General: Roofbox plus roof mounted bike carrier

[TheDufster]

Hi, this might be a bit obscure but hopefully someone has some experience on this and can help.

I have an Thule Atlantis 780 roofbox (it's a big one!) and I was wondering if the Thule 591 Roof Mounted cycle carrier would fit alongside it on top of the XC90? It seems to be the cheapest and easiest option for carrying one bike.

I appreciate that I might have to mount the roofbox off-centre and wouldn't be able to open it on one side (I am even prepared if I can't open the roofbox at all whilst the bike is mounted, due to the fact that the lid might clash with the bike when it opens).

There are 5 of us in the family, and for the moment I just need a solution to carry my wife's bike. At some point in the future the kids bikes will need to be mounted as well and I may end up getting a bike but I think this is a whole new problem for a later date. (My thoughts are that in a few years, with the kids being older and us not needing to transport things like the pushchair, cot etc, we might be able to get rid of the roofbox and mount all 5 bikes on the roof????)

[outnumbered]

although mine is a V70 just to give you some idea i have a roof box plus 2 Thule bike racks.both bikes fit on no problems.
mike

[TheDufster]

Nice one, thanks for the quick reply and the pictures!

[TruckbusUK]

Hello, think you may struggle, I use a Thule Vision 850 (again a big box) and I could not get it to fit along with a bike carrier on my XC90 using the Volvo cross bars.
I ended up using Thule 869 Aerobars (127cm) and clamp feet. The box and bike now fit, although I had to get the Thule bars machined (the slot underneath was made longer by approx 55mm) to allow the bars to cope with the curve of the XC90's roof rails.

Hope it helps

[TheDufster]

Ahh, yes - forgot to mention that I currently have the Volvo cross bars.....

I'll have to get them out and fit the box and see what room is left.

[AB-UK]

Unfortunately, the roof width is about the same size as that on the V50.
I used to have an 850 and could carry four bikes on the roof. There isn't the room on my XC90.

Don't forget to carry the footsteps you will need to load/unload the bikes :-).

[Volvorforlife]

I had the same on my XC90 and had an assisted bike rack beside it. I still have the bike rack if you'd like to go that way. Very hand for a tall car as it lifts the bike into place for you.

[Jim314]

Curved and aerodynamic XC90 crossbars are short and don't project beyond the longitudinal roof rails. The V70 with semi-aero crossbars can hold more because they project beyond the rails. If you are going to maximize the amount on the roof of an XC90, you would have to use Thule or other crossbars that are not curved.

I tried to use V70 crossbars on the XC90, but on one of the bars the slots for the clamps would have to machined farther toward the center to fit in the rear position on the XC90.

[Volvorforlife]

I also have the adjustable bars that will fit any Volvo with roof rails and they are flat not curved and give an extra 9" or so but the don't look as good as the aero bars although they don't make any more noise than the aero ones.

The good thing about them is that they are flat across so if you have stuff near the end they won't be at an angle if you know what I mean.

The rails on a XC90 are no wider than a V50