What bike carrier and roof bars?
Discussion
I'm just about to place an order from roofbox.co.uk for a bike carrying system.
I have a new F31 340i M sport and need to carry 3 bikes up top.
Having limited knowledge of this I thought you could share your thoughts.
I ride MTB and want to use it for trail centre trips for a couple of mates and I. I have seen the BMW roof bars but they are the same price as whispbars who look pretty decent and are supposedly the quietest.
http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php...
To carry the bikes I don't like the idea of front wheel out due to the risk of the forks going into the roof by accident one day and the Thule clamps that grab the frame seem to cause a lot of damage by all accounts by scratching the paint whilst you are on your trip home.
I have come to the conclusion that a set of whispbars and 3 of the Yakima Front Loaders below is the way to go and its coming out at £434.
http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php...
Should I go with this or a different route? Thanks in advance.
I have a new F31 340i M sport and need to carry 3 bikes up top.
Having limited knowledge of this I thought you could share your thoughts.
I ride MTB and want to use it for trail centre trips for a couple of mates and I. I have seen the BMW roof bars but they are the same price as whispbars who look pretty decent and are supposedly the quietest.
http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php...
To carry the bikes I don't like the idea of front wheel out due to the risk of the forks going into the roof by accident one day and the Thule clamps that grab the frame seem to cause a lot of damage by all accounts by scratching the paint whilst you are on your trip home.
I have come to the conclusion that a set of whispbars and 3 of the Yakima Front Loaders below is the way to go and its coming out at £434.
http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php...
Should I go with this or a different route? Thanks in advance.
I ended up going for Thule whispbars and Thule proride 591 as they always seemed to get the best reviews at the time. Also I didn't want to mess around with taking wheels off at the end of rides.
I haven't had any issues with them damaging the bikes either, a quick wipe with a microfibre before clamping them down has ensured that they have been fine if they have been really badly covered in mud. Both my mountain bike and road bike have always felt secure in them too. Once tightened up they are going nowhere.
The worry I have with them is if I manage to damage the wheels on a trail the bikes may not go on them anymore so would have to go in the boot.
An other issue is the noise of the bars. I am sure they are quieter than the square profile bars and are certainly quieter than the aero bars I had on my E46 coupe but they aren't whisper quite like Thule make out. If the cars frosty they sound different and made me think a wheel bearing was on its way out at one point, they made the exact same drumming noise until the frost had defrosted.
The bike carriers are even worse and whistle quite loudly around 70, but they are big lumps of non aerodynamic metal so it's to be expected.
The Thule mounting system is good though, on the E46 and E39 with hard mounting points the feet only touch the car in the channels under the flaps, and the plastic lockable coveres sit around 1mm above the paint so there is no risk of scratching the car.
I haven't had any issues with them damaging the bikes either, a quick wipe with a microfibre before clamping them down has ensured that they have been fine if they have been really badly covered in mud. Both my mountain bike and road bike have always felt secure in them too. Once tightened up they are going nowhere.
The worry I have with them is if I manage to damage the wheels on a trail the bikes may not go on them anymore so would have to go in the boot.
An other issue is the noise of the bars. I am sure they are quieter than the square profile bars and are certainly quieter than the aero bars I had on my E46 coupe but they aren't whisper quite like Thule make out. If the cars frosty they sound different and made me think a wheel bearing was on its way out at one point, they made the exact same drumming noise until the frost had defrosted.
The bike carriers are even worse and whistle quite loudly around 70, but they are big lumps of non aerodynamic metal so it's to be expected.
The Thule mounting system is good though, on the E46 and E39 with hard mounting points the feet only touch the car in the channels under the flaps, and the plastic lockable coveres sit around 1mm above the paint so there is no risk of scratching the car.
Edited by Mr-captain on Tuesday 15th March 07:44
Edited by Mr-captain on Tuesday 15th March 12:32
I've had the Thule frame-grab system (can't remember which model number - Google thinks it could be a Proride 591) on my Forester for about 9 years. No probs with scratches or anything like that - as previous poster said, just wipe the contact area before loading. No, its not silent, but I leave it on the car, so am kinda used to it. A mate has the same system on his A3, set up to carry 3 mtbs. Again, no probs.
