Is there one available for a 3 door Golf?
I've just got a new bike and want a way of transporting it without putting it IN the car.
I can't have a tow bar because of the central exhausts, so on the roof is my only option. I certainly wouldn't trust one of the ones that hang off the rear spoiler as there are so many straps etc that could damage the paint.
The VW one seems a tad steep, but when I'm transporting over £8k worth of bikes, I guess its probably worth paying for something secure!
Have a look at
http://www.thule.com/en-GB/GB/FitGuide.aspx# as there is an option to configure for 3 door although I'm not sure on the anchorage points, I'm guessing there must be enough of a foot hold above the glass behind the b-pillar as it shows the exact same options as I was provided with and I have a 5 door.
I'm not sure if you know but on the inside sill of the front doors, just below the top shut line (about mid way) is a plastic plug, you have to remove this with an allan key. This is actually an anchorage hole that you put the front mounts for the roof bar into. The clamp has an extruded spike which slips into the hole that the plug leaves. The rear anchorage point is a 'C' shape as well and the foot sits on the roof gutter. The top of the 'C' is a rubber foot that sits on the gutter and the bottom of the 'C' slides into the door sill below the top shut line. I'm guessing that there is enough of a recess above the rear window on a 3 door for this to anchor. It's fairly slim in profile so shouldn't need too much depth to hold. I'd suggest speaking to the guys at GT Touring (linked in an earlier post). They carry every single item that Thule manufacture so know the products and they could easily answer the question as to how it anchors on your R.
I've also got expensive bikes and that was my theory, why introduce a weak link into the chain. I'm not sure if you're putting road bikes or mountain bikes on to your roof but SingleTrack magazine (
www.singletrackworld.com) did a very thorough review of bike carrier options a little while back. If you like, I can fire over the review pages but if I recall, they tended to be heavily biased toward rear mount carriers. The amount of muck, especially salt grit that gets thrown up onto the back of the car on motorway trips is not something that I'd like all over my carbon fibre bikes and components, that and the risk of damaging the paint work of course.
PM me if you need any more help, I did a lot of research before deciding on the Thule so could probably venture an opinion on any options. I think my favourite brand encountered was 'Hollywood Racks' which created quite the wrong mental picture!
