Cycle racks on roof rails

[kwack]

Family holiday soming up soon and I have one of those cycle racks that you attach to the back but is is a bit of a PITA as you cant open the boot with it on.

Been looking at utilising the roof rails on teh RS6 and wondered what experiences or recommendations people had if they had used particular makes for carrying cycles. I looked at Thule but to carry three bikes costs quite a bit.

Are there any Audi stuff available?

Cheers
Kwack

[Wolverine]

Audi stuff is inferior to Thule and more expensive the last time I looked.

I bought the Thule system with 3 bike racks on the roof. Yes, expensive, but bvery pleased with it. Try www.roofbox.co.uk ...... best deal I found was there and they exchange the locks for one key type for free.

[Hartge]

I don't agree about the Audi stuff being inferior, I've replaced my Thule bars with original Audi A6 Aero bars now and the quailty is the same, but Audi bars look so much better as they don't stick over the rails like the thule's. They are also availible in black to match the black optics upgrade.
Have to agree though they are a rip off compared to the thule's (at £150 rrp they are nearly twice the price).

Rack wise it really depends on what type of bike you want to put on the rack as I've had to change my thule ProRide 591 (which was excellent) to a Atera GIRO AF as my new mountain bike has 6" travel and a high BB.
I you have a large downhill bike with a obscure frame design or long travel then you will probably need to import a Yakima High Roller, Thule Side Arm or Thule Super G from the USA which are designed specially for these types of bikes.

[kwack]

I have a "Y" frame Enduro with 6" travel at the back and 150mm forks at front. Are you saying that the Thule stuff wouldnt fit this?

I took a look at the Atera stuff and the locking mechanisms did look pretty good. I think I saw on Roofbox that a kit would cost in the region of £200 odd for two bikes.

Should I try and see if a local shop has them in stock to see if they woudl fit?

[Hartge]

Yes The normal Thule's on roofbox.co.uk will have problems with big MTB's but it is dependant on the frame. I also have a Enduro but the new SL frame design, the problem I found with the Thule is that if the bike was sitting normally the arm would not reach over the down tube, if I move the bike to it max forward postion so it would reach (the arm nearly vertical and touching the crank)But the tubing was too thick for the clamp (just fitted but wouldn't close to lock it).
The Atera gives another 1-2 inch reach and has a better clamp design.
If you can't try one out ( you only have a small gap between the crank on the Y on the down tube on your frame), the I would play it safe and import a Thule 594 side arm (they don't seem to be for sale in the uk) as that clamps over the front wheel or remove the front wheel and use a rack with a axel mount adapter.

I'm putting my rack back on at the end if the week to go off biking Saturday, I will try take a photo so you can see the Audi bars and Atera racks fitted

[kbee]

Just to add i have 4 audi racks ,the locking mechs are good and they work really well,however they appear to be identical to thule stuff,but more expensive !