Roof racks - what should I know?

[Milosh]

So sitting in traffic with my carbon bike on the back and some Taxi or Large SUV or kid in a Polo  trying to nudge me faster gives me the absolute ****s !  

 

I want a roof version at these times ,  I hear the roof and garage concerns but that is under you own control 

[Guest @BAZA]

Take the bike off before going into the garage

[Mamil]

Car+me in Salt river did a great job installing mine and best price I could find. 

 

Haven't noticed too much of a difference fuel consumption which surprised me. I haven't done a proper audit of this but casual observation of the fuel consumption computer thing itgoes up marginally with bikes on and no real difference with bikes off. 

 

My Honda has a sunroof though and with the sunroof down cabin noise is noticeably higher.

[bertusras]

Fortunately I don't have a motorised garage door, so I have to get out of the car each time in any case. But seriously. Sticky note in the windscreen works fine. Only once it happened as I was approaching a toll booth and didn't quite think until the last minute. Managed to scrape through under the bar.

[Headshot]

I have Thule wing bars and 2x the cheaper Thule roof bike racks mounted to my wagons permanent roof rails.

 

There is minor frame scratching where the down tube is clamped but this is minor compared to the stuff that happens with a tow bar mounted rack. You can also add protective tape to the area. Its also so quick to load and unload your bikes especially for long trips where bikes on the back always try and eat each other. On long trips I add a padlocked cable through the frames and racks. 

 

The only negative is the high clearance and the risk of car and bike damage... So far so good for us. 

[ChrisF]

What did this setup cost in total?

 

Various options, and many different prices ....

 

For the "roof bars" :

- mine mounts flush with the roof rails, resulting in a lower installation - R 5 300

- you also get the units with longer bars, and mounting feet below it.  More practical for moving between vehicles, but it stand taller on the vehicle ....  think this was about R 4 600  (and this again varies with the type of feet required for your car ...)

 

Bike rack :

- the "silver" units are about R 2 900

- if you want it in black about R 3 300

 

IF you want the keyed-alike setup, another R 1 100  ( I now have a Thule keyring with four keys, with coloured rings ... cheaper     )

 

If you have a fattie, then they have other wheel holders ....

 

and the list just goes on and on ....

 

lost track of all the individual item prices at some point ....

 

 

 

 

Single bike rack with cross bars can start from about R 7 500 ...

 

Two bikes, and you are north of R10k, and if you want extras the counter keeps on running .....

[ChrisF]

 

Take the bike off before going into the garage

 

 

So how do the roof-rack owners remind themselves of this ?

 

 

Should be easy enough to put the garage remote elsewhere when fitting the bike ... so home should be okay ....

 

But a few hours down the road ....

 

 

With my bakkie (which was 2,3m tall) I never had any issues, somehow just always remembered.

 

 

Would love to hear your tips and tricks to stay safe ....

[Guest @BAZA]

So how do the roof-rack owners remind themselves of this ?

 

 

Should be easy enough to put the garage remote elsewhere when fitting the bike ... so home should be okay ....

 

But a few hours down the road ....

 

 

With my bakkie (which was 2,3m tall) I never had any issues, somehow just always remembered.

 

 

Would love to hear your tips and tricks to stay safe ....

Good way to remember is tape your cheque book or credit card to your steering wheel

[openmind]

So how do the roof-rack owners remind themselves of this ?

 

 

Should be easy enough to put the garage remote elsewhere when fitting the bike ... so home should be okay ....

 

But a few hours down the road ....

 

 

With my bakkie (which was 2,3m tall) I never had any issues, somehow just always remembered.

 

 

Would love to hear your tips and tricks to stay safe ....

I once saw a product that sticks to your bonnet magnetically and has a hinged "bike on roof" warning sign that is blown flat as you drive but springs up when you stop. 

[ChrisF]

Read somewhere about increase in fuel consumption due to air resistance

Do some research if this point interests you

 

Sterkte

 

Dale I filled up and did a Hermanus and back trip yesterday, yet another 100+km today.

 

Cross bars and the two roof mounted bike racks fitted - NO bikes.

 

 

I tried to keep to the normal speed we do for these trips, using cruise control where traffic allowed.

 

 

At worst .... maybe 0,2 l/100km extra in fuel consumption.  Dropping (or increasing) 5km/h has a bigger effect on the fuel consumption ....

 

 

for the first 5km on the R300 I heard extra wind noise ... maybe it was the cross wind .... over 120km/h there is a bit of noise, under 100km/h I dont hear anything.  Doing "proper speeds" while passing other vehicles there certainly was no noise above the grunt of the motor ...

 

 

Okay, so the empty test certainly exceeded my expectation !!  Certainly not worth it to remove the racks to save fuel.

 

 

Next week is the big test !!  Cape Town to Oudtshoorn with two bikes on the roof ....

[ChrisF]

Feedback time -

 

Done about 4 000km with the Trek on the roof rack.  I find that the shadow of the bike moving around the car keeps you aware of the bike ....

 

 

 

But at Augrabies we parked next to the challet, with the option to drive out forward - passing under the overhang of the roof !!  Realising the potential danger I parked sideways to remove that temptation !!  Filling up petrol at Augrabies my wife got out and guided me in under the roof - the bike clearing the structure by maybe 5cm !  Going out there was more space -

 

 

Fuel usage - car is now MUCH more sensitive to the direction of the wind !!!!  Driving with a light wind I could get below 9 l/100km at over 120km/h, but driving into that same wind I had to drop to 110km/h for the same fuel economy.  Three stints we had strong head winds, taking me down to 100km/h for the same fuel economy.

 

From Laingsburg to Cape Town we averaged 110km/h and still got 8,7 l/100km.  Had similar stints on the rest of the trip as well.  So yes, bad with a head wind, but over 4 000km about 1 to 1,5 l/100km heavier (if you dont adjust your speed into head winds it may well be worse)

 

 

Without the bike, and the bike racks removed, but cross bars still in place - no noticable effect on the fuel economy.

 

 

Wind noise - with a strong head wind there is certainly some wind noise with the bike on.  With a cross wind it is noticable at lower wind speeds.  But at no point was it "loud".

 

 

 

MOST IMPORTANTLY - after a few hundred kilometers of dirt roads the bike, and especially the drive train, was totally dust free !!

 

 

 

I still far prefer the towbar mounted platform carrier - for normal use.

 

but for trips with dirt roads the roof rack will be used.

 

 

 

If I could only have one - ..... fortunately the bulk of my trips are local and the platform carrier would win out.  For regular dust trips, certainly the roof rack.