roof mounting or rack?

Rich Hcp

Thule 591 racks will fit most OEM bars, which often made by Thule anyway.

The system is very easy to use, the solid grab and ratchet to the frame makes it very easy to use.

I've had three bikes on top of my Alfa 147and at 70 on the motorway, you don't have any adverse affects in terms of drag, handling or crosswinds etc

The MPG was worse, but not badly

I've had (non tow bar) rear mounted racks before, the handling of the car is affected and the rack marks the paint and damages your car.

Roof is best, unless you have a tow bar already

Gazlar

I have both, I had a boot rack, but having a saloon it was pretty awkward getting stuff in and out., plus because I was too tight to get the electrics doen for a light bar as the wheels blocked the lights, so the wheels came off and went in the car. it als scratched my paintwork so when I stumbled across roofbars for the right price I snapped them up

I prefer the roofrack now, the clamps on my mont blanc bars lock, I can leave the rack on happily inbetween rides if i feel like it and I dont scratch the car now

bewaresheep

I spent weeks looking at different options. To me it came down to one thing - I wanted to be able to use it on both cars. Roof bars were looking more and more expensive once you ended up doubling all the parts and neither car has a tow bar and, with one being a company car, it was not likely to get one.

In the end I got a Saris Bones 2 (as there's only the two of us!) It fits easily and quickly onto both my Mito and my g/f's BMW 3 Series Compact it's reasonably easy to get the bikes on and secured.

diy

The 591 will fit aero bars, square bars and T track mount bars out of the box, so not sure what else you could possibly need.

If you got for inline aero's you wont get more than 3 mounts on the roof. I have my 3 racks permanently mounted to the bars and just hang them on the wall in the garage when not in use. Given the size of the car its rare that I use the roof rack for anything else, so assembly is simply a case of tightening the for tork bolts that clamp the bars to the roof rails.

Jolly Swagman

Tow ball mounted. Atera Strada was my choice. Very easy to load bikes up and I like to keep an eye on them in the rear view mirror.

Gizmokev

I got a rear mounted rack.....reason....it was £5 from the tip and is virtually brand new (its a Halfrauds one which goes for over £100 new)....:shock:

Fit the car lovely and takes no more than 5 mins to fit it and get the biks on the back. Can handle 3 and sits perfectly for the lights and plates.

lostboysaint

I have all three. A towball mounted Thule 9503 3 bike carrier, a Thule Freeride 530 roof carrier and a "no-name" boot mounted carrier for 3 bikes.

Of the three I use the towball mounted one (which tilts to give boot access) and the roof rack the most. Roofrack for shorter trips or single bike journeys (shorter distance) and the towbar rack for everything else. Economy is dented by the roof rack mounted bike but not to a massive extent (10% is a reasonable figure) but not harmed at all it seems by the tow ball mounted one. This doesn't seem to depend on which vehicle (Passat or Touareg).

I found that I've "retired" the boot mounted carrier because it's still a faff to get them loaded properly (clashing pedals, wheels, bars etc.) and strapped and it's also harder work to still get boot access (the struts aren't keen on holding the tailgate, carrier and three bikes up there.

Anonymous

lostboysaint, with regards to the fuel economy, what engine have you got in the Passat?
I'm frankly dumbfounded by the hit the carrier makes to the Golf's MPG :?

lostboysaint

yeehaamcgee wrote:

lostboysaint, with regards to the fuel economy, what engine have you got in the Passat?
I'm frankly dumbfounded by the hit the carrier makes to the Golf's MPG :?

It's an old shitter, a 1.9tdi (130bhp), basic spec so only 5 speed but for some reason the fuel economy isn't troubled that badly. Perhaps because it's older (04) and bigger it may not be the most aerodynamically efficient beast in the first place so throwing stuff on the roof doesn't hurt it so badly.

Anonymous

Hmm. What stung me, for example, was a trip to Coed y Brenin.
The round trip is only just 80 miles, and the car will comfortably do 160 miles to £20 of diesel.
But, with the rack on the back, I put £20 before setting off, and the tank was empty by the time I got home :shock:

It's a 1.9TDi, (115BHP I think)

lostboysaint

Ouch, that's not good.

The Passat averages about 45-50mpg. So 600+ miles from a tank of 60l. With a bike on the roof it has dropped to 540 miles/tank (Coed is a 500 mile round trip for me) suggesting that 10% is about what I lose but with the towbar rack it remains 600 miles + (done on South of France and Brittany trips).

It makes no little difference to the Touareg 'cos that's as aerodynamic as a brick in the first place

Anonymous

Oh man, that's made me so depressed

Gizmokev

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Hmm. What stung me, for example, was a trip to Coed y Brenin.
The round trip is only just 80 miles, and the car will comfortably do 160 miles to £20 of diesel.
But, with the rack on the back, I put £20 before setting off, and the tank was empty by the time I got home :shock:

It's a 1.9TDi, (115BHP I think)

You may find that the missing grunt from the 130BHP to the 115BHP is what is making the difference here. The extra aerodynamic drag in less powerful cars has a more marked effect than on those with more power.

I wont go into the full physics of it though eh???

