MrParkson wrote: ↑Tue Mar 13, 2018 10:27 pm
I also will be using roof bars for bike racks, conveniently the Thule bars I have for my S3 use the same length bar and foot pack, just need to get the appropriate adaptors for the Volvo rails (kit 4073 for Thule bars) will post some photos once set up!
I believe the Volvo branded bars are made by Thule, or atleast their bike racks are, makes sense as Thule also hails from Sweden!
Hi MrP
Did you ever get this set up?
I'm going to order Thule 961b and the black carrier - just interested to know how these look.
Also, never having used the bars before, what is the likelihood of any marking on the roof fitting's themselves? I'm presuming no issue but wanted to ask,
Hi Senwar,
Here are a couple of pictures of the set up with Thule bars and bike carriers, not the best pictures I apologise but should give you a good idea.
Having installed a removed the racks a few times now I have not noticed any scratches or marks from the feet on the XC40 rails, but I always make sure both surfaces are clean and free of grit/dust ect before installing.
My only struggle with the set up is purely to do with the height of the vehicle. Getting the bikes up and secured is quite a stretch compared to my previous car, the thought of losing control of the bikes in the process does scare me a bit!
Thank you. That’s perfect and exactly what I was hoping for.
Same here re nerves of putting the bike up but have decided I’ll only ever put my lightweight MTB and not my eMTB up there. Hoping to do C2C next year so definitely need something.
But thanks again for the info and pictures and noted re ensuring no grit and clean etc. Exactly what I’m after.
Sorry one more question. Can you open the pano roof when the bars are on? Debating the wing bar edge set to leave on but not if it’s at the loss of the roof.
In the case of my bars, the Pano roof opens with plenty of clearence, a good two inches or so. The edge bars are a bit lower I'm guessing by about an inch or so? Looking at mine I would take a good guess it would open without issue but obviously cannot confirm for sure!
Thanks again for the reply. Food for thought. Yours were the ones I decided to go for originally and I now know they’ll be fine. Think I’ll go safe and stick with them and take off occasionally. Keeps the bars in good shape too.
This is my second attempt at posting this, hopefully this works ok. I have another, even more complex question: we have recently taken delivery of our XC40 (love it) and we also have a tandem. We've never carried a tandem on a car before, and there are pros and cons to all I presume. The bike is less than 20kg, so it's handleable for two to get on a roof, but there's also the rear mounting and tow bar mounting options. We don't have a tow bar at the moment, but we intend to tow in the future, so having a towbar fitted (not necessarily the very expensive deployable Volvo one). So was just wondering if anyone has experience of puting a tandem bike on an XC40, or indeed similar cars. A friend putts a rear carrier on their Golf, and the bike sticks up/out a bit but he's ok with it. So, any experience out there??
This is my second attempt at posting this, hopefully this works ok. I have another, even more complex question: we have recently taken delivery of our XC40 (love it) and we also have a tandem. We've never carried a tandem on a car before, and there are pros and cons to all I presume. The bike is less than 20kg, so it's handleable for two to get on a roof, but there's also the rear mounting and tow bar mounting options. We don't have a tow bar at the moment, but we intend to tow in the future, so having a towbar fitted (not necessarily the very expensive deployable Volvo one). So was just wondering if anyone has experience of puting a tandem bike on an XC40, or indeed similar cars. A friend putts a rear carrier on their Golf, and the bike sticks up/out a bit but he's ok with it. So, any experience out there??
Thanks in advance!
My other half has a VERY long mountain bike and it's slightly too long for the tow bar mounted rack, so I'd think you will struggle to get one long enough to have the bike mounted on a channel style tow bar mount
This is what we have: https://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbveh ... C4urewiYIg
Hi Kirsty, thanks, that's very useful. You're right about the channel type rack, the bike is too long for that, and I think the other towbar one might be a challenge too. A friend uses a rear carrier for his tandem, putting the bike at an angle across the rear of the car (a Golf) but there is a bit of overhang. Trying to avoid roof mounting to avoid the hassle, but think we may end up doing that.
I have been considering getting a tow bar mounted cycle carrier when the XC40 arrives. I have had a look here at https://www.roofbox.co.uk/bike-carriers ... unting.php but would like to be able to put the carrier in the boot rather than risk leaving it out on show - does anyone have experience with any of these tow bar mounted carriers and them fitting in the XC40 boot. Preferably I would like to keep it in the boot without folding the seats down as we have two kids in car seats.
