RS4 B8 & Mountain Bikes

[Graeme4130]

They look a great place to accumulate a serious amount of mouldy mud

No doubt about that. Best in the bag than the car maybe? Easily hose cleaned once unzipped.

To be honest, I use my van for 99.9% of mountain biking now as I cAn literally throw it in there whole and not worry about scratches to the van or the bike and it's full of mud anyway, so a little bit mores not gonna hurt

[AMB]

They look a great place to accumulate a serious amount of mouldy mud

No doubt about that. Best in the bag than the car maybe? Easily hose cleaned once unzipped.

To be honest, I use my van for 99.9% of mountain biking now as I cAn literally throw it in there whole and not worry about scratches to the van or the bike and it's full of mud anyway, so a little bit mores not gonna hurt

Very wise G would make me cry to hear you're trashing the beast with BMX/DH kit.

[Graeme4130]

They look a great place to accumulate a serious amount of mouldy mud

Very wise G would make me cry to hear you're trashing the beast with BMX/DH kit.

I've had audi's RS6 demo cars for that

[doodlebug]

They look a great place to accumulate a serious amount of mouldy mud

Very wise G would make me cry to hear you're trashing the beast with BMX/DH kit.

I've had audi's RS6 demo cars for that

Best avoid that one when it comes up. What's the reg?!

[the911 sc]

I use our Q7 for the bikes usually but have to admit one of the reasons swung me to an avant for the first time was the ability to put a rack on.
I have mont blanc bars for the Q and 2 thule carriers - yes the whistle like mad!. Havent tried the cross bars for fit on the RS yet but they do adjust horizontally so they may..
Bought them from ebay (towequipe) quite a good seller. Got the twin pack of thule carriers from a ford dealership via ebay! much cheaper..

I'll likely stick to the Q for the bike trail trips though (if I can trust the mrs not to kerb the wheels when she borrows the RS !

[Moontang]

Does anyone know the difference between 598's and 591's please? Also, does anyone have any experience of the 561's (fork mount) for mountain bikes? I presumed they would be more secure than the wheel mount carriers but the reviews aren't that helpful. I need to carry my enduro/all mountain bike (12kg) and, at times, my DH (16kg).

It looks like http://www.roofracks.co.uk will offer a trade-in for existing bars but wondered if anyone has any experience of them price matching e.g. Ford online parts on the bike carriers?

Finally, the Wing Bar Edge 9592's seem to be the correct bars to go for?

Thank you

[Graeme4130]

Does anyone know the difference between 598's and 591's please? Also, does anyone have any experience of the 561's (fork mount) for mountain bikes? I presumed they would be more secure than the wheel mount carriers but the reviews aren't that helpful. I need to carry my enduro/all mountain bike (12kg) and, at times, my DH (16kg).

It looks like http://www.roofracks.co.uk will offer a trade-in for existing bars but wondered if anyone has any experience of them price matching e.g. Ford online parts on the bike carriers?

Finally, the Wing Bar Edge 9592's seem to be the correct bars to go for?

Thank you

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the difference is the mounting kit. When I bought my 598's a while back, the place only had one and was trying to source a 591 as he said the bar was no difference and both kits would fit my cross bar
Personally, although you can get a through bolted fork adapter for the 561, I wouldn't trust a dh bike on one simply because of the shear amount of leverage you put through that one spot at the end of the forks with such a heavy bike
I use the 598 with my specialized demo, but add a zip tie around the frame jaw as it's not 100% reliable for staying clamped on such a large tubed bike. It's just a bit of peace of mind in case the worse happens as the last thing you want is a bike smashing down into the side of your car

The 9592's are the best Thule bar as they don't have the overhangs of the cheaper, more universal cross bars.
You'll need a fitting kit though to fit the B8. I think they're sold separately, but not mega bucks. From memory it's fitting kit 4007 or 407 (certainly something along those lines)
If you go into halfords, they'll be able to tell you bar code and fitting kit code and you could then try online to see if you can get it cheaper

[Moontang]

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the difference is the mounting kit. When I bought my 598's a while back, the place only had one and was trying to source a 591 as he said the bar was no difference and both kits would fit my cross bar
Personally, although you can get a through bolted fork adapter for the 561, I wouldn't trust a dh bike on one simply because of the shear amount of leverage you put through that one spot at the end of the forks with such a heavy bike
I use the 598 with my specialized demo, but add a zip tie around the frame jaw as it's not 100% reliable for staying clamped on such a large tubed bike. It's just a bit of peace of mind in case the worse happens as the last thing you want is a bike smashing down into the side of your car

The 9592's are the best Thule bar as they don't have the overhangs of the cheaper, more universal cross bars.
You'll need a fitting kit though to fit the B8. I think they're sold separately, but not mega bucks. From memory it's fitting kit 4007 or 407 (certainly something along those lines)
If you go into halfords, they'll be able to tell you bar code and fitting kit code and you could then try online to see if you can get it cheaper

Thanks very much, Graeme. That's really helpful - Particularly the DH information. It gives me another small excuse to go to Wales for some Uplifts...

[Graeme4130]

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the difference is the mounting kit. When I bought my 598's a while back, the place only had one and was trying to source a 591 as he said the bar was no difference and both kits would fit my cross bar
Personally, although you can get a through bolted fork adapter for the 561, I wouldn't trust a dh bike on one simply because of the shear amount of leverage you put through that one spot at the end of the forks with such a heavy bike
I use the 598 with my specialized demo, but add a zip tie around the frame jaw as it's not 100% reliable for staying clamped on such a large tubed bike. It's just a bit of peace of mind in case the worse happens as the last thing you want is a bike smashing down into the side of your car

The 9592's are the best Thule bar as they don't have the overhangs of the cheaper, more universal cross bars.
You'll need a fitting kit though to fit the B8. I think they're sold separately, but not mega bucks. From memory it's fitting kit 4007 or 407 (certainly something along those lines)
If you go into halfords, they'll be able to tell you bar code and fitting kit code and you could then try online to see if you can get it cheaper

Thanks very much, Graeme. That's really helpful - Particularly the DH information. It gives me another small excuse to go to Wales for some Uplifts...

I was doing uplifts at bikepark Wales Sunday, it's a fun place place (even if both times I've been, it's been torrential rain )

[Moontang]

I was doing uplifts at bikepark Wales Sunday, it's a fun place place (even if both times I've been, it's been torrential rain )

Great skills. Not managed a BPW yet but will do as soon as I can...Baby #2 due next week...

I spotted than Brendan Fairclough bought an '07 B7 RS4 Avant this week. Clearly a MTB thing

[Graeme4130]

I was doing uplifts at bikepark Wales Sunday, it's a fun place place (even if both times I've been, it's been torrential rain )

Great skills. Not managed a BPW yet but will do as soon as I can...Baby #2 due next week...

I spotted than Brendan Fairclough bought an '07 B7 RS4 Avant this week. Clearly a MTB thing

They're pretty popular on the bike sports world. A few bmx'ers have had B7's too

You'll love BPW, it's an awesome place. I'm hoping to experience it in the dry one day soon

Best of luck with baby #2

[the911 sc]

Yep - lucky I live about 40 mins from Afan and BPW!. Haven't done the new layouts or uplifts yet but they look great

[matthew.lewis2]

The dealers here in the Middle East have fixed price parts pricing. Fixed is the operative word.

Roof rails in the UK are £194 inc VAT, here, in a tax free environment (Dubai) they are £315, a similar disparity for the cycle holder as well.

I have refused to buy them here out of principle and will be picking up a set from Audi in Germany/Austria when I go skiing in January.