Have also used it when I smashed my front wheel - as long as it's reasonably wheel-shaped (which took a bit of bending) and still attached, it seemed to hold the bike fine. Being able to adjust the wheelbase quickly means easy to change to suit different bikes. As for stability at high speeds, I copped for three points on the motorway with my old 575 on the roof.
Recommended? Yep.
Have also used it when I smashed my front wheel - as long as it's reasonably wheel-shaped (which took a bit of bending) and still attached, it seemed to hold the bike fine. Being able to adjust the wheelbase quickly means easy to change to suit different bikes. As for stability at high speeds, I copped for three points on the motorway with my old 575 on the roof.
Recommended? Yep.
I've done a few thousand miles with varying numbers of bikes between 1 and 3 on Thule whisper bars with the front wheels in the quick release thingys. (561 I think.)
I'm careful to drop in properly, but not had a problem. Being pretty tall helps getting them on top of a 540i, but a cheap stool would pack down pretty small in the boot, which I will need if we go to a Discovery as the next car.
They're very stable at "making progress" speeds, especially on the run from John o'Groats to Inverness, trying to make closing time of a bike shop.
I wouldn't use anything else on the roof now.
I'm careful to drop in properly, but not had a problem. Being pretty tall helps getting them on top of a 540i, but a cheap stool would pack down pretty small in the boot, which I will need if we go to a Discovery as the next car.
They're very stable at "making progress" speeds, especially on the run from John o'Groats to Inverness, trying to make closing time of a bike shop.
I wouldn't use anything else on the roof now.
So I have ended up ordering the Thule 591 carrier as they seem to be the popular choice.
Does anyone know if the locks on the 591 are removable so I can go with the one key system that I am doing with the Thule roofrack.
I have ordered them from different places by the way so it would be handy to know so I can get extra locks sent with the roofrack in that case when I order it in the morning?
Does anyone know if the locks on the 591 are removable so I can go with the one key system that I am doing with the Thule roofrack.
I have ordered them from different places by the way so it would be handy to know so I can get extra locks sent with the roofrack in that case when I order it in the morning?
interstellar said:
So I have ended up ordering the Thule 591 carrier as they seem to be the popular choice.
Does anyone know if the locks on the 591 are removable so I can go with the one key system that I am doing with the Thule roofrack.
I have ordered them from different places by the way so it would be handy to know so I can get extra locks sent with the roofrack in that case when I order it in the morning?
The locks should be removable with the "Universal Change Key". If you have a search for d1251 key you should be able to find one. I think they are around £3 from eBay. Does anyone know if the locks on the 591 are removable so I can go with the one key system that I am doing with the Thule roofrack.
I have ordered them from different places by the way so it would be handy to know so I can get extra locks sent with the roofrack in that case when I order it in the morning?
Mr-captain said:
The locks should be removable with the "Universal Change Key". If you have a search for d1251 key you should be able to find one. I think they are around £3 from eBay.
When I got mine, they had the locks out, so you could have put different ones in when you set them up. I sort of wish I had, but it's not the end of the world to have 4 keys, they have a number etched on them.I've got the same Thule carriers, albeit on square bars. They're very good, but do make sure you check the frame is properly clamped in place. I've had two occasions (in about 8 years of frequent use in my defence!) where a bike has flopped out of the holder whilst driving, which is a bit scary!!! Thankfully, the wheel ties held the bike on the roof, so I didn't have to do a Dizzeee and watch my bike bounce down the road in the rear view mirror!
The other thing I've found is that in addition to the noise, even when empty, they have quite a significant impact on fuel economy, so I tend to take them off if I'm going any distance outside a 30 limit without the bikes.
The other thing I've found is that in addition to the noise, even when empty, they have quite a significant impact on fuel economy, so I tend to take them off if I'm going any distance outside a 30 limit without the bikes.
louiebaby said:
When I got mine, they had the locks out, so you could have put different ones in when you set them up. I sort of wish I had, but it's not the end of the world to have 4 keys, they have a number etched on them.
Probably depends on where you get them from. Mine came fitted, although I did order two carriers and bars with the matching locks so they probably fitted them before sending it all out. Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff