roof rack or not?

[Robert-in-Maine]

Hey all -- I have read a few threads here on roof racks but wanted to get opinions from those who have them. My Mini is arriving in port on the 26th so I have some time to change my order if I can with regard to the roof racks.

I chose to get roof racks for the occasional bike carrying or trip we might take in it as a family. Mostly for bikes... After reading some of the threads here about them I am uncertain and thinking about ditching the roof racks.

Questions:

1. What do you think about the roof rack?
2. Would you get them again?
3. How much wind noise does it generate on the mini?
4. Do Thule attachments work with it?
5. What about the holes in the roof? That is a bit unsettling I must admit.

thanks all.

[dr remulac]

Welcome Robert. I live in Mass, but orig. from Newport Maine near Bangor...
I could'nt bear putting holes in the roof of my beloved mini. Not even a consideration.
I love to canoe and have found the roof too short for my 14' ultralite canoe.My opinion is
the rear bicycle rack is pretty slick. I drive my mini 99.9% of the time, but when it comes to outdoor sporting equipment, I take the pick-up. Just my opinion, but putting anything on the roof of a mini is wrong .

[Apial]

Quote: Originally Posted by Robert-in-Maine

Questions:

1. What do you think about the roof rack?
2. Would you get them again?
3. How much wind noise does it generate on the mini?
4. Do Thule attachments work with it?
5. What about the holes in the roof? That is a bit unsettling I must admit.

thanks all.

By roof "rack" I assume you mean "bars"?

1. The rack is very solid and can carry 75KG. It is easy to remove and to put on. A special tool is provided. Mine has been a godsend at expanding the carrying capacity of the minimal boot/trunk. When not in use I take the bars off.

2. Yes definately.

3. Not much. It is only just audible on my ONE D.

4. No idea, but Halfords roof boxes do.

5. Holes? There are no holes. There are 8 mounting points made of stainless steel that are covered up by caps finished in the same colour as your roof. The change to the "look" of the roof is only noticed by a few MINI cognocenti and is minimal. Get the job done only by an approved MINI dealer. If they screw it up then they will have to fix it.

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by Robert-in-Maine

Questions:

1. What do you think about the roof rack?
2. Would you get them again?
3. How much wind noise does it generate on the mini?
4. Do Thule attachments work with it?
5. What about the holes in the roof? That is a bit unsettling I must admit.

thanks all.

The factory roof rack is one of the best roof racks I've ever seen. Much better than an aftermarket Thule or Yakima. I need a roof rack for snowboarding and mountain biking, so yes, I'd get it again.

Wind noise is kinda annoying if you have just the load bars on the roof by themselves. As soon as I put the snowboard carrier and some boards on it, the wind noise goes away. As a result, I don't leave the load bars on all the time, I just put them on when needed. Attaching them is very easy.

I made a Thule snowboard / ski carrier (FlatTop something or other) fit the factory load bars using just the parts in the box. It has worked flawlessly, which cannot be said for the official MINI snowboard carrier. As far as a bike carrier goes, I haven't found one yet that works - I want a fork mount and the MINI factory fork mount carrier hasn't appeared at MINI of Peabody as of the last time I checked.

Most Thule or Yakima attachments will NOT work on the MINI factory load bars. But, I have made a ski carrier work, and others have made a non fork mount bike carrier work. You just need to be able to bolt the carrier to the load bar using the channel in the bar, not wrapping a clamp around the bar like most systems usually do.

Don't worry about the holes in the roof...

[lespurgeon]

Saw a MINI last night with the roof rack off, and one of hte cover clips missing. Also saw a few with the rack at the dealer's a while back. My take:
1) It is a very good rack.
2) May not really be "holes" but I'm not having 8 mounting points punched into my roof, to be covered by plastic clips until they blow off.
3) I'll be ordering a Yakima (wonder if I can tye a sheet of plywood to the roof...I'm going to have to try just for the fun of it).

[Windshadow]

When I was in London last winter just before XMAS I saw a red MINI One D with the Factory roof bars and a stack of what ever the metric version of 4' x 8' sheets of plywood are on it... the stack was about 8 or 10 inches high and must have weighed a LOT more than 75 kilos... it did not seem to have any problems with the load but it looked very strange! I wish I had my camara with me though... there were also lots of MINIs about with the logos of some estate agent... saw 5 or 6 of them in one day when I was visiting friends up on Hampstead Heath

[Robert-in-Maine]

Thanks for the replies gang. Not certain I can stand it yet. I do carry a bike and wouldn't mind the option of the kayak or canoe.

I have seen in a thread here a pretty large canoe fitted to the top of a mini sans load bars.

Yes, roof rack == load bars.

The Jingu Maru is still out to sea so I have some time yet to exclude the roof rack from my order if I want...

[bakerjc]

Quote: Originally Posted by Robert-in-Maine

Thanks for the replies gang. Not certain I can stand it yet. I do carry a bike and wouldn't mind the option of the kayak or canoe.

I have seen in a thread here a pretty large canoe fitted to the top of a mini sans load bars.

Yes, roof rack == load bars.

The Jingu Maru is still out to sea so I have some time yet to exclude the roof rack from my order if I want...

I had a set installed last week by the dealer (MINI of Peabody). Reason? Getting 2 adults 2 kids to ME for for a couple of days before the start of MOT at Acadia, then off to Mt Washington, then a couple of days in NH. 6 to 7 days total vacation.

I've got the MINI issue space pod also, attaches right to the racks. Should make life quite a bit easier.

I was unable to get much noise from them in the 70 mile trip home from Peabody, even at speeds of 85 plus.

My only dislike of the setup are the plastic covers for the Frankenstein bolts, they seem a bit loose. They've been sitting in the back of the car, bolts are currently naked (racks are off the car at this time).

If you have a need for racks, these are the ones to get.

[Robert-in-Maine]

Thanks bakerjc -- last time I was up on Cadillac Mt. in Acadia I biked up! Was doing the 60k leg of the Tour de Cure and my pack takes a detour up Cadillac -- very fun. http://rino.bowdoin.edu/fezo/source/dscn0871.html


I found some pics of the rack caps.

thanks in advance.

[Mr.X.]

I love the mini roof rack. I have a thule rack and have been converting over the bike carriers with a bit of magic from home depot. If anyone wants to check them out let me know. Just some tubing and cutting and drilling makes it all go together fine. I will be working on a canoe mount for next month. Does anyone on the forum that lives in NE know how to weld aluminum?

[ontheroadagain]

Robert-in-Maine, I sure would like to see the photos of those roof rack bolts. Any chance of posting them?

[bakerjc]

Mine are naked and exposed, I'll see if I can get some shots later in the day.

[ontheroadagain]

Thanks bakerjc, thou who was onest thought to be a misbegotten son of Cod, I'd really appreciate seeing them naked and/or covered.

[Robert-in-Maine]

Gang -- the "similar threads" box at the bottom shows a few links to threads with these pictures.

One:
http://www.mini2.com/forum/first-generation-mini-exterior/54387-pics-mini-roof-rack-caps.html

[ontheroadagain]

Robert-i-M, thanks!

Can't remember if I ever noticed that similar threads part of the board.

So they don't look that bad.