Im in the market for buying a new bike rack for my mk4 Golf (3 door) and wondered what peoples experiences with them were like. Ive no idea on brands/quality etc At the most id only be wanting to take 2 adult bikes, usually just the one.
Any recomends??
Any thoughts/ideas/experiences either good or bad very much appreciated!
With thanks,
Andy
Thule 591 Pro Racks for me all the way. Love them! I've had them nearly 3 years now.
You buy the bars etc. then buy the 591's individually (per bike). A bit more expensive than many others, but worth every penny in my opinion. Very easy to secure the bike, no wind noise (well...very little anyway) & you can add racks and take them away from the bars depending how many bikes you want to carry.
Mine have been miles with the bikes on and not one issue. Here's a pic of when we headed off the the Alps when I first got them...
JUST WATCH THE LOW CLEARANCE CAR PARKS!
Love Thule racks here as well, although I use the outrider, which clamps the front wheel, either via the QR of through the axle.
Thule 591s here too. Great things - have performed flawlessly for about 7 years.
As said, you just need to keep your eye out for height clearance. If you do go for some, which you should 
, here's a couple of handy tips: 1) Put your chain up onto big ring before putting on the rack - the chainring can otherwise eat its way into the plastic clamp; and 2) wrap a strip of inner tube round the frame where the clamp attaches - to stop paint rub. Both of those were realised the hard way... ... oh, and never, ever, forget to put the ratchet straps on. 
these are the best ive used the bike travels upside down the bars are clamped and the seat sits in a stay ideal for wider frame bikes downhill etc only cheap
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I have the 530 free rides on my car had them about 6 years now, the only problem I have come accross is that they don't fit my mates Marin wolf ridge other than that they're great but as someone above mentioned put some innertube round the frame where it clamps otherwise they do start to mark the frame.
Dave.
wow, thanks for alll the replies lads. I reckon its a no brainer. I'll be ordering a thule this coming week me thinks!
Thanks for all the help!
Andy
My bikes have spent an awful lot of time on 591s... Really brilliant bits of kit, not cheap but worthwhile I reckon. I add a wee bit of helicopter tape where it grips but that's it. Haven't found a bike that won't fit in them yet.
Have a look at Mont Blanc Discovery as well. I have had them for 3-4 years and they are really good. They grip the bike while you fix it.
I've got a pair of Thule 591s, but have never been completely happy with them despite thousands of miles of trouble free use. I now mainly use the Halfords rip off of the 530 for our two bikes. The clamp either side just feels more secure - the bikes don't move at all, whereas they do wobble a bit side to side on the 591s, plus the 591s clash a bit with where the downtube cable guide goes on my Canyon.
I'm just happier with the simpler, more bombproof rack. The genuine Thule version continued to hold my Marin years ago when a freak cyclone blew the entire roofrack off (seriously, the paint was stripped to the metal in 3" strips where the rack was ripped off)!
The cheap rack is not nearly as easily adjustable, but there is no other downside that I can think of, and they are much, much cheaper. I run a 591 in the middle for 'visiting' bikes, although it whistled until I duck taped the main mount.
HTH
Thule 591's, but the bikes can wobble a bit. If you have trouble with frame shapes then then 561 is very good, but oddly more expensive than the 591. I have a couple of Atera Giro which aren't great.
Four 591's on our CRV and I think they are great. Fastest rack from car park to trail (provided there is no bar across the entrance). They have secured everything from a 16" Raleigh Kobo, through a BMX to a FS Airnimal Rhino. If they can clamp a Rhino, they will hold most bikes. They also held a bed frame once!
If you fit four, be aware that you can reverse them so that the two nearest locks point to the same side. Discovered that the hard way, after first fitting 
Yep 591s are great. Just remember your bikes are up there. I didn't, and it was most distressing. Thankfully the insurance paid out, but it made a terrible mess of the roof as the bars and bike were ripped off. Bike didn't like it much either.
I've used the Atera Giro AF for the past 4 years and had no bother with them for that time.
2nd vote for atera giros too.
Remember many tall frames or odd full sus designs with a busy downtube are hard to get on roof carriers
Maybe I should elaborate...
The problems I've had are firstly that the locking mechanism isn't that strong, so if you forget it's locked or have a heavy handed mate who doesn't realise it's locked then it can be overcome with some brute force. Secondly because unlike the 591 the fixed bit of the arm is the bit that goes over the down tube rather than under it can be troublesome getting the bike to go in. When the carrier is new the arm will stay up, but that soon wears and it just drops freely now on both. Basically this makes loading bikes a 2 person job.
Admittedly once you have the bike in the carrier feels very secure and doesn't worry me in that respect.
Don't get the Atera ones! Ours would just snap open eventhough they were locked! We bought them from Roofbox company who exchanged them for the Thule ones. These do seem to move a little as it has one arm, but have performed great all over the uk and two trips to the alps.
