Cycle carrier for S Line?

[BRISTOL86]

Is there a cycle carrier compatible with the S Line 8V Sportback? All the rear mounted ones I’ve found says that they’re not compatible with vehicles with rear spoilers.

 

[rafletcher]

It’s possible that a Saris boot mounted one might be (HertsS3 is waiting to hear from them, see his thread below) but generally no, as the top straps bear down on the edge of the spoiler - the Saris may mount high enough to prevent this. Otherwise it’s a roof bar mounted one, or, best of all, a tow ball mounted one.

 

[BRISTOL86]

Thanks. No roof bars or tow bar on mine so looks like I’m a bit stuck.

 

[HertS3]

Still waiting to hear from Saris. You're not stuck, there are roof bars for cars without rails (like myself), I managed to get them second hand (but brand new)

 

[BRISTOL86]

Thanks, yes, I was in a bit of a rush when looking last night - just looked at the Thule website and there seems to be plenty of solutions for cars without rails.

Do you know if they are easy to remove/re-install yourself on demand, or are they designed to be put on and pretty much left alone once installed?

 

[HertS3]

I had to adjust the width on mine which was a little fiddly (especially on my own!) and it even suggested in the manual to take it to an Audi workshop as it needs to be 8 Nm!! Once width is set it's pretty easy, you can put them back on very quickly, it's just positioning them and tightening 4 bolts (one on each corner)

 

[BRISTOL86]

Great, thanks. There's an official Thule partner not too far from me so might give them a shout when all this has blown over and I can actually see some options in the flesh.

 

[HertS3]

No worries. The Audi OEM stuff is made by Thule, just got the rings whacked on most likely for a lot more money. Would've gone down that route if I hadn't found it for less than half price unused!

 

[eribaMotters]

My present bars are the Audi branded Thule and look good. I do have the silver roof rails on the car though. I've used Thule and Ateca since 2004. all good. Whispbar are also excellent so you should find something to fit.
There is always talk on the caravan forums about which way of carrying bikes is best. Back of the car is used through convenience as the most stable method of carrying on the roof is out for many of us due to height of some cars and issues safely lifting a heavy bike on.

Colin

 

[BRISTOL86]

Thanks mate. Local Thule dealer has responded to my initial enquiry already. c. £230 for the entry level square bars with a single cycle carrier or £330 for the aluminium wing bars and the pro ride carrier which is a bit cheaper than Thule website RRPs...plus free fitting.

Do we think it's worth finding the extra £100 for the 'better' system? To be honest it's probably worth that to me just to have silver bars instead of black given the car is silver, it might be a bit less jarring on the eye!

 

[rafletcher]

The wing bars make a significant difference to the noise level. I already had the bars (from use on previous Audi's with fitted roof rails) and sourced the foot pack and fittings from ebay. As Herts3 says, a bit fiddly to set up first time on your own, but not difficult. And with mine there is a torque key allen key that clicks to let you know you've the correct load on the fixings when doing them up.

I used the Thule Evo Clamp 7105 foot pack, and the Thule Evo 5013 fitting kit, plus the aerobars I had.

I'd have gone down the tow-bar route if I could, but that's a no-go on the S3 due to the exhaust design.

 

[eribaMotters]

Thanks mate. Local Thule dealer has responded to my initial enquiry already. c. £230 for the entry level square bars with a single cycle carrier or £330 for the aluminium wing bars and the pro ride carrier which is a bit cheaper than Thule website RRPs...plus free fitting.

Do we think it's worth finding the extra £100 for the 'better' system? To be honest it's probably worth that to me just to have silver bars instead of black given the car is silver, it might be a bit less jarring on the eye!

Aluminium wingbars every time. The cheap square ones do look cheap and as said above the wingbars are much quieter. Only time I'd go for the cheaper steel would be on a runabout if I occasioanally needed to move ladders or a few bits of timber etc

 

[BRISTOL86]

The wing bars make a significant difference to the noise level. I already had the bars (from use on previous Audi's with fitted roof rails) and sourced the foot pack and fittings from ebay. As Herts3 says, a bit fiddly to set up first time on your own, but not difficult. And with mine there is a torque key allen key that clicks to let you know you've the correct load on the fixings when doing them up.

