Roof rack

Roady · 25 Jul 2016 at 15:59

Just after some advice really guys...!

I've got away thus far without needing a roof rack, from an Audi A3 to now a Fiesta, the QR on my Defy's front wheel has seen much carboot abuse!

New bike (Specialized Diverge Comp) has thru-axles and although they're the Specialized 'SCS' type I don't think removing and refitting the front wheel regularly is a good long term plan with discs and rotors? :eek:

After some adventures previously with a cheap 'boot lid' style rack I want a good quality roof mount I can trust. Most of the guys I know have Thule racks and it would be good to match them for future convenience of racks:mounts between us.

Is it just the rails I need for this? My Fiesta has rubber 'strips' in the roof but no 'mount points' like I've seen on others. I'm intending on going to a local Ford dealers to ask about these, providing that's all I'll need to then source and fit the Thule rack myself? :cool:

BennyC · 25 Jul 2016 at 16:08

Seasucker mount for the win. I don't have one yet but will be getting the mini-bomber soon.

I could get a rail mounted system and whilst I don't plan to change car anytime soon the universal fitting of the Seasucker is appealing, even if it's a similar price all in. You can get thru-axle fittings etc for them too.

Not much help on the Thule front

but worth considering if you weren't aware of its existence

Roady · 25 Jul 2016 at 16:16

I'd seen them, think Paul/SoliD has one/similar. Great idea but not the longer term & stability I have in mind.

Ideally I want a substantial mount that won't involve wheel removal - not just for the Diverge's SCS/thu-axles but also for the mrs' road bike as the tyre/caliper clearance is so tight (with her thick bombproof city tyres) I can't remove either wheels without deflating the tyre first!

Lethal` · 25 Jul 2016 at 16:30

Roady said:
New bike (Specialized Diverge Comp) has thru-axles and although they're the Specialized 'SCS' type I don't think removing and refitting the front wheel regularly is a good long term plan with discs and rotors?

What's wrong with doing that?

Do it all the time with my mountain bike and was even pretty happy the other day to fit one mountain bike (27.5") behind front seats and one 29er laying flat on top of folded seats on Friday.

neil_g · 25 Jul 2016 at 19:34

Don't necessarily need mount points, you can get rails that clamp into the door frame like so https://assets.forddirect.fordvehicles.com/assets/ACCS/images/vds4z_5455100_a--20120906163144.jpg

What does your car manual say regarding mounts?

Taking a wheel off regularly should not cause any issue.

lordrobs · 25 Jul 2016 at 23:28

Roady said:
Is it just the rails I need for this? My Fiesta has rubber 'strips' in the roof but no 'mount points' like I've seen on others. I'm intending on going to a local Ford dealers to ask about these, providing that's all I'll need to then source and fit the Thule rack myself?

Our Punto hasn't got mounting points and we bought some Atera bars that clamp to the door frame. I was dubious as my previous car (Octavia) had proper mount points in the roof but they are excellent. I actually prefer using them to fitting generic bars to the integrated rails of my Focus estate.

I know of one guy who had a seasucker come loose, that is enough to put me off. Well that and the price.

I've got a couple of Thule FreeRide 532's and they have given many years of faultless service and still going strong.

Roady · 26 Jul 2016 at 09:18

neil_g said:
Don't necessarily need mount points, you can get rails that clamp into the door frame like so https://assets.forddirect.fordvehicles.com/assets/ACCS/images/vds4z_5455100_a--20120906163144.jpg

What does your car manual say regarding mounts?

Good info on the door frame mounts, anyone used any?

Car manual is a little too generic but it almost indicates that the rubber unbroken trim in my roof grooves means I have no mount points. Unsure if they can even be fitted after-market (my Fiesta is an '11 plate).

Lethal` said:
What's wrong with doing that?

Won't I have problems/fiddles getting my rotors and disc lined up consistently?

