You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I've seen there are a couple of options - wanted to see what people were using/recommending for use on their Thule roof racks.
If it makes any difference - they'll be for carrying a Bird Aeris 120 or a Giant Contend Road bike....
Any advice welcome!
Cheers and all the best,
Rich
ProRide 591 was most people's go-to rack until a year or so ago when Thule brought out a replacement (598, I think) - the 591 was very good, the replacement has a much better clamp design for those concerned with overtightening...pretty much the same rack, just update to accommodate more modern bikes and materials - not cheap but work very well.
I have been using a couple of 591's for a couple of years and am very happy with them. Heard the 598's are even better though.
I carry a P7 on Hope 35's and long Orange Segment no worries btw.
Used the 591s for a long time but had one bike almost fall out because the frame was a funny shape. The 598 fixes that problem. In all cases if I'm travelling a long way I always strap the bikes as well as backup
Got a tow bar rack now and that is even better
I have just bought a Thule 598 carrier
Only used a few times but solid and very confident in it. Easy to use too.
It was the same price (£85) as the 591 from Halfords.
I’ve got Thule Wingbars with a Thule 598 and whatever the older / cheaper Thule racks are pre 591’s.
I’ve got an Aeris 145, a Kona Caldera hardtail and a Cannondale Caad12 road bike that I use the 598 for.
Only used the Caad12 in it once and it was ok. The Caldera is fine too. The Aeris is a bit more effort to get it up on the roof (weight and length) but once up there it’s secure.
I think I’ve lost a tooth on both the front wheel and the back wheel ratchet trying to get thrhem really tight. I’ve probably over tightened them to make sure they’re secure which has done that damage. I’m not sure what the longevity of the carrier will be like.
Bird recommend one that holds the wheel rather than the frame - maybe it’s a Yakima one? Looks like Thule have a similar style of mount now called the Upride which could be interesting too. ££££’s though.
Wingbars and 598 here, very impressed. Crabon Fribe gnarmac bike and alu Enduro both fit and held with ease. Good kit.
I've also just got a Thule 598 carrier, mounted to Farad pro bars on top of a VW up. The rack works really well so far, only issue I've had is that when the clamp is released, it does so very quickly and bangs into the stanchion of the shock.
Hmm - reply disappeared into the ether...
Thanks for the feedback everyone - very much appreciated. I think that's the two versions I saw in Halfords. Time to crack out the BC discount again. 🙂
Cheers,
Rich
Grip the clamp so you control how fast it opens, will stop it hitting anything.
591's here. No issues so far and I've been using them for years on carbon road, Alu hard tail and FS bikes and steel hardtails.
591 and an Atera Giro AF here on the Thule wing bars...
Like both systems in general, with the following minor hassles:
- Atera straps aren't long enough for plus sized wheels
- my Zesty's wheel base seems too long for the 591; front wheel sticks out too far <- maybe I'm doing it wrong!
Used 591's for years with absolutely zero problems whatsoever. With carbon bikes too, no problems with over tightening or crushing the tubes or anything. You'd really have to be properly heavy handed to dial in enough force to cause damage to tubes from the dial that you close the clamps with. For a bit of extra security I turn the crank so the inboard crank arm crosses the carrier tube so no chance of the frame coming out...completely and utterly unnecessary, but that is my OCD coming out.
I wouldn't trust the security features...plenty of vids on YouTube demonstrating how you can whip a bike out of them in mere seconds, but no issues at all with 591's. If buying now I'd go for the later model of course, but if you can pick up some 591's for a decent price then that would be where the smart money would go.
– my Zesty’s wheel base seems too long for the 591; front wheel sticks out too far <- maybe I’m doing it wrong!
I assume you know about the ability to slide the channel so you can centralise the bike on the rack? Having said that my bike was just about the same length as the channel so any longer bikes would probably over hang and these super long wheel base geo bikes wouldn't stand a chance.
Thule 598 and an Aeris 120 here. Seems quite secure, the only issue is that the frame clamp sits where the bottle cage goes so you have to take it off which is a bit annoying. Most of the time I'll carry the bike in the boot, the roof rack is only for when other things and people have to be ported as well.
No way is a zesty too long... SB66, Capra and Bronson, all in their biggest sizes fit just fine.
I assume you know about the ability to slide the channel so you can centralise the bike on the rack?
No way is a zesty too long… SB66, Capra and Bronson, all in their biggest sizes fit just fine.
cheers guys, looks like I got it wrong... again
Will go and have a peek to see how that thing gets adjusted.
edit...
[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/922/43626380501_2ffede60ac.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/922/43626380501_2ffede60ac.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/29t7B1a ]591 Adjustment[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/123339003@N04/ ]LittleNose[/url]
598 for me because you can swap the wheel clamps with fatbike adaptors in seconds.
If you're looking at buying a brand new 598 bike carrier, take a look at the Volvo parts/accessories website as they have them for roughly £60. A pretty decent saving over RRP.
Good shout Painey!
edit - can only see the 591, and it's 95 quid...
They've still got the 598's but they're up to £70 now, still cheap.
Great spot - there's a Volvo dealer down the road too, so should be easy to get hold of. Cheers for that.
Hi there Mikey - how's it going?
Cheers,
Rich
Mix of 598 and 591s here on Thule Wingbars. 591s have been great over the years, but recently bought a 598 to go with a carbon road bike (598 has a load limiter). Also using the Thule Carbon Frame Protector as another layer of protection. The 598 is a little bit better in every way, especially the shape of the clamp.
Tried the Altera bars recently, which despite coming with a torque key to prevent over tightening, I snapped the metal pin that the bars tighten against. Back to Thule - the same metal pin is double the diameter. Not saying that this'll happen to everyone; just my tuppence.
I'm new to all this so went with Wingbar and the new 598 because I thought it had the best chance of holding my massive bike.
Only used it a couple of times but pretty confident with it. My front wheel just starts to dangle over the front when tightening the frame clamp.
I've got a Longest Geometron with 35mm rims and 2.6 tyres. The diagonal wheel straps work perfectly.
The cheapest I could find was Wingbar and feet from eBay, then a pair of 598's on Halfords click and collect which was much cheaper than in store for some reason.
591 wheel holders don’t work well with tyres wider than 2.5”. Apparently 598 wheel holders can retrofitted to 591 with some Dremel work.
Wingbars and Thule Thruride 565 here.
Wingbars are great, look good, low profile, not much wind noise.
ThruRide 565 is ok.. I like the idea, it just wasn't executed very well. Clamp marks/damages thru axles. Seems to be a bit more side to side play than the previous OutRide 561. Bikes wobble side to side a bit more than I would like.