clamps on the forks, and 4 of the sort which clamp on the down tube.

If I am carrying the kids, wifes and my Aluminium framed bikes I am quite happy to use the latter type.

However, if I am carrying my Carbon framed bike, then I feel a lot happier using the fork clamp one. :oops: :oops:

With the down tube clamp type, you are able to exert a lot of force when clamping as they use a cam action (on the sort I have anyway). I am not one of those that believes CF frames are made of glass, but what I do know is that it is much easier to crush a carbon frame tube than an Alu one.

Hope this helps,

Gary.

paulieb2006

The most important thing is to stick with roof racks. Was in my LBS last Wednesday morning and there was a guy in there with an insurance accessor and 8k worth of bikes in bits. He got rear-ended on the was to a race last weekend. His race bike was a Ridley worth 5k and his spare worth 3k. The insurance accessor wanted to just give him 4 new wheels.
Bad luck though.

Lucky Luke

paulieb2006 wrote:

The most important thing is to stick with roof racks. Was in my LBS last Wednesday morning and there was a guy in there with an insurance accessor and 8k worth of bikes in bits. He got rear-ended on the was to a race last weekend. His race bike was a Ridley worth 5k and his spare worth 3k. The insurance accessor wanted to just give him 4 new wheels.
Bad luck though.

When you're using a roof mounted rack you do need to remember the bikes are up there .

Sounds obvious but it's easy to forget if say you're going under a barrier or into a carpark etc and such a simple error can cause a lot of damage to both your bikes and car if you do happen to forget .

mitchgixer6

I may have 2 Thule 575's up for sale if anyone is interested? Bought off Ebay as the seller listed them as 530's! Doh!

Are the fork type carriers OK for Carbon forks? Anywhere I've seen them suggests they are not suitable as they put too much force through the forks.

Gary D

mitchgixer6 wrote:

Are the fork type carriers OK for Carbon forks? Anywhere I've seen them suggests they are not suitable as they put too much force through the forks.

From what I understand, they are OK if the forks have Aluminium or Steel dropouts - not carbon ones. However, I am sure that is a debateable point as well
I know I would prefer to clamp on the Al dropouts with that type, than on the down tube with the other sort of roof carrier :shock:

Gary.

terongi

Is it safe to carry carbon bikes on a roof rack on the motorway.

I am thinking of high speed chips of stone and tarmac kicked up from truck tyres etc.

Am I just paranoid?

AyrshireBacon

mitchgixer6 wrote:

I may have 2 Thule 575's up for sale if anyone is interested? Bought off Ebay as the seller listed them as 530's! Doh!

Are the fork type carriers OK for Carbon forks? Anywhere I've seen them suggests they are not suitable as they put too much force through the forks.

I may be interested in these depending on how much you are looking for.

What is the difference between the 575 and the 530?

sdbiker

I've got the Thule Outride 561 (fork mount type) as well as 2 of the down-tube clamping type. I much prefer the 561 fork mounting one. It's really quick and positive in operation. Only slight snag is that you then have to put your mucky wheel in the car somewhere, although I sometimes carry it flat across the two roof bars (with bungee straps) if the car's already full.

sdbiker

I've got the Thule Outride 561 (fork mount type) as well as 2 of the down-tube clamping type. I much prefer the 561 fork mounting one. It's really quick and positive in operation. Only slight snag is that you then have to put your mucky wheel in the car somewhere, although I sometimes carry it flat across the two roof bars (with bungee straps) if the car's already full.

Woodenleg

Another one for Thule 591. Haven't I read somewhere that ridgidly mounting the forks to a rack have a detrimental effect on headset bearings via vibration?