I don't have the roof racks but I am thinking about getting some racks for bikes/skiis. Which one is the best? Was thinking about trying to make some kind of bike rack for the inside of the car. I've yet to try it out but I since I have quick release front tire and seat I think it will fit in up rt.

 

I have a Thule roof rack that I used un my sedan for carrying my skies and kayaks. Now I have the factory rack for my Protege 5. I have the (4)feet, (2)load bars, fairwing, and all the fittings for the sedan or Wagon w/o rack on it. Would love to get rid of it if I could. I paid $250 for everything mentioned and would get rid of it for $150 or make an offer (plus shipping). Can get you pics if you want.

Was used for under five months......

-R

 

want to get rid of it?

 

becasue my pr5 came with the factory rack on it which I can attack my ski, bike and kayak racks to. I did not need the base and load bars to attach things to.

-R

 

I put my trusty Yakima rack on mine the day I brought it home. Bike toting's a necesssity for me. I've also explored the option of sticking a bike inside, but it's just a bit too tight to doso upright unless you've got a flat handlebar with no bar ends, or a smaller roadbike. Wha tI did was borrow my frend's truck setup (piece of plywood with a couple of bike-tights bolted onto it) It WILL work, but like I said, it's a pretty tight fit, and a bit more hassle than it's worth unless you're taking long roadtrips in nasty weather, in which case, grab a couple dark towels and stack them on in.

I'm biased, yes, but I highly reccomend getting a roof rack. I actually specifically wanted a rack-less car because I knew I'd be putting my Yakima on it. If you've never had one, you won't believe the extent to which they make life easy. Yes, they are a bit spendy, but worth every penny. A general setup runs you about $200 to get the Qtowers, clips and crossbars. and form there there's endless options. 2 bike trays, and a ski rack would run about $250. I'm still on my same rack swapped over from 3 cars since '96. I was actually thinking of getting a new setup for my new car, but I took my old one off the civic, and it still looked perfect. What else costs $400 and holds up that well for 7 years? Just about guaranteed to be looking good well beyond the time where the value of what's on the roof exceeds that of the car.

I'm not sure about Tule's exact systems, but Yakima uses different "clips" for the basic towers to attach to different styles of cars with, and again, while perhaps not cheap, it makes for a very good solid reliable fit. (P5's take Q102 clips)

Again, I can't say enough. There's prettymuch no other option for me ever. THe biggest gain is still having all of your interior room for other gear (Food, helmets, shoes, muddy clothes, food, water, boots, jackets, comm/nav equipt/ packs, etc.) not to mention ppl. At the moment, twice weekly, I've got between 2 and 5 guys, along with a cooler, bikes and gear strapped down in my car, being toted up to the hills. and int he winter I intend to do the same with boards.

http://gallery.consumerreview.com/we...es/car1(4).jpg

 

I found it hard to use the factory rack to attach my bikes and kayaks to the pr5 like I could with my sedan with the thule rack on it. the rack on the pr5 is not that wide and they use these wide cross bars. it was going to be very expensive to make it work.....i just use a bike rack that i put on the hatchback.

when i ski in the winter i use my thule ski racks after purchasing the wide mouth (thule) attachments. i am able to fit 4 people and even five to go on a day ski trip with all our stuff in my pr5.

i was going to take the entire roof rack off my car but it is a big process......i just take the load bars off when not toting things around. it is easy to do that.

love my pr5 though and have no complaints about it. almost like it more than my 01' ES 2.0 sedan I had....

-R