Anonymous

Not sure it's just that, Kev. My old 306 1.9turbodiesel with the same rack and same bke, was hardly affected at all. And that wasn't as powerful or torquey

blablablacksheep

went for the roof rack 591 and will let you know how badly the fiesta handels on the road.


though they say no faster than 80mph

Anonymous

It might flow beautifully through water(music)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Music_%28Handel%29

bellys

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Not sure it's just that, Kev. My old 306 1.9turbodiesel with the same rack and same bke, was hardly affected at all. And that wasn't as powerful or torquey

a lad at work has got a 18 mazda 6 and i have got the 2ltr mazda6 apart from engine size both are the same cars my mpg is 39mpg on a run but his is 34mpg not sure is down to driving style or engine size.

diy

I get next to bugger all different with the 3 bikes on the roof with the XC90. I would say max is 3-4mpg.

I think the speed and roads you drive are important. On a long mainly motorway run the XC does (without bikes) about 34 - 35mpg (cruising at 65). with bikes its 32-33 or there abouts. However, as soon as I get on A roads, MPG drops to 25-28 avg at best. But again the roof mount makes hardly any difference.

The XC has a 2.4 5 cyclinder diesel, so I think its about 205bhp (non polestar is 187 or something like that), but its 2.1 tonne.

I would make sure the tyres are properly inflated, particularly if they are fat and low profile (the XC is 255/19/50 all round) - for me that makes a huge difference under load as you can run them at "eco" pressure which is 5-6PSI higher. Makes a big difference with a full load.

Of course the other difference might be the fact that diesel prices vary hugely.

Anonymous

diy wrote:

Of course the other difference might be the fact that diesel prices vary hugely.

What, for the same run, filling up at the same garage, with very very similar prices?
I realise prices have changed, but the old pug did roughly 160 miles to 20 quid diesel, and the golf now does the same. The different is, the Pug was unaffected by having a bike rack, and the golf is crucified by it.
My guess is some kind of aerodynamic issue.

chiefinspector

It also very much depends how you drive your car as well. My Passat is the 170Bhp Sport version and has loads of torque. Recently had it chipped to 187Bhp. Very easy to drive hard and MPG suffers as a result.

With regards to your Golf, It shouldn't make all that much difference. What age of car is it?

diy

And even more annoying your old pug would run on SVO or veg diesel at about 50p per litre without any mods.

Anonymous

diy wrote:

And even more annoying your old pug would run on SVO or veg diesel at about 50p per litre without any mods.

Well, until the head blew up again
It didn't like Veggie oil, a "friend" confirmed that, in rather an expensive way when he borrowed it :roll:

I think the Golf is a 54 plate, off the top of my head.

chiefinspector

I have a friend who used to have an 05 Golf fitted with a roofrack. He only noticed a slight difference in MPG. Does the rack make quite a bit of noise when you get up to speed?

Anonymous

Nope, totally silent. The wheels on the bike spin though, but they make no noise.[/list]

Rich9

I hated the Saris Bones 3 that I had. Rubbish on a saloon car as it renders the boot useless. Also it marked the rear bumper and top of the boot lid where the feet sit.
More often than not I'd drop the back seats, take the front off the bike and shove it through. Again not great. Its like trying put your bike in a post box!
I've now bought a roof rack, but cant be ar$ed to put it on :oops:

bails87

I think I'm going to go for a Thule Rideon towbar mounted carrier. Putting the bike in the Focus is easier than getting it in the 106, and I went away a few weeks back with 3 bikes and 2 people's kit for a week in the back of it. Which is pretty impressive, but it would have been loads easier if I could just stick the bikes on the back, and still have the boot and three rear seats. With a bit of shopping around I reckon I can get the rack and towbar for £200, and I know a couple of people who would help me fit it in exchange for a pint.

Towbar mounted seems like it'll be the easiest to put the bikes on, the least damaging to bikes and car (unless you consider having a towbar 'damage' ) and it should have very little, if any, effect on MPG.

The only issue is security, at least when they're locked in the car you can be fairly sure they're not going anywhere while you're in the cafe!

chiefinspector

Spoke to my mate who used to own the 05 Golf and he reckons that if you remove the cycle carriers when your not using them then should improve the MPG. Keep the bars on as they can be a bit of a bugger to put on and off but cycle carriers don't take much time at all.

Anonymous

chiefinspector wrote:

Spoke to my mate who used to own the 05 Golf and he reckons that if you remove the cycle carriers when your not using them then should improve the MPG. Keep the bars on as they can be a bit of a bugger to put on and off but cycle carriers don't take much time at all.

I've lost track a bit of the thread by now. Are you referring to me and my woeful fuel consupmtion?
If so, I use a Saris Bones rack - which definitely comes off when it's not carrying bikes!

chiefinspector

I've lost track a bit of the thread by now. Are you referring to me and my woeful fuel consupmtion?
If so, I use a Saris Bones rack - which definitely comes off when it's not carrying bikes![/quote]

Apologies. I thought it was a roof rack that you had. Got that totally wrong. I see now why your MPG is reduced significantly. Maybe it is worth looking at an alternative way of carrying your bike if it going to save some money in the long run. Face it, the way the world is just now the price of oil isn't going to come down in a hurry.

Anonymous

Would a roof mount be more economical though?

What I'm planning to do on longer trips is just stick the bike in the car.