Dads, tell me about roof racks.

[Notorious MCSE]

I used to have a trailer in England, that sorted most things out.

Trailers are unheard of in China, even the word trailer is met by a wall of blank faces at the car dealership when I asked if I could stick a tow bracket on my car. Nobody knows what a trailer is.

So I need a roof rack to put my bikes on. Thule have a nice lot for around 3,000rmb, I want one that I can leave on the roof 24/7 365 without taking off as I have no space to store it basically.

Any other good brands out there, and will long term roof rack use warp the roof or damage the car in anyway?

[Chris H]

I used to have a trailer in England,

That doesn't surprise me.

[yawner]

No personal experience of roof racks - always thought they looked ugly. That said, I wouldn`t have thought a properly fitted rack specific for your car would do any damage. The more likely cause of damage would be when you were mounting and de-mounting your bikes onto the rack. Pedals can make luvverly big scratches on lustrous paintwork.

[Notorious MCSE]

No personal experience of roof racks - always thought they looked ugly. That said, I wouldn`t have thought a properly fitted rack specific for your car would do any damage. The more likely cause of damage would be when you were mounting and de-mounting your bikes onto the rack. Pedals can make luvverly big scratches on lustrous paintwork.

Thats why I want a roof rack and not a rear rack, I think the chances of pedal touching the paint are a bit less if its t'on roof, or if it slips out of my hands when Im taking it down I guess Im buggered.

Dont you have a Foresester, dont comes with roof rails as standard?

Chris, I mean a trailer, not a caravan. 

Im more of a shed man, than a caravan man. 

[Mantis]

I have a Thule roof rack on teh Volvo so I can have one boat on teh roof and tow the other.

I can still do >70mph 

[Notorious MCSE]

Good stuff Mantis.

70mph is about what I can do on Chinese highways anyway 

I take it Thule are good, any other top notch brands?

[yawner]

Dont you have a Foresester, dont comes with roof rails as standard?

Used to have one - no roof rails as I remember 

[Tony]

Thule are good, I have Thule bars and fittings and a Karrite box.

It's quick release so takes about a minute to put on and take off - get locks for the release buttons though as someone could easily nick it.

[Notorious MCSE]

My Jap mate give me his old rear mounted one for free.

Top bloke.

Im going to change cars soon enough anyway, so I think the investment in the roof rack might be a bit of a waste, unless they are interchangable between cars?

[Tony]

Depends on the car - best bet is to have a look on the thule website to see if they do - fittings for the feet may be different, but they are modular in design so you can interchange some parts

[Notorious MCSE]

Depends on the car - best bet is to have a look on the thule website to see if they do - fittings for the feet may be different, but they are modular in design so you can interchange some parts

Then maybe Ill wait...

Im going to go from a Nissan Note to either an Smax or a Mazda 6 Wagon both of which seem a bit wider than the Note.