daihung

HI,

I installed the Thule crossbars and bike racks this weekend. I had a hard time lifting up the bike and putting it on. How do you guys/gals mount your bikes? Do you use hitch bike carrier or roof carrier? Do you use a wheel/tire step to reach the roof? I have to open the rear door and step on the rail in order to reach.

I noticed that after the bars were installed, there is lots of wind noise. Do you think installing a fairing will reduce the noise? Thanks.

Arbitrage1

Thanks for bringing this up, last weekend we went for a bike ride, and since we don't go too often, we just folded the seats down and threw the bikes in. But thats not going to work.

We were thinking that on our next RX we would get the trailer hitch, and get a rack that attaches there, but then I found this:

http://www.rackattack.com/product-pa...logue-pack.asp

Its the prologue pack from Thule. It looks like you got the Thule 599xtr Big Mouth, which means you had to buy the crossbars separately.

How easy/hard was the install?

daihung

I had the crossbars and 599xtr Big Mouth from my previous Honda Accord sedan. I bought the Thule 450 crossroad railing foot pack so that I can use it with the RX roof rack. I did considered using the prologue with the factory crossbars but since I had the 599 big mouths and purchased the 450 railing pack previously (initially intended for another car but got the RX at the end,) I decided to stay with it. One thing about the prologue is that there is no locking mechanism from the rack to the crossbars. It's unlikely that anyone would climb up to the roof and steal the rack but I don't want to take the chances since I live in NYC. The 450 locks to the railing and 599 locks to the crossbars.

I have an Uhaul tow hitch installed. I also thought about getting a hitch bike rack but since I park in NYC, I don't want to risk having the bike damaged by other cars bumping into me during parking. However, putting a bike up the roof is really difficult. If you are not careful, you might scratch the car.

The installation took about an hour for the whole thing. It's not difficult to install but not as easy as putting it on top of a sedan. Also, if you go to a car wash, make sure you take the bike track off. You can leave the crossbars on. I had an incident on my old car that the big mouth rack got caught with the cleaning cloth and ripped the whole rack off. I got scratches on my trunk.

tfischer

My thoughts are that, with that bad boy atop the car, wind noise cannot be eliminated. Secondly, getting the bike up there is easier if you take off the front wheel, (as shown on the link, above) but it looks from your photo like the front yoke of your bike does not allow that. If it does, that would be one thing to try. Finally, mostly for cleaning, I bought a low, two step "ladder" that's about 4 feet long, which allows a step or two sideways - this would make it easier to get a bike up there. These are available at any Home Depot or Lowe's, etc. Good luck with this.

biff44

A lot of people drive under low overhangs without thinking, and wipe out their bikes! Parking garages are a big problem. It is easy to forget it is up there. I would recommend the tow hitch.

Challenger

If you already have a trailer hitch, I would suggest Thelma bike rack by Saris. No worries about driving under something, trashing the bike, the RX and the building hit. No wind noise, no loss of gas mileage from aerodynamic drag. It's protected from bugs. Easy on and off. Also, makes a good bike stand for bike adjustments. Only weighs 26 lbs.

Safe riding,
Richard

Nakamichi

I also put my bike on top of the roof. As suggested by tfischer, I use a two-step ladder bought from local hardware store.

Wind noise is a problem for me too, I want to look for a fairing but not too sure if I want to install it as it will be lying half way on my sunroof.

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**Edited***

Tried to post the picture here but unsuccessful...

tm510

I saw this thing in our Princess Auto (like your Harbor Freight type store). Its a step that slips over your tire. It might make your lift easier.

http://www.princessauto.com/truck-tr...e-service-step

ecount00

we use a rack that fits into to the hitch we had installed. have always steered away from up top for the reasons mentioned. noise and figuring i'd be the guy that forgot they were on there and hit an overhang whether it be a drive through canopy, parking garage or my own garage.

tran_man

Hitch mounted Thule Ridgeline is a perfect solution. It flips down for easy access to the cargo area. With a bike mounted closest to the car, the litigate opens without hitting the bike. It's easy to mount bikes because it's low and no extra wind noise and clearance problems. I suggest hitch mounted bike rack over roof any day of the week. Plus, I can fit 4 bikes with ease.

daihung

Two Sundays ago I was on the NYC 5 boro bike tour. I had my bike up on the roof. I drove into Manhattan and parked inside a garage. While driving I keep telling myself that I have a bike on top. As soon as I drove down the garage……. I forgot. The bike hit some type of pike with padding and ripped off the Thule Bigfoot rack and sledded down the back of the trunk. The bike sustained little damage on the paddle and the handle bar. I was surprised that the wheel wasn't bended. I was able to continue with the bike tour. As for the car...there were some scratches on the plastic spoiler but not too noticeable since it’s on top. There is a small dent with about 1.5 inches scratch just below the wipers. There were damages on the Thule track itself. The frame was bended and twisted. One of the tides for the wheels was broken.
I was angry at myself for forgetting the bike was up there even thought throughout the whole ride I kept telling myself it's up there. I have to see how I can fix the dent and the scratches (my first one.) I'll post some pictures and seek for some advice from you guys.
A few days ago I saw a sale for the Thule hitch track 934xt for $150 at SportsAuthority. I decided to give it a try. I haven’t installed it yet. I always like roof rack but since this incident, I'm going to try a hitch rack.