# Roof rack.....



## rzozaya1969 (Nov 28, 2004)

Hey guys!

I've been wondering 4 a long time about a roof rack. Now that I'm often having to travel with 2 bikes, it's a chore to remove 4 wheels, cover 2 bikes, reinstall 4 wheels, bla bla bla, and with a roof rack I can just remove 2 front wheels and put the bikes.

How convenient is the rack? is it something that people will try to steal when I leave the car?


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## triphop (Jul 27, 2004)

Ive got the yakima roof rack system... with the Q-towers and copperhead rails... anyways, you can lock the rack itself to the car and the bikes to the rails. only problem is u get a bit more wind noise but u get used to it right away. ive had it for over a year or so with no problems with anyone trying to steal it. (or at least nobody has succesfully stolen it yet) 
Id take a pic but I leant my camera to a friend.


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## rzozaya1969 (Nov 28, 2004)

triphop said:


> Ive got the yakima roof rack system... with the Q-towers and copperhead rails... anyways, you can lock the rack itself to the car and the bikes to the rails. only problem is u get a bit more wind noise but u get used to it right away. ive had it for over a year or so with no problems with anyone trying to steal it. (or at least nobody has succesfully stolen it yet)
> Id take a pic but I leant my camera to a friend.


How hard is it to drive? don't you have to check a lot to see if you don't crash the bike? How tall do you need for clearance?


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## tacubaya (Jan 27, 2006)

Price?


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## rzozaya1969 (Nov 28, 2004)

tacubaya said:


> Price?


I think it should be around 4,500 for a Thule (I have a Renault Megane, it appears that Yakima doesn't offer one that fit my car.


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## Warp (May 24, 2004)

Just watch out your car's roof when going into some bridges, garages, etc.

I've seen totalled bikes and other stuff (an Industrial Fridge, amongst them) that way. Expect a little higher fuel consuption, MTB's are not aerodynamic.

Not a real chore, but not something to forget about either.

BTW... Magura dropouts do not fit on every rack out there... but I don't think that would be of your concern anyways.


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## tacubaya (Jan 27, 2006)

4500??? Damn.... I'm looking for a sub 1000 rack (either trunk or roof)

I am also looking for a bike because Gt will die soon...


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## triphop (Jul 27, 2004)

its really not that hard driving with the rack, unless u want to drive into an undergound parking lot or under little town bridges or something similar theres no need to worry about driving with the bikes on top. theres good clearence for most city bridges
if u drive a megane you will probably be around 40 or 50cms higher than most big ass SUVs. 
gas comsumption increases but nothing significant


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## ritopc (Jul 3, 2004)

rzozaya1969 said:


> How hard is it to drive? don't you have to check a lot to see if you don't crash the bike? How tall do you need for clearance?


Almost as easy as your day to day driving. I have driven 120km/h with two bikes in the roof (in a straight highway). I did not feel anykind of unbalance of the car at all. They work as wind breaks though, and the car stopped in a dime.

Eventhough, they are unnoticable, you dont want to do tight turns with the bikes in the roof (obvious reasons).

As far as clearance, NO Indoors parking lots!!!!. Streets, bridges, tolls there are have no problems with them.

AFA taking care of your car, there are some small plastic sheet you can put between the roof of your car and the legs (legs??) of your rack so you dont damage the paint. The rubber part, along with the dust accumulating in the edges of the rack, can damage the paint. I used mine for two years, and the rubber kinda eat the paint (barely noticeable).

Lastly, AFA of safety. Mine was a Thule with locks on the rack and the rails. Never had a problem of someone trying to steal it. Never parked my car on a really unsafety place, though. I guess that someone stealing your rack (with locks on) is about the same as someone trying to steal something of your car. If the guy is decided to steal it, he will steal it (you really don´t need to take a lot of extra precaution). And, even if you take precautions, at the end of the day is also a matter of luck (bad luck in this case).

When buying the rails, be sure they fit a disc brake, not all thule fit them.

Good luck on the search.


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## rzozaya1969 (Nov 28, 2004)

triphop said:


> its really not that hard driving with the rack, unless u want to drive into an undergound parking lot or under little town bridges or something similar theres no need to worry about driving with the bikes on top. theres good clearence for most city bridges
> if u drive a megane you will probably be around 40 or 50cms higher than most big ass SUVs.
> gas comsumption increases but nothing significant


What do you mean that I will be 40 or 50cms higher that SUV? you mean the SUV without racks, right?


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## triphop (Jul 27, 2004)

right... just eyeballin it though... you should first consider if theres any low passes around where u plan to drive with the bikes. if not, theres no problem whatsoever
u might want to ask a shop first if a yakima rack fits (they should know just by looking at the car what type of towers would fit) in case u cant to consider the yakima option instead of the thule... or just to compare prices.


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## rzozaya1969 (Nov 28, 2004)

triphop said:


> right... just eyeballin it though... you should first consider if theres any low passes around where u plan to drive with the bikes. if not, theres no problem whatsoever
> u might want to ask a shop first if a yakima rack fits (they should know just by looking at the car what type of towers would fit) in case u cant to consider the yakima option instead of the thule... or just to compare prices.


I already asked about Yakima racks for my car, but they said that I should check out Thule. Anyway, I can always ask another store.


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## Crank'nStein (Jan 23, 2006)

*Try EBAY*

I've used Yakima roof racks for years, very solid lockable mount. It does drop your mileage a bit, maybe 2-3 mpg ( not sure about kpl or what ever you call it south of the border). I just picked up some almost new copperhead rails for half of retail. 
Buenos Suerte!


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