Roof rack buying advice

stuisnew

Having just managed to rid myself of the most unreliable car known to mankind I have purchased an old Peugeot estate (aka a tank!) which has handy roof rails.
Although I can easily chuck a few bikes in the back I was also considering investing in a roof rack for when the boot will be full of camping gear or other such rubbish my girlfirend will insist on taking on holiday!

Any advice on how much i should be looking to spend, any makes or recommendations etc would be greatly appreciated.

Andy B

for cycle carriers I highly recommend the Thule Proride 591 carrier, about £65 each

As for the roof bars...Thule, Peugeot's own bars, any half decent ones will do. Aero bars are quieter & help fuel consumption a little

S_J_P

That all depends on how much you want to pay!

Pay more and they'll be simpler and quicker to fit, pay less and they'll be clunky and time consuming.

It all depends on how much you value your time! (I don't value mine, so I always buy cheap )

weeksy59

I bought second hand Picasso cheapo bars and a pair of Mont Blanc cheap racks... both do the job nicely.

dandrew

What's the score with bike carriers and carbon frames? Are there any carriers that don't exert alot of pressure on the frame. I am concerned that having something clamped to the bike frame might fracture the carbon after a bumpy ride.

weeksy59

dandrew wrote:

What's the score with bike carriers and carbon frames? Are there any carriers that don't exert alot of pressure on the frame. I am concerned that having something clamped to the bike frame might fracture the carbon after a bumpy ride.

The Thule Barracuda seem to sit 'on' as opposed to being clamped tightly. I rekon one of them may be what you're looking for for that.

stuisnew

Cheers for the advice guys.
The car comes with roof bars already so it was just the actual rack that I need.
I'm not too bothered with another 5 mins so cheaper the better really, provided they're securely fitted. I had a boot strap job on my old car but spent forever tightening straps and its a pain when you need to get the boot open and for visibility. Up out the way is the way forwards me thinks!

Rich Hcp

In that case, you need to check the weight limit for the roof bars.

Get a couple of bars fix to the existing roof bars.

I'd still recomend the Thule 591, solid, easy to use and light

the halfords racks tend to fall apart or go rusty

CraigXXL

Thule 591's great bit of kit that you can move from car to car and they will last

jmj

Check your bike fits a 591.
My Meta is a very tight fit with the clamp going around the frame below the linkage. The bar should be at right angles (or near) to the frame tube so it's not really suitable to clamp higher up the tube. I'm actually going to cut away some of the rubber padding to make it fit better.

J

bob1965

Hi I have the same car as you and as long as you get the tipe that fit from front to back ones you cant go wrong, I can carry 4 bikes on my roof,I do have 3 differant types buying of a internet auction site the outer 2 would not open to take the bikes so I just got 2 long bolts 13mm in size I dont mind taking 5min longer to get them off and on. BOB

S_J_P

if you are after cheap, then try http://www.roofbox.co.uk/, they do bars (& roofrail clamps) and two bike carriers for £75, which is about the same as one Thule 591 bike carrier alone!. They can be a little fiddly, but are strong and robust!