I have a Thule rack and Kuat bike mount, where the front wheel is removed and the fork is secured. I can haul four road bikes, but keep the front wheels inside the car. Otherwise, two bikes and two wheels. I would honestly not go with Volvo racks and go with a company that specializes in racks (Yakima, Thule, Kuat). The Volvo I believe are just rebranded (and up-charged).

 

Go for Thule, you cant miss it

 

I have the Volvo (Thule) with frame bracket. I use 2 of them for 2 bikes. Very stable and safe.

The only problem is getting the bikes up there... The trick I do is to tie the front wheel with the bike's frame to keep it in line with the frame while you lift the bike and put it on the track.

If you plan to go with electric bikes (like I do!) then a hitch mounted rack is more appropriate because of the weight !

 

I bought the Thule and returned it the next day. The XC60 is tall enough that getting the bikes up on the roof is not an easy feat, and I didn't want to risk damaging the vehicle (bound to happen over time).

Get a hitch and hitch-mounted rack, or fold the seats down and put the bike inside the car.

 

I have a zany Volvo-branded rack that I'm not sure they sell anymore. It has hydraulic arms to lift and lower the bikes from the roof. It's a little over-complicated and quite tall (we get nervous going under the 8 ft overpasses on one of the parkways we take as we drive through CT), but it is kinda awesome too.

 

I have a zany Volvo-branded rack that I'm not sure they sell anymore. It has hydraulic arms to lift and lower the bikes from the roof. It's a little over-complicated and quite tall (we get nervous going under the 8 ft overpasses on one of the parkways we take as we drive through CT), but it is kinda awesome too.

Woh....that's kinda cool!

 

I have 2 of the fork mounted Volvo branded once. Very stable btw and neither of them came with the wheel holder. They all say it’s included but nothing in the box. When I called the dealer I got the misprint runaround.


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A little late to the party on this, as I just picked up my '18 XC60, but I wanted to add my $0.02. I have Thule crossbars with two Yakima bike racks - one where I take off the front wheel and one where I don't. Both are stable at speed, though psychologically I "trust" the fork mount a bit more. Still, I've driven with two bikes up there and have had no issues. The upright carrier simply grips the front and back of the front wheel. And I keep a small step stool in the trunk to help with loading and unloading.

You really should avoid any rack that contacts the frame. There's a decent chance that the frame will get scratched by it, and a small chance that more severe frame damage could result.

 

Are your bike trays made for the Yakima round bars? If so, how did you attach them to the crossbars?

 

Update: I bought the Volvo OEM cross bars and fork mounts. Everything -- cross bars, two fork-mounted racks, and two front wheel mounts that also fit on the cross bars -- was $500. Maybe my dealer is just special, I dunno...the Thule stuff would've cost me double this.

No regrets so far on the fork-mounted racks (used once).

 

Yeah - I've been using my Thule / Yakima setup across multiple cars. It's gone from a Range Rover to an Audi to the Volvo, and I've only had to pay around $100 each time to get the right "fit kit". Glad to hear you like the OEM Volvo setup though. My guess is it's made by Thule for Volvo, but I could be wrong.

 

Glad to hear you like the OEM Volvo setup though. My guess is it's made by Thule for Volvo, but I could be wrong.

It is.