I'm after ease, if the SCS wheel mount makes things almost as easy as a QR then I'll probably just use that, I do want the option of carrying the other halfs on the roof and mine in the boot/back seats. I can't get both in the boot, even 1 really doesn't leave much room in the car for anything else! Trust me to get into cycling and downsize the car the same time (had a focus & A3 before!). :rolleyes:

lordrobs said:
Our Punto hasn't got mounting points and we bought some Atera bars that clamp to the door frame. I was dubious as my previous car (Octavia) had proper mount points in the roof but they are excellent. I actually prefer using them to fitting generic bars to the integrated rails of my Focus estate.

I know of one guy who had a seasucker come loose, that is enough to put me off. Well that and the price.

I've got a couple of Thule FreeRide 532's and they have given many years of faultless service and still going strong.

Yeah I'd heard horror stories of the seasucker & know several guys who've had issues with boot lid mounts. The amount of fiddling the Aldi one took I used 4-5 years ago (on a couple of occasions), I want to avoid 'temporary' style mounts.

There's so many options with Thule and they all review well so fairly sure I'm going that route.

Have spotted this on the ford site which includes the Thule 591 carrier. It is slightly unclear if the Fiesta 3-door price (£279) includes the 'roof ditch mouldings' (mentioned for other Fords, I think 4x4's) as part of that or not (it's not mentioned as required for other car types).

neil_g · 26 Jul 2016 at 10:19

just dont pull your levers with the wheel off

the standard VW rails for my car are the ones that clip around the door frame, not had any bother with mine. then just lobbed a thule 591 rack on, been fine with the old trek and the now slightly weightier transition.

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/11371212_1613007125627370_1467637861_n.jpg

Roady · 26 Jul 2016 at 13:58

neil_g said:
just dont pull your levers with the wheel off

the standard VW rails for my car are the ones that clip around the door frame, not had any bother with mine. then just lobbed a thule 591 rack on, been fine with the old trek and the now slightly weightier transition.

https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/11371212_1613007125627370_1467637861_n.jpg

Good to hear about the 591's & door frame clips. May go that route depending on what I hear back from Ford! I've emailed my local stealers to ask about the bike pack availability before I take the effort of going in (other side of town to home & work).

To be honest unless they're amazingly helpful I'll probably source it myself to save some money, I can't imagine some good clip on rails are going to cost me near £200! :rolleyes:

neil_g · 26 Jul 2016 at 14:31

i got my VW factory ones from ebay to be honest, was about half the price. same with the 591, was cheapest from one of the sellers on there new.

lordrobs · 26 Jul 2016 at 15:43

Just throw your reg into the bar finder on www.roofbox.co.uk, that will narrow down your options for you. You can't go wrong with Thule roof bars but IMHO Atera are better VFM and have the advantage of coming set up specifically for your car (width pre set etc.) rather than getting a box of bars, mounts and adaptors.

EDIT - seems that the reg finder has gone... or maybe it never even existed

Anyway, you can just enter your car details on there and it will select the correct adaptors, mounts and bars if you go the Thule route.

EDIT 2

- Just spotted you have the three door. Without mounting points in the roof you are going to be very short on options. TBH that Ford deal may be your best bet at £279. The 591 is discontinued (replaced by the 598 IIRC) but that shouldn't be an issue really.

Roady · 26 Jul 2016 at 15:56

lordrobs said:
EDIT 2 - Just spotted you have the three door. Without mounting points in the roof you are going to be very short on options. TBH that Ford deal may be your best bet at £279. The 591 is discontinued (replaced by the 598 IIRC) but that shouldn't be an issue really.

Hahaha, that's why I'm asking and looking around forums to check my options! If I had mount points/rails already it would be an easy answer! Should know me by now - nothing ever has an easy answer!

lordrobs · 26 Jul 2016 at 17:37

Roady said:
Hahaha, that's why I'm asking and looking around forums to check my options! If I had mount points/rails already it would be an easy answer! Should know me by now - nothing ever has an easy answer!

Three door causes a bit of a headache because normally speaking you have one bar clamped to each pair of door frames but obviously you can't do that with only 2 doors! What you therefore need is a short roof adaptor (a bar that clamps near the front bar and then runs down the length of the roof) which adds more cost. Like this - http://roof-rack.ru/fotosait/Short_Roof_Adapter_774.jpg

timbob · 27 Jul 2016 at 10:54

Another vote for Atera here - afaik, they make the OEM roof bars for all the German cars, so they're decent. Substantially cheaper than Thule as well.

