Roof Rack bike carrier question

gerryattrick · Apr 3, 2011

Which is the better type of carrying system, the one that carries the bikes upright with h-bars at the top or the one that carries the bike upside down attached by the h-bars & saddle as shown below.

I always think that the first type look a bit precarious, while the second looks more solid with a lower centre of gravity and less strain on the carrier. They also look a bit easier to load imo, but have never tried either.

I have a chance to buy two of the upside down type.

Andy B · Apr 3, 2011

I have 2 Thule Proride 591 carriers

They carry the bikes in the normal way (bars up)

I've had no issues with them at all, the Thule ones are very secure & I don't drive slowly either

Highly recommend the Thule carriers, unlike the Halfords ones I used to have which were crap quality & hard to use, the Thule are very high quality and so simple to use

Customer service from Thule is brilliant too. I broke one of the tyre trays on one carrier, they replaced it FOC

I'd have thought that the wheels on any bike would make the COG low, towards the BB, as the wheels weigh a lot more than other components, so having the wheels up would mean a higher COG?

jonnyboy666 · Apr 3, 2011

as above, when i had cars i only used Thule stuff. and the bikes were always the right way up. i drive with a heavy right foot aswel!

i used them every year for going to the alps, one year i had 4 racks/bikes on the roof of the audi and sat at about 90-100mph all the way down the peage motorways with no problems whatsoever.

thule = very good stuff

jamabikes · Apr 3, 2011

Upside down can cause issues with hydraulic disc brakes

sancho · Apr 3, 2011

Conventional Thule racks are great.

If you put your rack on a tall vehicle, be careful. A friend of mine has a rack on top of his Land Rover and this is what happened the other day, when he forgot his bike was there:

BerthaPog · Apr 3, 2011

sancho":13ej3gjs said:
Conventional Thule racks are great.

If you put your rack on a tall vehicle, be careful. A friend of mine has a rack on top of his Land Rover and this is what happened the other day, when he forgot his bike was there:

Oooo ouchy. :shock:

When using a rack on the roof, always used Thule rightway up ones - regulary ran a speedlimit type speeds with three bikes on top with no problems. I'm a bit paranoid so always check straps and stuff after a couple of miles. I do this with my pendle hitch mount as well, so now't to do with being on the roof.

Also upside down the wheels will spin, possible much faster than you would ride at - so adding to rolling wear time.

hamster · Apr 7, 2011

The other problem with the upside down ones is that usually you have to move the controls to get the clamps to fit - useless.

john · Apr 7, 2011

Another vote for right way up Thule. Have the cheapest model going and they've been great. Also done continental trips with bikes on roof without issue.

Had a similar bike on roof / barrier interface a couple fo years back. It bent the roof bars and rack. Bike was fine, it was the pipedream in my sig below.

Scarfacexxx08 · Apr 7, 2011

I have Thule Tour carriers which have the bike right way up, only problem with them is if you're running quite large tyres you will need extra straps. Other than that superb

gerryattrick · Apr 7, 2011

It looks like the verdict is in - unanimous. :shock: :shock: My theory is shot to bits.

I have Thule roof bars so I'll just have to get the upright bike carriers.

Roof Rack bike carrier question

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