P5 Bike Rack Solution?

[round00]

Ok... after having spent $150 for a hitch, nonrefundable, and having to eat it because i hated the hitch rack... i went with this... I didn't want a yakima/thule because of the way the rack chews up the door sills and leaves marks on the roof where the feet touch...

www.rockymounts.com. This is the Noose SL.

This was the "best" thing I could find... so far it is working great. It attaches right to the factory rack. Seems really solid.

The rear door opens WITHOUT hitting the rack. When bikes are on rack, the spoiler WILL hit the rear tire. Most likely will NOT leave a mark. One caveat: You may need an adapter for bikes with disc brakes. This may lengthen the rack to where the wheel trays hit the spoiler if you open the rear hatch door all the way.

Sunroof works fine, except when you tilt it, it barely touches the bolts securing the rack to the factory crossbars. You could cut the bolts slightly and have full sun roof functionality.

If you want more pics or have questions, let me know.

 

[Kansei]

Ok... after having spent $150 for a hitch, nonrefundable, and having to eat it because i hated the hitch rack... i went with this... I didn't want a yakima/thule because of the way the rack chews up the door sills and leaves marks on the roof where the feet touch...

www.rockymounts.com. This is the Noose SL.

This was the "best" thing I could find... so far it is working great. It attaches right to the factory rack. Seems really solid.

The rear door opens WITHOUT hitting the rack. When bikes are on rack, the spoiler WILL hit the rear tire. Most likely will NOT leave a mark. One caveat: You may need an adapter for bikes with disc brakes. This may lengthen the rack to where the wheel trays hit the spoiler if you open the rear hatch door all the way.

Sunroof works fine, except when you tilt it, it barely touches the bolts securing the rack to the factory crossbars. You could cut the bolts slightly and have full sun roof functionality.

If you want more pics or have questions, let me know.

Thank you! This seems like a great solution. So great, in fact, that I already ordered one. I'm leaving to go on vacation in about 10 days so it was either get a bike rack or put the bike in the back of the car and have no cargo/people room.

 

[Dimitrios]

Damn, that's a nice setup; I just custom fabricated a similar setup using Yakima trays and Yakima Blockheads.

At $84, that's not a bad deal at all....

I'll post pics of mine when I get it all said and done.

 

[round00]

Just as an aside... it looks as if you could remove the plate, and then attach straight to either Thule or Yakima bars if you ever got a new car that didn't have a factory rack... Probably would need another piece of the bracket where the plate would be, but I am sure you could order this from Rocky Mounts i.e. this is just their normal Yakima/Thule bike rack with a plate.

Ok... after having spent $150 for a hitch, nonrefundable, and having to eat it because i hated the hitch rack... i went with this... I didn't want a yakima/thule because of the way the rack chews up the door sills and leaves marks on the roof where the feet touch...

 

[albrieva]

Ok... after having spent $150 for a hitch, nonrefundable, and having to eat it because i hated the hitch rack... i went with this... I didn't want a yakima/thule because of the way the rack chews up the door sills and leaves marks on the roof where the feet touch...

www.rockymounts.com. This is the Noose SL.

This was the "best" thing I could find... so far it is working great. It attaches right to the factory rack. Seems really solid.

The rear door opens WITHOUT hitting the rack. When bikes are on rack, the spoiler WILL hit the rear tire. Most likely will NOT leave a mark. One caveat: You may need an adapter for bikes with disc brakes. This may lengthen the rack to where the wheel trays hit the spoiler if you open the rear hatch door all the way.

Sunroof works fine, except when you tilt it, it barely touches the bolts securing the rack to the factory crossbars. You could cut the bolts slightly and have full sun roof functionality.

If you want more pics or have questions, let me know.

WHat was wrong with using the hitch mount?? And which hitch RACK were you using???

 

[round00]

1. The weight of it made the car sit a little low in the back - i didn't like it.
2. The bikes swung around no matter what I did to secure them - especially on unpaved roads.
3. The bikes inevitably touched each other - over long periods of time this will scrape paint off frames

I just didn't like it. I really wanted something for the roof - but, as I am not planning on keeping this car long - I didn't want to tear up the car with an after market rack or put something on that sat up to high and made a lot of noise (its already noisy).

This rack seems to solve those problems for me.

Oh yea - i was using a Draw-tite hitch and a yakima rack.

WHat was wrong with using the hitch mount?? And which hitch RACK were you using???

 

[Kansei]

Yay!

 

[dsm_rally]

I have what looks to be a very similiar setup using the "factory" Yakima setup that I got from Mazdastuff.com. Mine isn't a fork mount though. It works great. I drove from Wisconsin to North Carolina and back with 2 bikes. Everything held up great. My fuel mileage was pretty crappy, but that's to be expected.

Check out this thread for links to pics.....
http://www2.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24747

 

[Kansei]

Being a fork mount was the main reason I bought the setup I bought.