I bought two aluminium aero bars with the T-track and went for a fork mount jobby to avoid frame clamping wobbly bike syndrome!

lordrobs · 27 Jul 2016 at 13:50

timbob said:
Another vote for Atera here - afaik, they make the OEM roof bars for all the German cars, so they're decent. Substantially cheaper than Thule as well.

I bought two aluminium aero bars with the T-track and went for a fork mount jobby to avoid frame clamping wobbly bike syndrome!

Yup, BMW, MB, VW etc. Unfortunately they don't do an option for the three door Fiesta though.

bcjames · 28 Jul 2016 at 09:04

I bought Thule 591s for my 3-door VW. They live on all the time, so I went for the aero bars. They take our road bikes and 3-speeds, with one of the later being a 18kg Pashley, with no problems.

The T bar mounting on the Thule's is really nice and keeps things tidy.

Upon fitting them, I found there were locating holes on the doors, covered by the rubber seal, and marks on the rear quarter windows to line the rear up.

Roady · 2 Aug 2016 at 16:35

lordrobs said:
What you therefore need is a short roof adaptor (a bar that clamps near the front bar and then runs down the length of the roof) which adds more cost. Like this - http://roof-rack.ru/fotosait/Short_Roof_Adapter_774.jpg

That could work, but like you say - more expense. To be honest the price of £270 from Ford is a bit steep but once you factor in a Thule 591 (@£100), set of good roof bars (£50-100?) and the faffing around with adaptors/fittings/short-roof etc, then it doesn't sound like such a rip off. Also would be gaurenteed to fit with minimum messing around/mods/compromises.

lordrobs said:
Yup, BMW, MB, VW etc. Unfortunately they don't do an option for the three door Fiesta though.

Doh!

bcjames said:
I bought Thule 591s for my 3-door VW. They live on all the time, so I went for the aero bars. They take our road bikes and 3-speeds, with one of the later being a 18kg Pashley, with no problems.

The T bar mounting on the Thule's is really nice and keeps things tidy.

Upon fitting them, I found there were locating holes on the doors, covered by the rubber seal, and marks on the rear quarter windows to line the rear up.

How did you source the Thule roof fittings to be sure of getting the right ones?

Part of the problem I see with the 3 door fiesta is that the rear windows are not even movable/dropable, so any fitting outside of the front door needs to be into the rubber roof strip/rail (which I cannot see any 'cutouts' or removable parts of). The rear window surrounds do not look wide enough to fit any kind of 'grip' into them, the glass is almost flush to the panel edges.

I'm going to put this onto the back burner for now - after getting my Diverge I've now got experience of how easy the front wheel fits & removes! I was expecting more of a headache and it's really easy!

Cannonuk · 2 Aug 2016 at 17:59

Not sure on the Fiesta, but my 3 door mk1 Focus roof bars mount into threads that are in the tailgate shut, and in the front door shuts under the rubber door seal. Like yours, there are plastic strips that run the length of the roof from the windscreen to the tailgate but they are just decorative.

A separate bar then goes across the roof, which is where my 591's attach.

bcjames · 2 Aug 2016 at 20:14

Roady said:
How did you source the Thule roof fittings to be sure of getting the right ones?

Halfords had a roof racks deal, and a 20% off £200 or something, so I got a great deal from them. I seem to remember using their online roof rack finder tool, but the sets are generally for specific cars, so quite easy to find the right ones.

lordrobs · 3 Aug 2016 at 08:48

Roady said:
That could work, but like you say - more expense. To be honest the price of £270 from Ford is a bit steep but once you factor in a Thule 591 (@£100), set of good roof bars (£50-100?) and the faffing around with adaptors/fittings/short-roof etc, then it doesn't sound like such a rip off. Also would be gaurenteed to fit with minimum messing around/mods/compromises.

You aren't going to get a set of roof bars worth having for a 3 door Fiesta for £100. TBH I'd be amazed if the Ford offer isn't for the exact Thule setup with the short roof adaptor that I linked to hence why I said it sounded a good deal.

The real answer is to ditch the Fiesta and get an estate

Or C+1