"another" TT bike rack question....
06-05-2001, 08:09 AM
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"another" TT bike rack question....
Hey folks,
Help me out here. I'm an avid (mt) bike freak and I must have a car that will haul my toys. My dilemma is after driving a 00' TTQ the other day, I'm seriously considering getting one (my other choice is an S4 Avant or 1.8T Avant). My questions are:
-How easy is the OEM roof rack to get on and off? How's the quality?
-Is it a problem to leave it on all the time (beside asthetics)?
-How is the TT to live with if you haul your bike and other gear more than twice a week? Enough room? Enough room for two people and bikes?
-Any other advice from anyone who "uses" there TT for things other than "drives through the country side"?
Thanx!
Jef
Help me out here. I'm an avid (mt) bike freak and I must have a car that will haul my toys. My dilemma is after driving a 00' TTQ the other day, I'm seriously considering getting one (my other choice is an S4 Avant or 1.8T Avant). My questions are:
-How easy is the OEM roof rack to get on and off? How's the quality?
-Is it a problem to leave it on all the time (beside asthetics)?
-How is the TT to live with if you haul your bike and other gear more than twice a week? Enough room? Enough room for two people and bikes?
-Any other advice from anyone who "uses" there TT for things other than "drives through the country side"?
Thanx!
Jef
06-05-2001, 08:19 AM
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I have the TT specific roof rack and use it for bikes & skis...
1. It is very easy to get on and off - flip up the four little covers on the roof, drop the rails on, bolt it down - reverse to take off.
2. I only use the roof rack occasionally during the summer as my car lives outside under a car cover and the cover will not fit with the rack on. However, in the winter I left the rack with ski carriers on since it was pointless to cover the car.
3. The TT (coupe) has *plenty* of room for two people, two bikes on top, and gear in the trunk IMO. BTW, I opted to retro a Yakima Ankle Biter onto the roof rack since: a) I have a C'dale Jekyll with Lefty fork (can't fit onto normal bike carrier); b) keeps the muddy front wheel out of the inside!
4. Hey, the TT is a "sports" car and that means to use it for doing as many sports as possible IMO. Just wait until I post some pics of my kayak on top withe the mtn bike next to it.
So... go for it! The TT coupe is more than up for the task!
2. I only use the roof rack occasionally during the summer as my car lives outside under a car cover and the cover will not fit with the rack on. However, in the winter I left the rack with ski carriers on since it was pointless to cover the car.
3. The TT (coupe) has *plenty* of room for two people, two bikes on top, and gear in the trunk IMO. BTW, I opted to retro a Yakima Ankle Biter onto the roof rack since: a) I have a C'dale Jekyll with Lefty fork (can't fit onto normal bike carrier); b) keeps the muddy front wheel out of the inside!
4. Hey, the TT is a "sports" car and that means to use it for doing as many sports as possible IMO. Just wait until I post some pics of my kayak on top withe the mtn bike next to it.
So... go for it! The TT coupe is more than up for the task!
06-05-2001, 08:21 AM
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Re: "another" TT bike rack question....
OEM rack may be expensive, but it looks great, and goes on/off pretty fast after the first time - there are 4 bolts to attach/remove. If you leave it on, there's some additional wind noise, not awful but noticeable - if I knew I wasn't going to use it for several days, I'd probably take it off for the quieter ride. The rack locks to prevent access to the attachment bolts, so in theory, it is secure. (In reality, all locks can be defeated if you want to...)
Not sure what you mean about room - if the bikes are on top of the car, then they don't take up any interior space. Depends on how much "other gear" you're talking about. It's not a big car, but interior space is pretty good for most situations. I have the roadster and it suits me fine, so the coupe's storage space for me would be incredible :-) but it all depends on which direction you're coming from... might not look as good coming from a Volvo wagon, say...
if in doubt, look one over in person to decide about the storage space issue, if necessary, bring your suitcases/whatever for a test fitting :-)
good luck...
Not sure what you mean about room - if the bikes are on top of the car, then they don't take up any interior space. Depends on how much "other gear" you're talking about. It's not a big car, but interior space is pretty good for most situations. I have the roadster and it suits me fine, so the coupe's storage space for me would be incredible :-) but it all depends on which direction you're coming from... might not look as good coming from a Volvo wagon, say...
if in doubt, look one over in person to decide about the storage space issue, if necessary, bring your suitcases/whatever for a test fitting :-)
good luck...
06-05-2001, 08:28 AM
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the rack's pretty easy to put on, but....(long)
There's some "Tricks of the trade" One is that the bolts don't quite go straight down on the roof, so hold the torque wrench on a bit of an angle. The other is that the indicator & the cover on the bar interfere when you're trying to put on the rack. This is pretty hard to explain without a pic of it or the rack/wrench in hand. Suffice it to say that installation is a two hand job..one to twist the wrench the other to hold the cover up enough to keep it out of the way.
