Thule / Help

loltoride

This is slightly long winded so will try and make as easy as possible. I have recently purchased a Thule Wingbar and all the other bits to mount on roof with fixing points, now all seems to fit correct but manual was not very clear so took a lot longer than expected to fit.

Now the cycle carrier was supposed to be the Proride 598 Model this I had purchased separately on ebay, after checking today the model is the 591which is similar but certainly not as stable. The straps to the wheels does not have a ratchet to tighten which I really liked when rented a carrier.

My question is do I return to buyer I believe using paypal they should cover return costs for a full refund or am I just being precious? One other question do you keep your roof bars on when not in use.

steve_sordy

Roof bars that go side to side increase your fuel consumption, so if you use your car every day but the bike only at weekends, I'd remove the bars. Or leave them on for a while to monitor the effect to see how bad it is (or not).

loltoride

Thanks to you both I think I will send carrier back due to being wrong model, I am only driving at maximum 30-50 miles per week most times less so hopefully not an issue but will remove on long journeys. One other question what do you do with the long protective strip in middle which covers track full length, the manual says remove. I was thinking of cutting down to just leave space for the bike carrier or do you just leave open.

JBA

Roof bars and bike carriers go on the car as required. I used to leave them on all the time but they whistled at certain speeds and it drove me mad. I never really noticed a significant decrease in fuel economy but I was driving a diesel car and getting 55+mpg anyway.
I have Thule aero bars and have mounted the carriers using the T screws that slot in to the bars. I cut the rubber strip and reinserted it either side of the T screws to stop crud getting in the bars and to keep them more aero (maybe).

elbowloh

JBA said:

Roof bars and bike carriers go on the car as required. I used to leave them on all the time but they whistled at certain speeds and it drove me mad. I never really noticed a significant decrease in fuel economy but I was driving a diesel car and getting 55+mpg anyway.
I have Thule aero bars and have mounted the carriers using the T screws that slot in to the bars. I cut the rubber strip and reinserted it either side of the T screws to stop crud getting in the bars and to keep them more aero (maybe).

Snap.

With regards to the whistling, I managed to stop that with some strategically placed insulation tape to ensure any small gaps were filled in the groove in the underside of the bars.