Roof rack and bike rail for the GLI

About a month ago I picked up the OEM roof rack and the Kuat Trio bicycle roof rail for the GLI.

The OEM rack is pretty nice the way it secures to the roof and I liked the very odd torque/secure bolt wrench provided to secure it. I got a decent deal on it since dealers are trying liquidate these older parts. Less than half the price of the Yakima and Thule options. MPG went down a little, probably 1.5 MPG, and have some wind noise. The noise isn’t bad unless you are going above 40mph with the sunroof fully open, cracked is ok until 60mph. As long as the sunroof is close though its not an issue at any street legal speed.

The bike rail is a Kuat Trio fork rail. I did a good amount of research on rails an decided a fork mount would be the most secure. Sure you have to take off the front wheel each time, but skewers make that so easy. I ended up going with this rail due to the solid construction and the ability to handle 9, 15 and 20mm forks without having to purchase anything more is pretty sweet. They provide extra spacers that you use for each type of fork which is how they pull it off.

I am extremely happy with how it worked out. Originally I was a little disappointed I couldn’t use a hitch mount because the GLI is too low but in the end I think I got the better deal here.