[BenN]

Hi Guys,

Just looking for abit of advice and any experiences with roof mounted cycle carriers for the F20.

I've done a fair bit of research into the roof mounted solutions for carrying cycles, and pretty much settled on a pair of Thule Wingbar Edge 9594 rails with fitting kit 3028 for my 5DR F20 120d M Sport.

Im abit indecisive when choosing which cycle carrier to use. I have been looking at the following two:

Thule ProRide 591
http://www.thule.com/en/gb/products/...e-591-_-591018

Atera Giro AF
http://www.atera.co.uk/scripts/rbveh...~cC4ure%60JRMa

These both have very good write ups, with the Thule being the most common but thats not surprising since it's a high street brand. The Atera is German made, so should stand for something and was offered to me as an alternative by www.roofbox.co.uk, obviously they are one of the main sellers of this brand so it makes sense they offer it to me. I will not consider a rear mounted rack as i have done damage to previous cars with these. I am not really bothered about thieves stealing my bikes (as i wont leave them unattended) so the locking mechanism isnt an issue, but security on the car in transit is - i don't want them coming loose in the slightest and damaging my roof.

One other thing to consider is my bike's have cables running on the down tube, which could be a problem if the rack tightens on the underside of the down tube.

This is what i have deduced from my research, but i am still undecided:

Thule:
Locking mechanism seems good, since its a ratchet and you can alter the strength. Lock is a deterrant, and a bike can be pulled from it quite easily (if you google thule proride 951 an interesting theft video appears to prove this). If the ratchet comes loose, the bike could easily topple sideways and is then only held by wheel straps.

Atera:
Locking mechanism is spring loaded, handle then tightened and locked. Apparently some say that after locking you can still unscrew and loosen, so this concerns me whether it would do this in transit. Wheel Chocks seem as tho they could hold the bike vertical if the main mechanism fails. Lack of reviews on this rack, the one on the atera site is in german (would really appreciate it if someone could translate, as its in an image so google translate wouldnt help)

Obviously each of these could fail if faulty, so understand there is a mild risk ... so what would you choose? Bikes are hard tails (~£500 each), but i would want to support road bikes and full suspension, which these two racks support. Any others people can suggest, maybe the BMW rack? but these are £100 each...

Any advice or comments is appreciated, thanks!

Ben

[ovekvam]

The review is scanned in rather poor resolution, and difficult to read. It wins the test and is highly recommended. The 2.5 score close to the bottom is from a crash test at 30 km/h, marked "Condition locking mechanism / load lost".

[BenN]

Originally Posted by ovekvam

"Condition locking mechanism / load lost".

Thanks, what would that mean: the bike came off the carrier at 30kmh?

[ovekvam]

Originally Posted by BenN

Thanks, what would that mean: the bike came off the carrier at 30kmh?

Probably not, as some other racks got a score of 5, where 1 is best. I guess it must mean that the locking mechanism got somewhat damaged in the crash.

[flyaway]

I've been looking for the same thing lately, this should be the corespondent of the Thule fixation in the OEM form (or the very same, rebadged?):

http://www.leebmann24.de/bmw-grundtr...r-1er-f20.html

I guess the price includes just one set (two needed), but does it include the rails and the fitting kit, I wonder?

This is the cycle holder from BMW:

http://www.leebmann24.de/rennradhalt...hliessbar.html

In the same registry and for the non cyclist ones, but needing more cargo space, does anyone has any suggestion for the most appropriated Thule roof-box (for the already mentioned fixations) on the F20 ? Does this suits the OEM rails/fixation system?

Thank you in advance

[SixDegrees]

I have these...

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/catego...rracuda-35073/

No issue I can report. I know guys who use them with road bikes, others with MTB/DH and I use them for BMX.

[westphone]

Try it if you can. See if you can get one and install it with your bike on to travel at the speed you want. I had one with wind noise from Thule at 100 km/h - 110 km/h. Since then I don't use it and put my bike with friends' on the back of a bigger car.

They carry downhill bikes and roadies equally well.

[ovekvam]

If you fold the back seat down, you can also put a bicycle into an F20/F21. That's what I do.

[BenN]

Thanks for the info Guys. The Mont Blanc carriers look good, i will have to look into them. I've also been looking at the BMW official carriers since i posted yesterday, a BMW dealership in Devon are selling the official carriers for £89 on ebay, they usually retail for £101. They look the best of both worlds, albeit abit pricey, they have chocks for the wheels (so good for when putting bikes on the roof whilst parked on a slope - should also give more security) and the clamp seems to go completely around the cycle frame, so no chance of it coming loose.

http://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/topics/ow...ryId=4565.html

The only problem is, there is little information online about these carriers or pictures, im quite interested to see exactly how they secure to the bike and car. Anyone had any experience or own a set of these, even better have an e-manual for these?

I spoke to the dealership that supplies them down in Devon, and he was unsure whether these would fit onto the thule wingbar edge bars (with t-track) that i am looking at purchasing. I understand that Thule sell a Thule to BMW rail adapter for their products, so i guess there is some size differentiation in the tracks, does anyone own any BMW roof accessories and know if the pack comes with a universal fitment?

One avenue i am considering is to get the full BMW system, rails and cycle carriers, although this limits my rails only to BMW. However, buying the wing bar edge rails from Thule practically limits me to the one car as they are very vehicle specific.

Anyone got any pics or experience with these BMW products?

Thanks.

[BenN]

Ok, So ive taken the plunge and gone with the BMW original roof rack and a pair of Atera Giro Speed carriers. I decided that fork mounted carriers would be the safest option when carrying the bike on the car, alot less play than the upright carriers. I will just get a wheel cover and put the front wheels in the boot, takes seconds to remove so shouldn't be too much hassle!

I managed to get the BMW rails for cheaper than a set of Thule Wingbar Edge, the BMW look slightly deeper but are sleek in appearance and best of all they do not touch the roof atall. I have ordered these from my dealer.

The Atera Giro Speed carriers, are apparently the same as the BMW Racing Cycle Carrier (same as the one in the link flyaway posted) as Atera are the manufacturer of quite a number of car manufacturers equipment. The upright carrier that BMW offers is a re-branded Thule ProRide 591, which gets fantastic reviews, although i was never confident with the using such a rack after reading stories where the frame has slipped out of the vice and fell onto the roof of the car.
Ive ordered the cycle carriers from www.roofbox.co.uk, great service and price when purchasing two:

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbv...60Hvo3C%60Jx.g

Once the racks are mounted i will try and get some pictures up, hopefully this will help anyone else in my situation.