I used the Thule Evo Clamp 7105 foot pack, and the Thule Evo 5013 fitting kit, plus the aerobars I had.

I'd have gone down the tow-bar route if I could, but that's a no-go on the S3 due to the exhaust design.

Thanks

For ease I think I'm just going to get it all supplied and fitted from the local place, I had £300 in my head so for £330 all in I'm happy enough with that.

 

[BRISTOL86]

Aluminium wingbars every time. The cheap square ones do look cheap and as said above the wingbars are much quieter. Only time I'd go for the cheaper steel would be on a runabout if I occasioanally needed to move ladders or a few bits of timber etc

Great, thanks. Wingbars it is!

 

[Ormesome]

My top tip would be to go for Thule bars for 2 reasons. 1, the design is much nicer, the Audi ones stick up and are a bit of a weird design. 2, you can use them in any car in the future and prob only have to buy a fixing/foot pack. I have the Thule black Evo wing bars which are very good and silent. I also bought a nice Audi bag for roofbars which keeps them scratch free in the garage.

The Thulebars are around £267 online so the pieces above seem high. Not sure why you would need them fitted as they take a few mins max and it’s always good to know how these things work properly for when the time comes to take them off and so on...

 

[BRISTOL86]

My top tip would be to go for Thule bars for 2 reasons. 1, the design is much nicer, the Audi ones stick up and are a bit of a weird design. 2, you can use them in any car in the future and prob only have to buy a fixing/foot pack. I have the Thule black Evo wing bars which are very good and silent. I also bought a nice Audi bag for roofbars which keeps them scratch free in the garage.

Thanks. Things moved very fast when I contacted the dealer and the Evo wing bars and ProRide carrier are getting fitted in an hour's time!

 

[Ormesome]

Thanks. Things moved very fast when I contacted the dealer and the Evo wing bars and ProRide carrier are getting fitted in an hour's time!

if you are paying £330 then I’m not surprised the dealer acted quickly! They are £267 online!unless you mean with the proride carrier too...

 

[BRISTOL86]

if you are paying £330 then I’m not surprised the dealer acted quickly! They are £267 online!unless you mean with the proride carrier too...

£330 is for the wing bars, clamps, fitting kit and the ProRide cycle carrier, fully fitted - thought that was pretty good.

£267 is the wing bar 'kit' on it's own with no carrier is it not? The carrier is £93 at Halfords so coming in under £330 all in sounds decent to me?

Doh, just seen your edit. Their quote included the carrier (which they sell for £105 and not included) so I'm expecting to pay £225 for the bars and fittings, fully fitted.

 

[Ormesome]

£330 is for the wing bars, clamps, fitting kit and the ProRide cycle carrier, fully fitted - thought that was pretty good.

£267 is the wing bar price on it's own is it not?

Yep that’s an awesome price. You must have got around 20% discount on the official Thule prices. Nice work

where did you get it from? I take it your from Brstol? My family are forma found there. Worth knowing the garage/dealer for future reference!

 

[BRISTOL86]

Yep that’s an awesome price. You must have got around 20% discount on the official Thule prices. Nice work

Yeah came in a good bit under what I was expecting based on the preliminary scout of Thule website! Helps that Halfords had the carrier for £93

 

[davemk]

Hi. Did you go for Evo or Edge Wingbacks?

 

[BRISTOL86]

Evo!

 

[davemk]

Looks good mate.

I want to get the kids out somewhere nice on their bikes so need to look into this too.

 

[Jimbob76]

Just to play devil’s advocate...

Do you really need to carry your bikes on the outside of your car? I’m genuinely not being facetious - and the short answer from you might be, yep, I have to transport MORE than 2 people as well as bikes. But if the answer is I just need to carry two people and two bikes, then a Sportback S3 can carry two full size mountain bikes in the rear, with the back seats dropped (obvs), and the front quick release wheels removed on both bikes and laid on top.

I use plenty of dust sheets to line the interior boot space, and pad between the 2 bikes and the front wheels (and I’ve never marked the interior or the bikes).

I do have roof rails on my car (and I use ‘em for a roof box, a few times a year - hence my Roof Rails Enthusiast moniker), but I have an aversion to carrying BIKES on the outside of the car. There’s just too much that can go wrong and there’s a chance you’ll end up doing something horrible.

