[GilMikalian]

I got the OEM cross bars & 2 racks, the kind that grip the frame. I don't want to have to deal with a dirty front tire and getting the bike up with a front wheel is only marginally more work than a fork mount...not enough to justify having to remove the front wheel everytime and storing it inside. I've used the rack many times already and am very happy with it.

As for the wind noise, it is near imperceptible. The racks without the rubber insert made WAY more noise before I put the rubber inserts in. The OEMs are great quality.

[GoldNBlack]

The factory crossbars are fairly nice. They are the thule aero bars so dont bother with the "factory" yakima fork mounts. They won't work since they are made for round cross bars, not the aeros. I bought the latest Thule racks, Pelotons I believe, and they mount directly to the nifty slots in the aero bars. A bit of special modding needed to mount back part of the tray to the rear corss beam and it looks slick. The Thule wheel carriers also can directly mount to the slot rather than with all the clamp hardware with some quick engineering .

The rack itself goes on and off easily and is pretty light assembeled. It does generate some wind noise but nothing more than expected. If I ever get bored and pop the headliner, I'm going to add some Dynamat to the roof just to see if it cancels it some.

[sumint]

[quote=GoldNBlack;1786177]The factory crossbars are fairly nice. They are the thule aero bars so dont bother with the "factory" yakima fork mounts. They won't work since they are made for round cross bars, not the aeros. I bought the latest Thule racks, Pelotons I believe, and they mount directly to the nifty slots in the aero bars. A bit of special modding needed to mount back part of the tray to the rear corss beam and it looks slick. The Thule wheel carriers also can directly mount to the slot rather than with all the clamp hardware with some quick engineering .

The rack itself goes on and off easily and is pretty light assembeled. It does generate some wind noise but nothing more than expected. If I ever get bored and pop the headliner, I'm going to add some Dynamat to the roof just to see if it cancels it some.



So when you say you needed to some special "modding" and "quick engineering"...what exactly do you mean? You see I have Yakima bike trays from my last car and was wondering if it is worth it to sell my Yakimas and do what you did OR keep my Yakimas and buy the Subaru Clamp-Style hardware?

[Edvig]

So the Subaru fork mounted tray are Yakima Viper trays and they won't fit the aero bars.

It seems that I need to go with a Thule tray now.

GoldNBlack: is this the correct adapter that you used to mount the Peloton tray on your car?
http://www.thuleracks.com/product.as...69&sku=xadapt1

[GoldNBlack]

About the only thing I ended up using out of the silly "adapter" pack is a couple of plastic shims that were in there and the extra squarehead bolt. Not sure what they were thinking with that adpater plate thing and quick release part but I fitted it and it looked poor, added unnecessary hardware and did'nt really let the tray mount on the rail very well.

Instead:

The front of the pelotons are made to mount right to the rail with included Square head studs that fit in the track. In the rear, they still came with the usual clamp hardware that lets them mount to other bars. I'll probably need to take some pics but basically I was able to use that hardware to slide into the cross beam slot (or you could get more of the squarehead stud parts that fit in the slot) then measured where the rear of the tray sits and drilled a hole in the bottom of the tray and bolted them down. Super simple and much better than there setup. I put some shim inbetween the crossbeam and the tray just to prevent the metal on metal contact and tightened it up.

I'll try to get out and get some pictures later.

Steve

[DrPhyzx]

Originally Posted by Josh@EpicSpeed

I posted pics of the Subaru rack that I bought a few weeks ago, and I've decided on the SportRack "Viper fork-mount" racks for the bikes. They mount with a bracket that goes around the crossbars and have great reviews. They're ~$60 per and seemed better than using one of the hacked together kits to get Yakima or Thule racks to fit on these crossbars.

There is nothing "hacked together" about putting Thule fork-mounts on the Subaru cross bars. I've looked into it and am about to do it.

The new Subaru bars have a groove in the top just like the Thule Rapid Aero bars. The Thule xadapt9 kit is used to mount all kinds of accessories onto these bars, just like with their own.

So... a Peloton or Echelon fork mount, an xadapt9 and a wheel-on mount, plus a lock cylinder for each bike is all you need from Thule. In addition, Thule lock cylinders can be used to replace the cheesy plastic "lock" system that Subaru uses to attach the load bars to the top of the car.

On paint... I am having some custom 3M put onto the places where the feet sit to protect the paint.

Hmmm... should have read on: I see I'm not the only one to figure this out. GoldNBlack: did you look at the Echelons as well? I like them because they are silver and will match the bars (and my silver car) better.