One other thing with Mt. Bikes....with a suspension fork, some of the forks (mine's a Proflex...which then became K2) the fork won't lock in the front of the tray. Take a look at a standard Thule tray (that's what they really are) to see what I mean....if you've got the Amp or standard telescoping forks (Judy, etc.) it's not a prob.
As to space...if you got a couple of wheel holders I think you'd have plenty of space for a bike w/e for 2. You'd have to be careful how you pack, but the back's pretty spacious with the seats folded down. (I remember hearing that one guy even wedged his bike in the back prior to getting the roof-rack).
FYI one of the guys, don't remember who....Jeff? leaves his cross-bar's on all the time. Don't think that it'd be an issue, but at least w/ the fork mount trays, they're a bit of a pain to slide on/off. I decided it'd be easier (and I liked the look better) to just pull the rack entirely off. I do leave the trays attached to the cross-bar's, so it's just 4 bolts.
Last gotcha on the rack...they've got washers on those bolts. You can loose them down in the little hole which means having to de-install, retreive the washer and try again. I've started an experiment with using a little o-ring to retain the washer. Worked good for the install, but not so much for the extraction (read this is a work in progress). Also you have to be careful because now you can put some additional compressible material in line, which will affect the attachment to the roof (you could be compressing the o-ring instead of compressing the rubber on the roof). My next gen try will be a smaller bit of rubber, more like those small rubber bands you had on your braces (if you had 'em). That should keep the added rubber out of the way of the cross-bar, and the problem I had with the o-rings shouldn't occur. The o-ring got sorta stuck in the cross-bar's mounting hole...so when I was removing the rack, my washers could fall off the bolt (not what I wanted).
-Dale
One other thing with Mt. Bikes....with a suspension fork, some of the forks (mine's a Proflex...which then became K2) the fork won't lock in the front of the tray. Take a look at a standard Thule tray (that's what they really are) to see what I mean....if you've got the Amp or standard telescoping forks (Judy, etc.) it's not a prob.
As to space...if you got a couple of wheel holders I think you'd have plenty of space for a bike w/e for 2. You'd have to be careful how you pack, but the back's pretty spacious with the seats folded down. (I remember hearing that one guy even wedged his bike in the back prior to getting the roof-rack).
FYI one of the guys, don't remember who....Jeff? leaves his cross-bar's on all the time. Don't think that it'd be an issue, but at least w/ the fork mount trays, they're a bit of a pain to slide on/off. I decided it'd be easier (and I liked the look better) to just pull the rack entirely off. I do leave the trays attached to the cross-bar's, so it's just 4 bolts.
Last gotcha on the rack...they've got washers on those bolts. You can loose them down in the little hole which means having to de-install, retreive the washer and try again. I've started an experiment with using a little o-ring to retain the washer. Worked good for the install, but not so much for the extraction (read this is a work in progress). Also you have to be careful because now you can put some additional compressible material in line, which will affect the attachment to the roof (you could be compressing the o-ring instead of compressing the rubber on the roof). My next gen try will be a smaller bit of rubber, more like those small rubber bands you had on your braces (if you had 'em). That should keep the added rubber out of the way of the cross-bar, and the problem I had with the o-rings shouldn't occur. The o-ring got sorta stuck in the cross-bar's mounting hole...so when I was removing the rack, my washers could fall off the bolt (not what I wanted).
-Dale
06-05-2001, 08:29 AM
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kayak question...
We have a sea kayak that we're considering carrying - if I recall, yours is a shorter river type - but anyway, didn't I see some attachment for the rack somewhere that serves to cradle the boat in roughly a V-shape holder? The surfboard holder shown on the Clair Parts site doesn't seem quite the ticket...
Other option is just set the ubiquitious "blue foam blocks" over the rack bars, and affix the boat with straps to the rack every which way.
Also, what about tying the ends down to the underside of the car front & back - are there any good attachment points? Or do we need to screw in the winching eye bolts? Any suggestions appreciated...
Other option is just set the ubiquitious "blue foam blocks" over the rack bars, and affix the boat with straps to the rack every which way.
Also, what about tying the ends down to the underside of the car front & back - are there any good attachment points? Or do we need to screw in the winching eye bolts? Any suggestions appreciated...
06-05-2001, 08:32 AM
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2 hands and one nose...
use your nose to hold the rack bolt-hole covers up, and then you can use both hands to twist the wrench - goes much quicker...
(I know, sounds stoopid, but it works!)
(I know, sounds stoopid, but it works!)
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06-05-2001, 08:55 AM
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Re: "another" TT bike rack question....
<center><img src="http://www.rmccown.org/camping/20010526/DSCF0002.JPG"></center><p>Easy as pie. The rack took me about 10 minutes to assemble, and it goes on and off in about 5.