Example 1:



I’m sure plenty will disagree with me (and I’m sure plenty use bike racks regularly with zero problems) but I find it quicker to drop the seats, and drop two bikes in the back, than pish about with bike racks (and there’s ‘nowt that can go wrong with ‘em inside).

Example 2 (I know, you’d never do this, until you do...):

Just my two-penneth. Like I say, I’m a roof rails aficionado - but bikes go INSIDE my car. I like my car, and I like my bike, but the 2 of ‘em were never meant to mount each other.

M’bike...

M’car...

EDIT: On the few occasions a year when we go out biking as a family of four - it tends to be close-ish to home, so we take 2 cars, with 2 bikes in each. It’s that infrequent and that close to home to not be a problem (it’s usually just 2 of us at a time). Avoid the Saris Bones type racks, they look cool, but they’ll **** the paint on your rear bumper. Honestly, they will (based on experience with an older car I thankfully didn’t care much about at the time)...

 

[HertS3]

Glad you got it sorted @BRISTOL86. Look pretty much identical to the Audi ones, not sure but maybe it's possible to adapt the OEM one for other cars? The legs are adjustable in width so maybe it'd fit other Audis (if not other makes too)? By the way, the Audi one comes with a 4 Nm torque hex key too for tightening the feet, it's just the width adjustment that requires 8 Nm hence they suggest you go to an authorised workshop! I've ordered a torque wrench set, which will come in handy for this and also for my bike

 

[BRISTOL86]

Thanks guys.

Best bit about the whole affair was that local place couldn't supply the carrier, so got it cheaper at Halfords, and then after all that they mischarged me and charged me for the square bars not the wing bars. So what should have been £365 according to Thule's website was quoted at £330 but actually cost me £268 fully fitted and with a demonstration in mounting and removing.

Happy camper.

@Jimbob76 I did think hard about it, but I found it a right faff just getting one of the bikes in the boot of the car. I cut myself, got myself covered in dirt and ultimately I'd rather not take the chance of damaging the interior of the car (but yes I know there are things that could go wrong with a rack solution too....)

For the sake of £300ish I wanted something that was going to be secure and could take additional bikes when we both want to go out, and it gives us the added bonus of adding roof box etc in the future when we go away.

One thing I can't work out is why they chose to mount the cycle carrier with the bike facing rearward - I guess the logic is that means if you park in a forwards direction you can unload from the pavement and not the middle of the road...

 

[HertS3]

Good stuff, can't quite beat mine though - £100 for unused roof bars and £50 for an unused cycle carrier, both Audi OEM. Recently realised the carrier didn't have the keys with it but you can get them cut on eBay (with the code on the lock) for less than the price of a sandwich.
I'm also not 100% about mounting bikes on the roof but unless I hear from Saris otherwise, I don't think that we have much choice. If I can, may carry the rest of the family bikes on the boot (though that's problematic with women's & kids' bikes as they don't have a straight top bar!)

 

[BRISTOL86]

Good stuff, can't quite beat mine though - £100 for unused roof bars and £50 for an unused cycle carrier, both Audi OEM. Recently realised the carrier didn't have the keys with it but you can get them cut on eBay (with the code on the lock) for less than the price of a sandwich.
I'm also not 100% about mounting bikes on the roof but unless I hear from Saris otherwise, I don't think that we have much choice. If I can, may carry the rest of the family bikes on the boot (though that's problematic with women's & kids' bikes as they don't have a straight top bar!)

Haha yes you definitely win! That's a steal.

 

[HertS3]

That's how I justified it to the missus

 

[rafletcher]

By the way, the Audi one comes with a 4 Nm torque hex key too for tightening the feet, it's just the width adjustment that requires 8 Nm hence they suggest you go to an authorised workshop! I've ordered a torque wrench set, which will come in handy for this and also for my bike

On the Thule EVO set-up I have, the width is adjustable with the press of a flap inside the fitting kit that opens a serrated ratchet arrangement, so I only have the torque key for the main fixing - though 8Nm was a bit high for that! . I'd not bother with a 8Nm torque key, just do it up good and tight with an allen key. The main fixings I do pay attention to as over-tightening those can mean deflecting the roof.

 

[rafletcher]

Just to play devil’s advocate...

