Roof bar & bike carrier recommendations for 2011 Audi A4

garynevstasche

Hi, looking to get some roof bars for my A4 in order to make transporting my bikes a little easier and also attach a narrow roofbox for holidays.

Seem to be a few options out there so I was wondering what roof bars people recommend and also which bike carriers you attach to them.

nicklouse

Thule. Thule.
aero bars. and whichever suits your bike(s).

TheEnglishman

^^^^ This. Spend the time putting in all the rubber bits, unless you like whistles and turbulence noises.

apreading

I have an A4 Avant - got a Thule Pacific 600 narrow box, which is a good size for storage and is narrow enough to allow me to put a Thule Proride 591 bike carrier on at the same time. I dont think the A4 is wide enough to carry 2 bikes with the box though. I also have a Saris Bones RS to go on the back which can carry 3 bikes - so the family of 4 can travel with bikes and still use the box for storage. All of this kit is awesome and I would buy the same again without hesitation. That is, unless I had a towbar in which case I would get a rear carrier that fitted that.

garynevstasche

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Looks like Thule is the way to go!

Just one query re: the Thule Bike Carriers, is there any specific reason not to go for the cheaper 'Freeride' model?

nicklouse

which is that?

loaded with 3 bikes



2 x 591 and one of the ones that holds by the fork (561). at the start of a 1200Km drive.

the 532 is not quite as easy to use.

garynevstasche

The Freeride is the 532.

As I'm working to a budget I thought I could get a couple of these carriers (rather than the more expensive models) which would allow me to buy the aero/wing bar over the standard square bar.

apreading

Bike shop told me the 532 is flimsy and 591 was the way to go. I trust them and didnt bother to question the advice - didnt fancy skimping here and paying for damage to bike/car if something happens. The 591 is also really easy to get bike in/out and doesnt need fiddly adjustments for different bikes.

If you want cheaper, I am sure some on here have said that Halfrauds do a clone of the Thule ones - no idea what they are like though.

I have seen quite a few Mont Blanc ones in the car park at Swinley too - you can get a twin pack of them at a reasonable price: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65477#tab1

bigmat

591 is a great bit of kit. Very solid. Best deal I could find was on the Ford Online Parts website - £65 delivered I think it was. Got the roof bars from Lidl and they are excellent for the money (£25 or so). I used to have one of the Thule rear mounted racks which was also excellent - rock solid and didn't stop you opening / closing the boot on a hatchback. Doesn't fit new car though, hence the change to roof mounted.