[solovus]

you said rack


...i know, i know...i'm immature. sometimes it just happens

[GilMikalian]

So the OEM bars are Thule but the OEM racks are Yakima? Interesting. I'm happy with the OEM setup so I went with that. Clickie my siggie or journal to have a look see.

[DrPhyzx]

Originally Posted by GilMikalian

So the OEM bars are Thule but the OEM racks are Yakima? Interesting. I'm happy with the OEM setup so I went with that. Clickie my siggie or journal to have a look see.

Actually, the OEM bars *may* be made by Thule, but they are not exactly the same cross-section as the Thule Rapid Aero. For example, I don't think the wind deflectors that mount around the Thule bars will work on ours.

I think it would be more correct to call them "Thule-compatible". In digging around, I found a site that talked about the fact that more and more OEM load bars are coming with a rapid-aero style groove in the top that allows easy compatibility with a lot of accessories, but I can't seem to find that site now. One thing did seem obvious: that the plastic key mechanism for locking the bars onto the roof is designed with the Thule cylinders in mind. It pops out easily and the Thule cylinder slides in perfectly.

I can tell you, my dealer and I were really annoyed when we discovered that the Yakima fork-mounted carriers SOA sells can only be mounted on the round bars of the giant, ugly cargo basket. Unless that is what you want, do not mistakenly order them!!

[GilMikalian]

So the fork-mount and the frame-clamp racks each attach to a specific type of bar? Who the hell thought of that one? I love my frame-clamp rack since it's very easy to place and remove my bike from the rack.

I would liked to have taken advantage of the grooves in the rack but my current setup looks like it would be much sturdier than using the grooves in the bar.

[kris]

Originally Posted by DrPhyzx

Actually, the OEM bars *may* be made by Thule, but they are not exactly the same cross-section as the Thule Rapid Aero. For example, I don't think the wind deflectors that mount around the Thule bars will work on ours.

I think it would be more correct to call them "Thule-compatible". In digging around, I found a site that talked about the fact that more and more OEM load bars are coming with a rapid-aero style groove in the top that allows easy compatibility with a lot of accessories, but I can't seem to find that site now. One thing did seem obvious: that the plastic key mechanism for locking the bars onto the roof is designed with the Thule cylinders in mind. It pops out easily and the Thule cylinder slides in perfectly.

I can tell you, my dealer and I were really annoyed when we discovered that the Yakima fork-mounted carriers SOA sells can only be mounted on the round bars of the giant, ugly cargo basket. Unless that is what you want, do not mistakenly order them!!

Why not just simply use the "real" Thule crossbars, and skip the potential compatibility issues. I ask as I getting ready to purchase now.

[GilMikalian]

would the "real" thule bars attach the same way as the OEMs to the slots in the roofs of our cars? I really like the attachment mechanism. Very clean without having to use the ugly clamps I see on the universal kits.

[Edvig]

Originally Posted by DrPhyzx

I can tell you, my dealer and I were really annoyed when we discovered that the Yakima fork-mounted carriers SOA sells can only be mounted on the round bars of the giant, ugly cargo basket. Unless that is what you want, do not mistakenly order them!!

I found this out the hard way.

My friend is going to buy the Subaru/Yakima trays from me, so I recoup the cost.

According to my bike shop, the Thule fit kit is not in the US yet. I'm keeping the OE roof rails and buying Thule Echelon trays.

[DrPhyzx]

Originally Posted by kris

Why not just simply use the "real" Thule crossbars, and skip the potential compatibility issues. I ask as I getting ready to purchase now.

Well, Thule does list a kit now for the 08 STI that mounts to the factory mounting points. However, the look is a lot less clean: since the load bars are always a standard length, they stick out beyond the towers. The fit of the Subaru bars is impeccable and they look very slick. Given that the STI looks a bit odd with a roof rack to start with, I'm trying to keep it as clean looking as possible. Also, I got the Subaru load bars for half the cost of the Thule parts ($150). I spend so little time on the freeway, that lack of a fairing doesn't concern me, so YMMV (literally) on that.

Thule Kit for 2008 STI

[DrPhyzx]

Originally Posted by GilMikalian

So the fork-mount and the frame-clamp racks each attach to a specific type of bar? Who the hell thought of that one? I love my frame-clamp rack since it's very easy to place and remove my bike from the rack.

I would liked to have taken advantage of the grooves in the rack but my current setup looks like it would be much sturdier than using the grooves in the bar.

I always use fork mount: a lot more secure. That and there is no way I'm clamping the 790g frame on my fancy new CF road bike....