Roof mounted cycle racks

100%

Hi,

I thought I'd post here regarding roof racks; I'm not sure where this topic fits really.

I've got roof rails already on my car and I have some roof bars coming from the main dealer; pricey unfortunately but seemed a lot easier and safer than trying to work out what will and won't work well with the rails that come with the car. So obviously I need to see and check exactly what carriers will fit the bars but I'm interested in some opinions/advice.

I've posted this in road as my first requirement is to carry my cross bike but I do also have mountain and road bikes and the boy seems keen on buying a full sus MTB to complicate matters. It seems there's 3 basic options - carriers that grip the downtube, those that bolt the front fork in place and those that grip the tires in some fashion.

Those carriers that grip the downtube don't appeal - it doesn't look like they would do any favours for the paintwork and possibly wouldn't work with a full suspension MTB.

The carriers that you bolt the front fork into say they should NOT be used with carbon forks, which rules them out although I'm sure I've seen people using them with their cross bikes. A carrier that grips the wheels like Yakima’s FrontLoader seems like the most versatile option and the least likely to grind the paint of a mud-coated cross bike.

Anyone have any experience with these carriers or any other suggestions/advice?

Cheers,
Steve

Silly Old Hector

I have a Thule rack, with 1 fork mount for the road bike (carbon fork !) and three for downtube mounted alu bikes.

No probs with 4 on the roof at once. If you're worried about marking the downtube, put a cloth round the frame.

diy

If you already have roof rails there are two options that tend to be available. Aero bars that go on the inside of the rails and tend to include a T-track or those that clamp on the bars. The Aero bar option is simpler and lower profile, but you are limited in terms of the number of racks you can mount. I have a Volvo XC90 which is not exactly small and I can only fit 3 Thule 591 carriers 2 one way and a middle one the other way as the bars are inside the roof rails. If you want to carry more you'll probably need conventional bars that attach to the rails giving greater width.

I have my 3 racks mounted to the bars and I just store the whole thing in the garage as is. then its simply a case of lifting the thing on to the roof as a unit.

Personally I think tow hook carriers are better apart from the slight security benefit of having the bikes high up on the car. Problem for me is my XC90 has two twin exhausts and the fitting kit for the tow hook plus the carrier was going to set me back well over £600. Whereas I go my aero bars of ebay for £80 and the Thule's were a pack/kit at a couple of £100.

The 591 ProRide is a solid bit of kit.

nicklouse

Can't go wrong with Thule, I have 3.
2 591s and on that the front fork is camped by. This allows 3 bikes easily on a small car roof.

cycleclinic

In the rain though your bike gets pressure washed that can't be good. I would rather buy a van than use a roof mounted rack. My bikes are precious to me.

100%

Thanks for the replies; Thule was my first thought but I'm not sure anything that grips the frame when it's completely coated in mud is going to be great.

Or the other option is to (probably jet) wash the bike to get the bulk of mud off beforehand then use a cloth to protect the frame.

In the rain though your bike gets pressure washed that can't be good. I would rather buy a van than use a roof mounted rack. My bikes are precious to me.

I'm not sure that's entirely true regarding rain but it's not ideal. My bikes are also important to me but I also enjoy racing and that's the first reason to do this. I expect the cross bike to need regular servicing in particular!

I'll take another look at the Thule racks.

Cheers,
Steve

richa

100% wrote:

I've got roof rails already on my car and I have some roof bars coming from the main dealer; pricey unfortunately but seemed a lot easier and safer than trying to work out what will and won't work well with the rails that come with the car. So obviously I need to see and check exactly what carriers will fit the bars but I'm interested in some opinions/advice

What car? Roof bars from main dealer is normally $$$$. Thule should be much cheaper and will work just as well.

