Group,
We are starting to work on our IMLP travel plans and it appears that now with 3 kids, etc, that we will probably need a car top cargo carrier…any recommendations? The Thules look nice but are quite expensive. Performance has theirs on sale for 1/3 the price. Any thing we should particularly look for?
Many thanks!
david,
although i haven’t needed to travel with a rooftop carrier specifically for triathlons, i did have to use a rooftop cargo box on our trek from san francisco to boston when we moved to new england a few years ago. we purchased a thule evolution 1800 to go on top of our 4runner… never did i once regret the purchase. it was amazingly waterproof (although thule doesn’t claim it to be), it was quiet, and it was fairly aero so it didn’t seem like we were guzzling unusual amounts of gas.
the 1800 is one of the larger ones, but the having the space up top, really cleared out the cab. if you google ‘thule evolution 1800’ you’ll see some fairly competitive prices for these. i believe i even saw one for ~$400. i’d recommend buying the thule towers and load bars, also. they’re rated at a much higher load capacity than standard roof racks.
keep in mind this is just for cargo. if you want to talk bike carriers, that’s a whole new ball game.
I just got a yakima roof rack with bike carrier. Seems to work good. I found very few people would say that there is really an substantive difference between Yakima and Thule. So it was pretty much a flip of the coin.
If you don’t want to buy a rack (which, yes, is quite expensive) there are some soft-sided luggage carriers that will fit on your roof without a rack system. Try rei.com and see what they have. It would hold a lot of cargo, but probably not a bike.
I have always used a Yakima rack - well built, bomb proof and very sturdy. They are not cheap, but I made my initial investment with a Yakima system 10 years ago and it’s still working well today with a few upgrades along the way.
If you don’t want to buy new, I know that there are operations that will rent you a roof rack set-up for a stand-alone trip, if that’s all you need it for. Rack-Attack in Canada has a great program in this regard. They will match up a rack to your vehichle, install it for you and away you go!
the local dealership here basically told me go Yakima unless you have a european car, then the Thule ofthen fits better. I just got a Yakima rack and love it. The performance racks sure are a great value though.