Big cargo box needed

My 10 year old Thule 600 (now called 600 Classic) cargo box finally
gave out and I'm looking to replace it. This was the huge beast that
was big enough to fit one large or two skinny people in. Thule's
website says it's capacity is 21.2 cu ft and holds 10-12 pairs of skis.
When we loaded up with skiers we could put 4 ski bags in there without
any trouble, even with 210 cm skis. In other seasons we've carried all
sorts of luggage and other gear in it.

My problem is no local shops stock the large size boxes, so I can't get
a look at them to figure out what to buy. Everyone says "sure, we can
order it for you". So after staring at web site dimensions for the
current 21 cu ft models from both Thule and Yakima and talking to shops
that sell them I blindly ordered the Yakima Platinum Pro 21. Somehow
the dealer mistakenly ordered the black model instead, but he insists
it's exactly the same construction and dimensions, just a different
color and different material.

When I looked it over I was very disappointed. There is a structural
crossbar at each end running across the box from one side to the other
a few inches above the floor of the box. The crossbars add to the
stability of the box and only minimally reduce the total inside volume,
but they are only 205 cm apart. A pair of 210 cm skis will fit beneath
the crossbars if you slide them around a bit to get them beneath the
bars, but if you have a ski bag with a bunch of skis in it, it will
definitely have trouble if it contains anything over 200 cm. Might
even have trouble with 200 cm if the bag doesn't fold tightly around
the end of the skis.

I was able to decline the special-ordered Yakima because the dealer had
ordered the wrong color, but now I'm wondering if anyone makes a decent
large box for cross country skiers. I see some smaller volume Yakima
boxes are longer but we're spoiled by our old box and want another just
as big.

Thule has their 675 - Evolution 2100 that's 21 cu ft and claims to be
just about the same length and height as the old 600. It's 4 inches
narrower but that's not my most critical dimension. Does anyone here
have this box? If so how does it do with ski bags containing 200-210
cm skis? Are there any internal obstructions that artifically limit
the usable capacity? The website says this box is 92" long. I imagine
this is the outside dimension. Can anyone tell me the inside dimension?

Eddie Luban, if you're reading this, can you tell me names of shops in
Syracuse that carry Thule boxes? I'm going back to Syr for another
wrist surgery this Friday :-( so I'll be making numerous followup
trips to Syr over the next 3 months and will have plenty of
opportunities to stop in to a shop up there.

Any other brands besides Yakima and Thule I should be looking at?

-Mitch

Mitch Collinsworth wrote:

My 10 year old Thule 600 (now called 600 Classic) cargo box finally
gave out and I'm looking to replace it. This was the huge beast that
was big enough to fit one large or two skinny people in. Thule's
website says it's capacity is 21.2 cu ft and holds 10-12 pairs of skis.
When we loaded up with skiers we could put 4 ski bags in there without
any trouble, even with 210 cm skis. In other seasons we've carried all
sorts of luggage and other gear in it.

Good idea.

I've just (i.e. this morning) ordered a replacement for our current
(very cheap!) Biltema box, since it was too tall to fit into the (low)
garage at Tone's office.

What I settled on was a Packline Avantgarde, this one has a total length
of 225, with no internal obstructions, but it costs 3x the (soft)
Biltema box (i.e. I'm paying NOK 5000,- for it, which is nearly $700).

http://www.packline.no/CGI_BIN/spesifikasjoner/vis.pl

Their 'Orginal 102' has a stated volume of 600 liters, which is 21.1888
cu ft according to my math.

Terje

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