About Roof Rack

Aug 21, 2012

We always learn a lot from an expert. Don't you agree ? I start testing a couple boats belonged to the school last Saturday and also revisit the roof rack research. Again Mike, my kayak instructor, gave me a great suggestion. He suggested me to look at an inflatable roof rack called HandiRack by Malone. It gets pretty positive reviews. And it's over $ 400 cheaper than the permanent roof rack and still does its job. Honestly I am 70% sure I am going to go with this rack. I could put more money toward the boat and gears.

A couple things to be careful are 1) scratches created by the rack. Many users suggest putting the towels underneath the rack. 2) water leaking through the doors which can be avoided by not leaving this inflatable racks on when it's rain.

3-door Volk Polo with HandiRack

Mini Cooper with HandiRack

Now my car is a 3-door Volkswagen Golf not a 5-door. So how to install the rear rack ? I found the photo above. I probably need to put a couple foams on the roof as a support toward the back. HandiWorld provides a great photo gallery of their product. You might want to check it out.

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May 11, 2012

Yesterday I took a free 1.5-hour class at REI about How to Select a Kayak led by Mike, the owner of CKAPCO, and a staff at REI (I think she is the head of the paddling department, an avid paddler and she is smaller than me at 5'-2"!) The part that I was excited most was about how to load a kayak to the roof of a car by yourself. Loading from the front or back of a car using bath mats was my favorite. ha!

This is a photo of Volk Golf 3-door from online. I have this car too with the exact same antenna!

So I couldn't help visiting Thule website again. I love their Fitting Guide feature which made my life much easier since I knew nothing about a roof rack. I didn't grow up with one and nobody in my group was crazy about paddling.

So once you are on Thule website you select your vehicle, model, year and roof feature (if that is a case). Thule will ask if you would like to select a base system (the roof rack) or other accessories which vary by type of activities or usage such as cargo, snowsport, bike or watersport. I had nothing so I started with the base system. 

Thule will list options for each component, the foot, the bar, etc, for you to choose from. You can look at the price, the detail of each piece, photos or download PDF of the installation guide on a pop-up window.

Once you complete your base system you can keep adding item in my case I add accessories for watersport. I found that their "compare" option doesn't work for me though.

The feature I like most is that you don't have to buy all these from Thule. (The price is MSRP which means expensive.)  You can print your complete list and go shopping at local dealers or online stores. If you pick an online store, it will export this list to your cart automatically. I got much better price from my favorite store, Amazon with free shipping on most of the items.

Anyway, I am so excited about this and just want to share with other newbies out there.