IMO front fork dropout clamp is the way to go. Many carbon forks have alu dropouts so are fine with these clamps.

richa

I have one of these.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/eli ... 8#features

Geo555

100% wrote:

Hi,

The carriers that you bolt the front fork into say they should NOT be used with carbon forks, which rules them out although I'm sure I've seen people using them with their cross bikes. A carrier that grips the wheels like Yakima’s FrontLoader seems like the most versatile option and the least likely to grind the paint of a mud-coated cross bike.

Anyone have any experience with these carriers or any other suggestions/advice?

Cheers,
Steve

I've had no problem using my Thule 561, clamping on to my carbon forks. As long as you have aluminium or steel dropouts, you should be fine.

paul64

I once had a bike stolen off the car roof when it was out of sight for a short-time and under security cameras. The thief/thieves simply grabbed the bike and forced it down sideways ripping open the locked downtube arm, it was a salutory lesson.

I personally did not like the wind noise and hit on fuel economy carrying bikes on the roof and switched back to rear-mounted (Saris Bones) after that. Inside the car would be my preference too and I sometimes still do that when feasible.

nicklouse

thecycleclinic wrote:

In the rain though your bike gets pressure washed that can't be good. I would rather buy a van than use a roof mounted rack. My bikes are precious to me.

Bikes go on a tow bar mounted rack on the back of my van. :x

car

van

diy

Avg Jet washer is 100psi. Just over twice the pressure of typical mains water at the hose. You'd have to be doing about 100mph upside down in a river to get anything close to that pressure. Typical heavy rain is going to at least 1000 times less at normal driving speed. I'll leave someone else to work it out in detail. But you don't need to, to conclude that the water on your roof mounted bike in heavy rain is highly unlikely to do anything other than wash it.

rafletcher

Peronally I wouldn't use a roof mounted system again. I have done so and found the drag / sail effect horrible, plus it badly affected economy, and I had to remember at car park barriers! It also put you in the "high load" category for ferries etc. But if that's what you want to do then anything from Thule will be good. My preference in that case would be for a fork and rear wheel clamping arrangement, but in truth any system will work. As to possible paint damage, it's not difficult to carry a couple of litres of water and a cloth to clean off the area to be clamped. And a 'cross bike isn't going to be pristine for long

I currently have a tow-ball mounted Thule carrier that I can tilt (loaded) to access the boot. Excellent, but pricey. Tow bar + electrics was £250, and the carrier about the same. But both are saleable of course. If, however, this is for a to-and-from events carry, I'd still suggest looking at the Saris Bones range. No towbar required (although a light bar may be). As may some additional padding to stop bike fretting against one another. But all up a three bike carrier plus electrics would be sub £200. Check for fitting first of course http://www.saris.com/en/bike-racks/vehi ... racks.html

stueys

rafletcher wrote:

Peronally I wouldn't use a roof mounted system again. I have done so and found the drag / sail effect horrible, plus it badly affected economy, and I had to remember at car park barriers! It also put you in the "high load" category for ferries etc. But if that's what you want to do then anything from Thule will be good. My preference in that case would be for a fork and rear wheel clamping arrangement, but in truth any system will work. As to possible paint damage, it's not difficult to carry a couple of litres of water and a cloth to clean off the area to be clamped. And a 'cross bike isn't going to be pristine for long

I currently have a tow-ball mounted Thule carrier that I can tilt (loaded) to access the boot. Excellent, but pricey. Tow bar + electrics was £250, and the carrier about the same. But both are saleable of course. If, however, this is for a to-and-from events carry, I'd still suggest looking at the Saris Bones range. No towbar required (although a light bar may be). As may some additional padding to stop bike fretting against one another. But all up a three bike carrier plus electrics would be sub £200. Check for fitting first of course http://www.saris.com/en/bike-racks/vehi ... racks.html

I'd agree with this, I use the 591 for my Alu bike (wouldn't put a carbon frame up there with the clamp). It's a good piece of kit but you get a massive drag on the car plus high winds generate a lot of movement which is disconcerting. I take the bike into the car whenever I can.

If I was buying again I'd go towbar carrier and mount. Far more secure, more capacity and the bikes are shielded by the vehicle.