Roof Bars for Bike Racks

ForumNewbie

I am thinking of getting a couple Thule bike carriers so I can carry our bikes on my car roof. To do this I also need to get roof bars to fix them to. My car has 2 fixpoints at each side of the roof which you can attach the bars to fairly securely - I think. However I am also thinking of changing my car soon and I noticed that a lot of cars do not have fixpoints, and for these you require a different type of roof bars which just seem to clamp to the roof at the top of the doors. To me this doesn't look as good a system as cars with fixpoints on the roof, as I presume it is not as easy to take the bars off the car when you are not using them and I am also concerned about possible paintwork damage with these systems.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone that has either type of roof bars as I wondering whether or not I should ensure I buy a new car with fixpoints on the roof.

kingrollo

You can get generic bars off ebay - this is probably your best bet. I have these and its pretty good - I do leave the bars and racks on the whole time though..

A couple of warnings

Dunno what car you have - but if you have a people carrier thing - be aware the that the whole thing gets pretty high - and mounting bikes becomes a 2 person affair.

hitthewall

I've had 3 different types - all on Fords.

1997 Mondeo hatch had I think is what you are describing as the 2nd type. It was OK and quite secure. The Mondeo had holes in the bodywork at the top of the door which corresponding pins on the clamp fitted into to make it more secure. The Thule clamps have a rubber type coating so the paintwork doesnt get damged. Fairly easy to get on and off once everythings set up.

2003 Mondeo estate. Had rails already so easy to fit Thule roof bars. Nice and secure

2007 Smax with fix points. Quite secure. Each foot is secured to the roof with an allen scew after each the plastic covers are removed. Quite easy to fit and remove once the intial set up is done. I just leave the feet attached to the bars and store in the garage.

Integrated roof rails probably best followed by fixpoints but not much in it for me.

nicklouse

if you go Thule you will just need the correct mounts (feet)

my set up



should be easy to switch to a different car with the correct "feet".

ForumNewbie

Thanks for your replies.

kigrollo - thanks for the advice about height but I don't have a people carrier nor am I thinking of getting one so the height won't be a problem.

hitthewall - interesting that you have had all types. I doubt I'll get a car with roof rails. Good to hear that the paintwork doesn't get damaged wiith clamp types, but think I will still go for fixpoints if possible.

nicklouse - the bars on your car look really good as they look part of the car which still looks sporty - what make of car is it? I can't tell from the picture whether the feet of your Thule bars clamp to the car roof or attach to fixpoints, but I suspect they are clamps. I also wondered whether a smallish car would comfortably take two bikes on the roof without it affecting the drive too much?

Flasheart

On the subject of Bike Racks...
Which one ( :idea: probably Thule) is good for carrying a road bike?
I have a rack that carries 4 bikes on the towbar hitch on my 07 Vectra..this is fine except when I have to use the trailer at the same time. The trailer has a fibreglass cover and bars like :arrow: http://www.indespension.co.uk/b2c/app/I ... 770&slnk=1 (just smaller model)
When we go on a family holiday (in UK) we do tend to take the bikes, and as there are 4 of us( eldest parasite..sorry..law student ..old enough not to ruin holiday by accompanying us :twisted: ) taking the trailer is a great option.
The current bike racks I have(apart from looking skanky) look like they will damage the downtube of my new racer if I tried to use them. Downtubes have gotten a lot "fatter" it would seem.

hitthewall

I have 3 of the ones shown in nicklouse's picture:

http://www.thule.com/Thule/ProductPage____83123.aspx

Very good and easy to use. But have only carried mountain bikes. Havent put my road bike up yet.

The ProRide will take differing sizes of downtubes so shouldnt be a problem. Easy to load the bike and secure it. Dont need to have excessive pressure on the downtube clamp to hold the bike so should be fine for a road bike, including carbon frame I would would think. Would need to be careful of not pinching downtube cables between clamp and frame though.

Flasheart

Looks like the business hittewall, I'd better start saving for one. They're not cheap.
:idea: On the subject of pinching the cables on the underside of the downtube, I wonder if a section from and old MTB tyre inserted between the cables and the frame would remedy this?

jellybellywmb

If you are buying a new car try and get one with roof rails then you only need to buy roofbars and not mess about with foot kits etc etc.

To stop cables pinching I use some pipe lagging around the bike before clamping, this also stops paint rubbing etc.

pinkbikini

Flasheart, I've used the Thule Outride 561 - the front fork clamps to the rack, and the rear wheel is secured with a strap. The whole thing is lockable. You have to store the front wheel in the car. The advantage is that you don't have to clamp anything to the downtube, which is a bonus if your frame is carbon (I'm sure nothing would happen to carbon with the other Thule options which clamp to the downtube, but you never know).

FOAD

Just to help convince the OP that using clamps isn't the end of the world and that he shouldn't restrict his choice of car to one with fixed points, I have used Thule Aerobars with several vehicles over the last 5 years, several of which needed the use of clamps:

Golf Gti ('01 five door), Passat ('05 five door), S3 ('07 three door).

With the first two I wasn't too bothered about the paintwork as the contact area was within the door frame with rubber on the exterior angles, but on the S3 the rear most clamping points were literally on bare metal, with the most likely place to get damaged being on the exterior of the car. As it was and still is my pride and joy, I used black electircal tape at these points just to be on the safe side.

I needn't have worried though as after 7 days with the bars on I removed the clamps and there wasn't a mark on the tape. Since then I have just gone without (the tape took a lot of effort to remove) and there isn't so much as a mark on the paint.

Using clamps takes a good 2 minutes extra per corner i would say.

nickwill

I've moved my Thule bars across from a Ford Fiesta, to a Seat Ibiza, to a Suzuki Swift, and regularly to our other car which is an Audi A4. All of these had different fixing kits, which just slot into place on the bars. The paintwork isn't affected, and the mounting is rock solid. It takes about 2 minutes to remove or install the bars. I wouldn't go for generic bars, because I think your bike and your car are too important to cut corners with. The Thule kit is very high quality and I have had the current bars for about 8 years.
I prefer roof bars because your rear visibility is unaffected. I've never been aware of any problems with 2 bikes on top, even with my very small Suzuki Swift.