Do you really need to carry your bikes on the outside of your car? I’m genuinely not being facetious - and the short answer from you might be, yep, I have to transport MORE than 2 people as well as bikes. But if the answer is I just need to carry two people and two bikes, then a Sportback S3 can carry two full size mountain bikes in the rear, with the back seats dropped (obvs), and the front quick release wheels removed on both bikes and laid on top.....


Avoid the Saris Bones type racks, they look cool, but they’ll **** the paint on your rear bumper. Honestly, they will (based on experience with an older car I thankfully didn’t care much about at the time)...

Two points there. If, like me, two of your bikes have mudguards, then you'll not get them to fit inside, wheels out or not. Well they did in the A6 but thats cavernous.

As to the potential damage to paintwork, yeah, you need to keep all dist and grit out from under the feet - or, like me, use helicopter tape to add a protective layer. Not great for the concourse look, but does the job (I also use it on the downtube on my carbon race bike, and also to prevent cable rub) and readily replaceable when it gets a bit scarred.

 

[HertS3]

I've justified the torque purchase for this purpose and for bike maintenance, so I'll just give it a once over when it arrives. I tightened it pretty much as much as I could by hand after using the 4 Nm hex that came with the bars.
Having just taken the bars off, I think that you can remove the legs possibly by removing the main width fixing bolts?? That would mean that you move the bars to another car by getting the right Thule fixings. Would need investigation to find out.

 

[davemk]

@Jimbob76 I totally get your point and the video you showed is something that does concern me whenever I see bikes being carried, especially on the roof (yes, I know it was a boot mounted rack in the video).

Having said that, imagine having a crash with the bikes IN the car and them being hurled about. Doesn't bear thinking about.

If you think about it too much, you wouldn't do either.

 

[BRISTOL86]

Much better with a clean car

 

[HertS3]

Maybe I'm OCD but shouldn't the bike face the other way?

 

[Ormesome]

Really stupid question, Iv never had a bike carrier, or used one, how do you get the bike up there? Do you mount it on the floor and then use the carrier to get it up easily and slide it on the bars? Or attach the bike to the carrier on the car? Because the Thule accessories just slide in right so to me it makes sense to fit the bike to the carrier on the floor and then slide the carrier on the bars?

 

[HertS3]

It's not stupid, I wondered the same thing myself! Not actually put one on yet, but you lift the bike onto the the carrier as it slots in sideways into the groove in the roof bars (usually covered by the black plastic covers over the feet). Not read the manual but I'd imagine you use the arm to hold the bike frame then tie the wheels down?

 

[BRISTOL86]

Maybe I'm OCD but shouldn't the bike face the other way?

I think they deliberately mounted it this way so as that if you're parking in a forwards direction you would be unloading from the pavement rather than the middle of the road. But I agree, I'd rather the bike faced forwards, and will be re-mounting it when I can be bothered!

 

[BRISTOL86]

Really stupid question, Iv never had a bike carrier, or used one, how do you get the bike up there? Do you mount it on the floor and then use the carrier to get it up easily and slide it on the bars? Or attach the bike to the carrier on the car? Because the Thule accessories just slide in right so to me it makes sense to fit the bike to the carrier on the floor and then slide the carrier on the bars?

I definitely wouldn't recommend trying to get the bike plus carrier mounted to the roof bars whilst the bike is in the carrier. Whilst it's fairly easy to fit the carrier to the bars, it's still fiddly and it's definitely not designed to be done with a bike in the carrier.

It's also a piece of **** to put the bike in the carrier once you've done it a couple of times. If you search ProRide 598 on YouTube there's loads of video tutorials, but basically you just raise the clamp/bar to about 30 degrees, grab the bike, seat the wheels in the trays and then it's just tightening up the clamp and fastening the straps.

Once I'd done a couple of trial runs it took about 60 seconds start to finish when I used it properly last night.

 

[mindstorm]

I went for the roof bar option but as we won't use it a massive amount and the bars will come off between uses I went for the cheaper option from roofbox.co.uk of the cheap Cruz bars with a pair of Thule 532 for £170. I guessed the noise level from the attached bike would negate the benefit from the Aero bars. The better looking bike carrier looks to be the Atera as the fixing looks quick and the front wheel isn't fixed at the 6 o'clock but further back which would reduce wheel wobble but more expensive than I wanted as this is a short term option until I change car in the next couple of years.