Kombi Rack kayak/canoe roof cradle - to fit rectangular roof bars

Solid and secure. Those are the two main points I want to get across about this Ruk-rack!Prior to this rack I used to use a folding Jbar system, made by Thule. The Thule rack was very good quality but also very costly.One reason I changed to this cheaper Ruk system is that the Thule rack (while being a great product itself) required my kayak to be loaded edgeways on, and because I have a tall vehicle this made it more of a handful to load onto the roof.With the Ruk system it's not an issue however, and it's sooo much easier now to load up my kayak and get out on the sea more quickly, or home afterwards with more ease. One important thing to note of course with the difference between such styles of kayak rack, is that J bar type ones take up less roof area, whereas the Ruk one uses more width across your roof bars. Not an issue if that's all you have on your roof bars, but if you also have a roof box as I have, it becomes more of a tight fit.If it's of any use as a guide, I have firenze roof box and the Ruk kayak holder on my thule roof bars, which are 1.53m wide, and with a fairly narrow kayak (RDM Disco) there's not much width to spare on the bars with both of them there. Just something to bear in mind.The product is very sturdily built, and gives the impression it will last a long time, while staying secure. It's important to make sure of course when fitting that you tighten up the fasteners suitably tight, to the point where the brackets will not budge when tugged at.You know what I like best though? The price!! Oh I know what you're going to say, you can get cheaper racks, but they're unlikely to be as robust. I've had a cheap J bar rack previously which was only a little cheaper than this, but nowhere near as well made as this, and which had the rubber paddle holding straps snap on the second use, so for the price, this Ruk one is just great.This was roughly around a quarter of the price of a previous Thule rack I owned, and is much better suited to my requirements. I'd happily recommend it therefore, and have not yet found any reason to give it anything other than a full 5 stars.Thanks for reading my review - I hope it's helpful in trying to make a purchase decision, and if you appreciate the information or find it helpful then I would of course be grateful if you'd be kind enough to rate my review as being helpful, thankyou!

Works flawlessly, actually gets a good grip on kayak, so when up n over loading from rear of vehicle I cover the rubber grippy feet with socks, then remove them one at a time when kayak is jiggled where it needs to be Travelled at motorway speeds without even a flutter. I have big confidence in this product and sure it will endure well.

This was delivered on time and met the brief of installing a simple and effective roof rack mounted kayak support system The landing pads are easy to assemble but I changed the holding down mechanism for bolts and lock-nuts, simply to have peace of mind. Other reviews said to check these after each journey, I changed these to avoid the need to check. Other than that small change, the pads look good work well and seem quite sturdy. I would buy this again if another set was needed. Adjusting them is easy and when finalised, the support the kayak very well.

On the whole, a good product that performs as you'd expect. I only have one criticism. The base of these carriers are plastic, and pretty low friction, so over time they can move apart on a roof bar causing the kayak to eventually rest directly on the roofbar. This may be down to my set up of them however. The roof runners on my car slope slightly upwards toward the front of the car, so I mount the rear carriers closer together in order to level my 13 foot boat (without doing this the bow of the boat can exceed the 2meter restriction bars on many car parks). This presents a latitudinal force that pushes the carriers at the rear apart no matter how tight I make them. I got around this by adding an aluminium strip drilled with holes at the desired distance between the carriers, that the clamp bolts go through. I'm using aero bars.

I used to use either J bars or load directly on the roof rack and strap down. I was finding it difficult to load solo onto the J bars as they were quite high and my kayak weighs 60 LBS. Loading directly onto the roof bars was easy but when I strapped it down I noticed that the hull shape was beginning to distort which is to be avoided. The advantages of these cradles are 1) zero distortion of the kayak hull. 2) The kayak is more secure on the roof. 3) The overall height of your vehicle and kayak with cradles combined is lower than the height of vehicle and kayak with J bars combined because your kayak is flat on the roof with cradles and sideways on with J bars. This lower height enables passage through car park headroom height restrictor barriers which you often find at your launching points. The disadvantages of the cradles for me are 1) less room widthways on your roof for other kayaks although I would probably only have two kayaks on top twice a year max so not a massive issue. 2) The loading height with cradles is slightly higher than directly onto roof bars. I've overcome this by placing a couple of socks over the rear pair of cradles to reduce the friction and will probably have to invest in a cheap folding plastic caravan step to counter the additional height. Overall the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. The initial set up took about 20 mins to configure to cradles around the hull. The overall construction seems quite solid but I guess time will tell. Very pleased with this product

Used these for a sit on top fishing kayak on rectangular roof bars. No matter how tightly I fix them to the roof bars they twist and turn as I put the kayak on and are a real pain to get straight. They may be ok for lighter canoes but not for a SOT fishing kayak.

Purchased to transport a 12ft 30kg Kayak around. Very good product for the job. Rubber cradles mould to the shape of the hull and are very grippy.Be aware that these cradles do add to the height you will need to haul your craft onto your roof rack. As small compromise for the added security during transit.