Roof Rack Review: Thule and 1Up-USA

[GoNavy]

I’ve been putting off getting a roof rack for awhile, but finally bit the bullet and got it over the holidays. Figured I’d throw up a quick review of the Thule Aeroblade mount and 1Up-USA rack. First the boring text (then the pics!)

The Good:
Thule: Many of you already have used the Aeroblade. Not much more to add aside from the standard “it’s awesome”. It was very easy to install (and equally easy to remove in 5 minutes and reinstall in about 5-10min). There are factory-drilled holes in all 4 doors for my B8.5 so there’s no guessing of where to mount the feet. (There are little nubs on the feet that insert into the slots.) Just so it’s all in one place, the parts for a B8/8.5 are 53” Aeroblades, 480R feet (x4), and the 1462 rubber feet (x4) that correspond to our car.

1Up-USA: After reading a bunch of reviews on here by others and doing some research, I came across and really liked the 1Up-USA functionality and reliability. It’s not the most aesthetic mount, but the engineering and functionality are hard to beat. I’ve taken my bike out a few times already and NEVER was concerned about the bike being secure. I like that it doesn’t touch the frame at all, and the locking mechanism is robust and sound. The bike does shake a bit from lateral movement, but the design prevents it from coming lose. I’ve cruised on the highway at 70+ with no issues. I highly recommend this!!

I purchased the flush mount, so it’s made to attach cleanly to the Thule roof rack. I don’t think they had this option before. If you have the 1Up-USA rack, you can purchase the “flush mount” parts to replace the original mounting system that’s not nearly as clean.

The Bad: It whistles! I’ve noticed in dry conditions, the rack/mount combination whistles between 35-55mph. If you’re playing music, you don’t really hear it, but if there’s no music, you can hear it. It’s a bit louder with any windows open. Its not the end of the world. Might be more annoying in the summer when I have windows down more often, but for now – in the winter – its not an issue. Since it’s easy to take off the rack, that makes it good to just have the rack on when you need it and take it off when you don’t use it.

All-in-all, it’s a great addition – especially since I actually spent some money to buy a good bike. The entire setup is easy to put on and remove and holds the bike securely WITHOUT touching the bike frame (great if you have carbon bikes).

Factory hole in the driver side door


Front feet placement


Securely attaching feet


Rear feet placement


1Up-USA Flush Mount parts (slides into the Thule track)


1Up-USA Flush Mount assembled view (very clean attachment)


Travel Mode (it sits very flush with no bike)


Opened to receive bike


Out with the bike!

[JD S4]

Looks great. I've got a Whispbar rack with Yakima snowboard racks and they whistle as well. When I have the racks off and it's just the bars - it's mostly quiet


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[MVR 155]

I've got the Audi OEM bars, by themselves they create a little bit of extra wind noise but zero whistling. I have a Thule Force Alpine box which increases the wind noise a bit more and knocks down my highway mpg by a couple miles per gallon. I also run the Thule box on my 15 Denali and see next to nothing in MPG reduction and the extra noise is very minimal.