Yes but I got the Thule Pro bars one size wider so they all fit.

Face them opposite ways and just be aware you may need to move the fixings on the roof carriers a bit.

I can get four mountain bikes across my trailer where there is only about 1.1m of straight bar (if that) and I’ve done the same on my Passat before I got rid of it. The trick is that the bars on each bike pass behind the seat post of the bike(s) either side. This may mean adjusting the foot position of the cycle carriers slightly.

4 bikes, easy. Just do one bike forward, one bike backwards etc.

It hadn’t occurred to me to put bikes in opposite directions – any issues with the rack going backwards?!

None at all.

So when people say bars straight do they mean as usual or untightened and aligned to the direction of the frame?

Normal riding position. The only bike I’ve had an issue with was when my youngest was on a 20″ wheeled bike and the bars were too low to pass over his big brother’s 24″ rear wheel. I’ve had two 24″ bikes a 29r and a 26r on with no issues before. The closer the bikes are in size generally the easier it gets. Think of it like leaning four bikes against the wall at a cafe/pub. They kind of just overlap nose to tail.

Check the max roof load. 4 bikes plus the carriers and bars might take you over the limit.

Should be well within on weight on a large family car like a Mondeo. My SMax is 75kg and if anything that will be lower due to the high cog.

The person putting 4 on a Fabia I’m not so sure…

I’ve regularly driven with 6 bikes on the roof of a Tourneo. Put the carriers on the bars like sardines, alternate directions.

Six?! Boss move.

I’d have sat in the passenger seat on a walkie talkie pretending I’m a pro team support vehicle!

LOL. 6 on the roof, 4 on a rack and another 10 inside if I wasn’t taking passengers.

4 trail bikes on my saloon easy, and same with a mates A4. Followed by another mate in his van and they said 4 big bikes make the car look tiny.

Regularly do 4 family bikes, 4 people and a weeks worth of stuff to our static caravan.

Like scotroutes. I’ve done 6 before but with pedals off and bars rotated. That was a 300 mile journey.

No problems at all. The car behind (carrying 4 people + gear in the roof box) eyeballed us for 15-30mins to make sure there were no odd vibrations/oscillations but it was all fine all they way up to just under a 100mph. We then settled in at 75 for the rest of the journey.

We were carful over bumps and cross axle jumps as the bike were quite close, but there was no damage on arrival and no signs of any contact.

@RopeyReignRider The chap I bought our two 591s from used to carry five bikes on the roof of his Q5. I assume he was over the weight limit with that, but still.

As above, two forwards, two backwards; you’ll probably need to swap the upright round on two of them but from memory this involves undoing a couple of bolts (and certainly the 591/598 instructions tell you what to do).

I do it most weekends and never had an issue with bikes of any description.

Thule aero bars with Thule 591’s using the T bolts to connect them so you can spread the racks all the way across (rather than using the wrap around clamps where you have to avoid the bit where the roof bars connect o the car). Bikes facing opposite ways so bars don’t clash and enjoy 3 hours of motorway whistling and half your normal fuel consumption.

any issues with the rack going backwards?

Yes, bugs splat on the back of the bike on summer evenings.

It’s kind of obvious, but if you find that handlebars are hitting saddles or seat posts, move the roof bars further apart, if you can. Obviously you can only do this if your car has roof rails rather than specific mounting points for the bars.

I do it all the time, and whilst towing a caravan!

Top to tail is essential, for us, and it also helps massively to change the handedness of the racks that you want to put on the other side otherwise you’ll have a right ballache getting bikes on. But because some are backwards you’ll have to really think about which ones you want to flip because mounting some backwards will also flip the handedness. So figure it out and then number each rack to make it easier next time!

Also, if you are buying new, make sure you spec them all with the same key!

And fuel consumption is not hit that hard at all in my experience.

Big hit, for me in my Passat. I go from about 60 unladen to about 52 just with a roof rack on and no bikes at all. Bikes on it’s low-mid 40s so it’s at least a 25% hit.

Re noise, my Thule racks do whistle a bit.