Does anybody regularly carry a £2.5K + bike on their car roof with a Thule 591 carrier? I don't just mean a few miles but for a decent 100 mile plus motorway journey, going on holiday etc etc.

How secure are these carriers?

Thanks

Matt

Yea they are fine, covered about 2000 miles with one so far and not had any issues

1200 mile trip with my 3k bolx on the roof using the Thule.

Great carriers mine and my sons bike are worth a lot and regularly travel 3 hrs without a second thought. We use the thuke 561 though

I regularly carry my £4K Santacruz and my partners £2.5K Orange on the roof of my car using Thule 591 carriers. I've done thousands and thousands of miles with them up there, at fast motorway speeds, in gales, rain, snow, everything and I've never, ever had an issue (touches some wood).

I just put them up there and drive, they really are very secure in my experience. I care very much about my bikes and wouldn't use the roof carriers if I didn't think they were 100% secure. The bikes stay pretty clean too, which isn't always the case with towbar mounted racks.

I can't believe I used to go to the hassle of taking dirty bikes apart and fitting them inside the car all the time, it's so much easier to put them on the roof. Mind you I get a bit nervous when I stop at the services, and don't leave them out of sight at all if I can help it, even though they are locked on, and I'm pretty careful to make sure no-one is following me home too, so they do have downsides, not in practical terms though, they couldn't be better.

How secure are these carriers?

Fine while driving but not while parked – it's quite possible to force the jaws using the frame for leverage.

i carry my turner which was a few quid on my roof no worries

Regularly carry over £12000 worth of bikes on my roof at speeds in excess of the national speed limit.

Just remember to:

A.) Check everything twice.
B.) Remember the extra height!

Yep – no problems here either. Used to use 591s, now a combo of 561s and Pendle racks.

I've had more damage done to my bike when I've put it in the boot than it's ever had on the racks.

I strap my 5 pro (£2.6K)to the roof of mine on short and long trips.

I sometimes add a wire and lock as secondary security though.

Great product that has never let me down and well worth the money.

I'd definately agree with the "check everything twice sentiment".
Also, don't secure them if you've got a bad hangover – I've got dents in the roof to prove it but my fault as I didn't have the frame positioned right in the clamp (especially important with the 591. You can always back things up with some toe clip straps.

Also, I'm not sure it really matters how much the bike is worth? Surely the implications of a bike falling off are far greater than purely the monetary value of the bike?

Question. Do you need to inform your insurer of the addition?

Plus I have a 591 proride Thule and aero bars if anyone is interested? 😉

My friends had a 70mph de-biking. Only broke one grip and blew the tyres. Not bad! I'm not a fan of roof mounts but I guess most problems are user error as they couldn't be sold otherwise.

mafiafish I would never ride a bike thats come off at 70mph. Ever!

I frequently carry a pretty expensive Turner on top of a considerably more expensive 911 all using a Thule 591 – no problems to date and if there were it wouldn't be the bike I would check first….

now theres a sight…a 911 with a bike on the roof! Trying to imagine whether it would look distinctly odd or distinctly cool 😯

A while ago (before lawyer tabs on forks) I failed to properly secure the fork on a road bike. At 70mph it released at the front; rotated round on the back wheel (which luckily stayed fastened); and smashed the back window :-(. Lesson learned for me I hope.

I'm the mate mafiafish refers to- my Evil fell off the roof of my mate's car at 70mp almost onto the bonnet of the car behind. Only real reason it survived was because the Evil is a tank- if it'd been my race bike, or my road bike, it'd be a write off.

It was no reflection on the rack's quality, more the driver of the car who attached it wrong and without using the proper straps, but a bodged up arrangement.

Use Thule roof racks to carry the same bike (about £3k) at home- long trips, 500 miles or so.

Hora- it's a brick shithouse is my Evil, it took it well! There's no damage to the frame whatsoever.

Hey meesterbond – you live near/in stourbridge?

What do folk think about the bikes getting all the crap from rain, road dirt etc?

Isn't it a bit like a high pressure wash with bearing ingress danger?

superstar_opponents 😯 , you do expect it after every ride though????

Edit – 'Inspect' (Freudian, you wait for it at the side of the road to catch up) 😆

Hora, I've ridden it for 8 months since the incident. I've ridden things that would've done more damage to it- it's a big chunky 853 frame, and even if it does crack it's steel so I can reweld it. It's a frame built to be thrown off things, even cars.

I used to inspect it, but don't bother now- if nothing had shown within a couple of months then it must be OK.

superstar_opponents 🙄 You could at least laugh at my Freudian-slip?

south east to edinburgh regularly with an s-works fsr and a trek 5900 previously on the roof with thule carriers and now on a thule towbar rack. no problems to report however at this time of year i cover sensitive bits with oily rags and gaffa tape and rinse down on arrival.

I've stuck my bike along with three others on my mates car. Must have been 12k + on the roof. Probably 7 or 8 times the worth of the car!

I think you should look at the celibacy thread to see why it passed me by 😯

Orange 5 and Specialised Stumpy, to the Alps and back.

Just done a trip from Surrey to the Breacons with my bling DW 5-Spot and wife's Ti 456 on Thule roofracks. Prob close to £10k of kit with no worries. Did a trip to N Wales in the summer and Borders/Lakes last year too. They're strapped to a rather quick Alpina so they get subjected to a bit of acceleration too, although don't tend to go too quickly on motorways etc.

OK, what's the max speed you've done with your 1,000's £ bikes on the roof

I did 100 once (without really knowing – and on a private road of course)

For some reason I am reading this thread in a Harry Enfield Brummy "I'm considerably richer than yow" voice ? 🙄

Yeah, my car's worth 2K and the bike(s) could many times more – says alot about the priorities about folk on here

Did 100 late one night (private motorway obviously) many moons ago like this….

It was the old Cannondale on the roof rather than Nancy the Ventana, but you get the idea. There was a solo on there too. I was watching the fuel gauge dropping by the second!

Rob

What has the cost of the bike to do with it?

I've been at about 80 with the bikes on. But when the car's worth a third of the bike it can't do much more than that with or without a rack.

The problem with roof-mounted systems is the extra height. Easy to forget at the end of a long trip. Have a look at this: http://www.bustedcarbon.com/search?q=garage

I'd always go for a tow-bar mounted system, like a maxxraxx.

What's the recommended max speed?

I wont really do acer 80 now

Had a bolt attaching Thule to aero snap whilst carrying my 5 spot, luckily I was doing 10 mph on Marin car park. Never trusted one since. Bikes inside now.

I drove under a too-low height restriction 18 months ago with a Ti and a Carbon race bike on my roof.
Cost me a new Halfords Roof Rack too.
Total of the 2x bikes new: about £7K.
I win.
🙁

Just buy a Ford Galaxy Tdi take the back seats out and you can get 4 bikes and people inside. 45-50mpg about 2k for a facelifted one now, job done.