[/u]To Itheisinger:[u] We have four bikes on the roof, but two are tiny hardtails. How do you keep 4 alps bikes under the weight limit of the car roof? We have a zafira and last year when adding up the bars, carriers and bikes (2 were kids bikes and 1 hardtail) we only just stayed under the weight limit of the car roof. My husband will take his Enduro next year instead of his hardtail, so we are thinking of removing all pedals and seat posts/saddles to stay under the limit.
Simone
A general point about roof racks, even good quality ones like Thules: don't ever leave your bikes on them unattended and expect the locking system to deter thieves. They are easy to pick, or in most cases the bikes can just be wrenched out.
I have 591 in the centre of the car roof as they clamp from the bottom and reach to centre of car is limited. 530 Freerides for the outers. These fit Marin WolfRidges fine? I regularly clamp my mates in?
Oh, its been poopoo'd on here before, but a tip for long journeys is to protect your stanchions from stone chips by either letting air out, or wrapping stanchions, or facing bike backwards.
Thule 561 OUtride for me... superb... and nothing touching your frame at all... only your QR/maxle.
Atera for me, made by Thule and much cheaper, and by all accounts just as good. No probs and takes seconds to put the bike up and down onto it. Just avoid underground carparks and height barriers!
Thule 591's are great and have had them for years but they don't work great on bikes that have cables running down the top or underside of the downtube or have funny shaped tubes. I have a carbon Scott Genius and the cables run down the top of the down tube which means the clamp bites into the cables. Not the best way to secure your bike but it does work but never feel totally secure and confident in it. If you can find a carrier that clamps the sides then I think this would be better and more versatile as tube shapes change.
Mr Agreeable - MemberA general point about roof racks, even good quality ones like Thules: don't ever leave your bikes on them unattended and expect the locking system to deter thieves. They are easy to pick, or in most cases the bikes can just be wrenched out.
They don't even need picked- it's easier and faster to unlock them with a screwdriver than with the key. The wheel straps take longer to undo.
I just picked up some thule 591's off ebay from a ford dearlership.
£52.95 + £7 postage. Got 2 delivered for £112!
moniex
We have four bikes on the roof, but two are tiny hardtails. How do you keep 4 alps bikes under the weight limit of the car roof? We have a zafira and last year when adding up the bars, carriers and bikes (2 were kids bikes and 1 hardtail) we only just stayed under the weight limit of the car roof. My husband will take his Enduro next year instead of his hardtail, so we are thinking of removing all pedals and seat posts/saddles to stay under the limit.Simone
Not sure what the weight load on a CRV is, but our FRV is 80kg. Thats plenty enough for 4 big bikes and rack. I wuold have thought the CRV was even more. - Honda, solid cars, well made 
moniex - MemberTo Itheisinger: We have four bikes on the roof, but two are tiny hardtails. How do you keep 4 alps bikes under the weight limit of the car roof? We have a Zafira and last year when adding up the bars, carriers and bikes (2 were kids bikes and 1 hardtail) we only just stayed under the weight limit of the car roof. My husband will take his Enduro next year instead of his hardtail, so we are thinking of removing all pedals and seat posts/saddles to stay under the limit.
Simone
The roof weight limit of the Honda CRV is 75kgs (165lbs) - so 'even if' each bike weighed 40lbs that would make: 4 x 40lbs = 160kgs. So therefore I didn't really worry about it (and I know that a couple of the bikes were well under 40lbs).
If you wanted to shed some weight for you particular model of vehicle then all the 'easy' removal parts, i.e. pedals, saddles, posts & maybe if the cranks were as easy to remove as the Hollowtech ones, I might be tempted to remove them (but only if I HAD the get the weight down).
Used Thule roof system for the last ten years, more recently the 591 the only issues I have had are that it marks my frames slightly around the mounting arm and once whilst driving on the motorway my front wheel popped out of the fixings due to puncture.
Check that anyone who's going to be using the racks is strong enough to lift the bikes up there.
I have 4 Thule 591's on my Volvo v50.
Did over 2000 miles in the summer no problem, they even take a tag-a-long.
I bought all of mine secondhand and with the last one I made a good friend who I now go riding with too.
Thule 591's are pretty solid.
Infact, I can confirm that they are substantially stronger than the overhead barriers on the Autoroute restricted headroom toll booth just south of Reims 
Thats a mistake I'll only make once.
I have 3 Thule 530 carriers which I've been using for a couple of years now (including some longer distance trips (London to Scotland))
Found them very secure, only had a problem once when one wheel came loose in a very (and I mean very) strong crosswind.
Like those above I've also had slight frame scratches on the down tube.
I found a length of inner tube slides perfectly over the clamp & also apply a bit of heli-tape to my frames.
They fit any hardtail or roadie frame easily, but full suspension depends on the frame design (basically the height of the downtube - my FS has a u-turn fork so I get round this by winding it down for transport)
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