 

[Kansei]

I just got an e-mail notification that someone replied to my post.. I don't see the post here, but I'll answer the question anyways. Yes, when the moonroof is tilted it hits the bolts, not the ones in the front that would hit the glass, but rather the ones to the rear. It can go almost all the way without hitting, so I'll just do a little trimming to those bolts.

 

[Togan]

personally im not a big fan of roof racks.. dunno...

 

[Kansei]

personally im not a big fan of roof racks.. dunno...

Either am I but I don't have much of a choice. Don't wanna put my bike in the trunk, but It's much cheaper than having a hitch and a rear-mount rack. And plus I hate rear mount racks because then the bike sticks out the sides of the car, moves around, and hits other bikes, rubbing the paint off.

 

[esracer]

Hey round00, I think this may be the best solution for me as well. By chance do you have any pictures of your rack with your bike one it? I just want to see how the clearences are. Thanks for posting this info, its been really helpful. I will have to get the disc brake adapter though. How do you like this rack soo far? Any issues? I can't seem to find any reviews on Mtbr.com for it. Thanks.

 

[BadApple]

Thanks for this info...i just ordered mine.. i had to get the SLX because i have wide wide tires on my Raleigh M80 and also had to get the Disc brake adapter....
Have you had any trouble with the rack at all since you last posted?
Im not sure how old this thread is.. but that is what is great about the SEARCH button!*

 

[esracer]

Thanks for this info...i just ordered mine.. i had to get the SLX because i have wide wide tires on my Raleigh M80 and also had to get the Disc brake adapter....
Have you had any trouble with the rack at all since you last posted?
Im not sure how old this thread is.. but that is what is great about the SEARCH button!*

No problems so far. Works great!! I had to cut off about 4 inches from the tray using the disc brake adapter (So that the rear hatch opens without touching the trays). I also use wide handlebars (26in) and so there could be a potiental for the bars hitting each other when I have two bikes mounted. Luckily I have a fork with ajustable travel so I keep one small travel and one big travel. Problem solved. I think this rack is the best looking cause you get to use your stock rack.

 

[round00]

Thanks for this info...i just ordered mine.. i had to get the SLX because i have wide wide tires on my Raleigh M80 and also had to get the Disc brake adapter....
Have you had any trouble with the rack at all since you last posted?
Im not sure how old this thread is.. but that is what is great about the SEARCH button!*

Nope, the rack is great. The back tire will touch the wing when you open the back door - either don't open it, or open is slowly and let it nudge the tire.

I like it because it isn't sticking up real high in the air and I can use the factory racks. And it's cheap!

 

[mountjonas]

Nope, the rack is great. The back tire will touch the wing when you open the back door - either don't open it, or open is slowly and let it nudge the tire.

I like it because it isn't sticking up real high in the air and I can use the factory racks. And it's cheap!

this is the one i just bought, also. i ordered one through supergo.com and they sent me two. too bad my conscience got to me and i am sending back the second one.

 

[esracer]

this is the one i just bought, also. i ordered one through supergo.com and they sent me two. too bad my conscience got to me and i am sending back the second one.

Don't do it!!! SuperGo won't loose money. They sell a crap load of stuff every day. Keep it...and consider it an act of Good will. I wish jensonusa.com did that to me. Muaaaaaaaaahhahahahahahahahaha!!!

 

[mountjonas]

Don't do it!!! SuperGo won't loose money. They sell a crap load of stuff every day. Keep it...and consider it an act of Good will. I wish jensonusa.com did that to me. Muaaaaaaaaahhahahahahahahahaha!!!

too late, i called them about 5 minutes after it came. i didn't want to get charged for it if they ever figured it out.

 

[CHEFS P5]

I also have the rockymounts. I have two of them, that I use to carry full suspension bikes with disk brakes. I don't need the adapters for disc brakes. My racks did hit the spoiler and was very pissed off. Figured out, that I could cut off about 1 1'2 inches on the rack and wouldn't hit the spoiler. Measure to make sure that your bike will fit after cutting. Unbolted the rail for the main mounting bracket(front bracket) Cut it with a dremel, then redrilled the mounting holes. Works great and you don't have to worry about hitting the spoiler.
Cheers

Ok... after having spent $150 for a hitch, nonrefundable, and having to eat it because i hated the hitch rack... i went with this... I didn't want a yakima/thule because of the way the rack chews up the door sills and leaves marks on the roof where the feet touch...

www.rockymounts.com. This is the Noose SL.

This was the "best" thing I could find... so far it is working great. It attaches right to the factory rack. Seems really solid.

The rear door opens WITHOUT hitting the rack. When bikes are on rack, the spoiler WILL hit the rear tire. Most likely will NOT leave a mark. One caveat: You may need an adapter for bikes with disc brakes. This may lengthen the rack to where the wheel trays hit the spoiler if you open the rear hatch door all the way.

Sunroof works fine, except when you tilt it, it barely touches the bolts securing the rack to the factory crossbars. You could cut the bolts slightly and have full sun roof functionality.

If you want more pics or have questions, let me know.