In case anyone is interested in bike rack options, here's what I installed this past week. Everything worked perfectly with the OEM roof bars.

OEM roof bars (vinyl wrapped by Lyle at vinyl styles dot com).
Two Yakima forklift bike holders (http://goo.gl/pbpPN).
Two Thule 593 front wheel carriers (http://goo.gl/dpvMy).

The front wheel carriers are silver, I'll probably have to paint/plasti-dip them black so they don't stick out so much among the black.

Next on the installation list is the MiniFini tow hitch that just arrived!

 

Nice install and great looking ride.

 

Looks great. Couple questions. Any reason behind Yakima for the bike and Thule for the wheel?
Any reason you vinyl wrapped your bars?

 

NIce !!! just one question I think you have jersey plates I am from NJ too does vinyl styles have a shop here or you sent it to cali? Thanks

 

I went with the Yakima bike rack (I've had them for 2 years now) because they fit onto any OEM roof bars without having to buy adapters. They just clamp right onto the bars, regardless of the type of bars you have.

I chose the Thule front wheel holders because they appear to attach to the load bars much more securely than the Yakima equivalent. The Yakima equivalent seems poorly designed, and has poor reviews online (see http://goo.gl/Zx57X).

I wrapped the roof bars as part of my long term plan to black out any chrome on the car (still a lot to go), it's purely cosmetic.

 

I had to send the roof bars to Cali and he sent them back to me. I had to pay shipping both ways. I think for more common things like head light rings, tail light rings, etc, he will take a deposit from you and send you the blacked out pieces. Once you install them, you send him your original pieces (which he wraps for the next customer's order). I haven't done this yet since I'm not sure how hard it is to remove/install those pieces from my car. He is working on some installation videos for customers, but it may be a while.

 

Thanks !!

 

Tata,

I've posted a couple pics of the Yakima Copperhead fork mount rack on the Yakima round bar. Do you think this would work on the Mini OEM rack? This guy will part this out for me and has two bike trays available.

 

Hey Jason,

Looking at the pics, I would say probably no, they won't fit on the OEM bars. The OEM bars are more oval in shape. Maybe Yakima would have some sort of adapter to let you attach those, but I'm not seeing how....

good luck
mark

 

Thanks for your input, as that was my initial thought too, but your previous comment about buying the Yakima because they fit just about every OEM rack got me going. Think I ma just going to pony up the money for the Fork Lift racks like you have.

Thanks

 

Oh sorry for the confusion. Yeah I was specifically talking about the Yakima Forklifts. The Forklifts will fit on any OEM bars. I think they're great, very easy to install, not terribly expensive, and I was able to keep them when I sold my previous car that had factory bars, and went for the MINI.

Edit: By the way, if you buy two racks, you'll have two keys that look identical. If that gets annoying, you can spend $30 to swap out the lock cores so you have one key for both racks. Not sure it's worth the price, just mark each key a different color
http://www.amazon.com/Yakima-Lock-Co...ef=pd_sim_sg_1

 

Hey Jason, you may also want to check out Rocky Mounts. Their Euro-pitchfork tray mounts directly to the OEM bars and (IMHO) is a lot beefier than the Yak and Thule trays.
I'm not a rep, vendor, or talking head for the company. I just like the security and reassurance of a solid product.
* The company also makes lock cores and they can be ordered keyed identically.
Good luck.

 

Linky: http://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Mounts-1...3676806&sr=8-1

 

That's cool! I never heard of the brand before, but they look nice!

 

Nice! And in white to match my roof! Affordable too! Do you know if they make a fork for the front wheel?

 

I did a quick check of their site and I don't see a wheel fork. I just slide mine behind the passenger seat.

 

Sweet! Looks cool

 

Seconding the Rockymounts recommendation!! I have the Euro Pitchforks and they are sweet and sturdy! I don't have a close up of the head-end attachment, but they make full advantage of the aero bars so the whole set-up is super slick and very clean (no extra clamps exposed, etc.)

Here's a couple shots. Let me know if you want close ups of the attachment points...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bentyyc/6137888665/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bentyyc/6138430864/

 

Like the black xeons
They will be on my white body black top
Then shopping for some cool weekend or short trip rims and tires
BLING BLING. LOL

 

Just ordered the white Euro Pitchforks from Rocky to match the white top. Had to order the wheel holding fork from Thule. May check into some white spray paint for that. Benty, nice ride!

 

Bad news: my Thule wheel holders were stolen off my car last night. They don't lock into the roof bars, but I never thought someone would actually steal them. They also tried to take my Yakima Forklift racks, but did not succeed because they are locked to the roof bars.

So annoying. I just went to MINI and ordered the OEM front wheel holders. The parts manager was pretty sure they locked to the roof bars. We will see...

 

Tata- sorry to hear that someone snagged your wheel forks. Hope that you have better luck with the OEM ones.

Bentycc- that color combo is sick! Very nice looking ride.

 

A bit OT - anyone know if yakima's mighty mount will fit the MINI cross bar? I've got Yakima from my previous car and would love to reuse instead of having to buy new racks. Thanks!

Mighty mount link

 

Benty, i got my Rocky Mounts Euro Picth Forks today. I looked over the instructions and want to know if you did the extra drill rear mount option? got them in white, and can't wait to see them up there extending my bonnet stripes.

 

Quick bad pic of the new racks going on tonight. Can't really appreciate the white tray with the white roof, in this pic, but I think it rocks. Highly suggest the Rocky Mounts Euro Pitchforks. Easy install, solid feel, just need to try the bikes up there. Only draw back I see is that the warranty is not covered with a carbon dropout on the fork. Seems to me it should hold just like an aluminum or steel fork. Locks were easy to install, too.