[Closed] Roof racks - how much !

Thule 598 sold out most places - the new toilet roll

Used options exist.

We got 4 X 598s for 100quid and a set of Cruz roof bars for 80 quid.

Get a Rock Bros suction one, about £100. Works on just about any car. I've had one for ages, brilliant bit of kit. There has been a review thread on here sometime ago.

😉

That aside, for me, when strapping many thousands of pounds of bikes to the roof of a fast moving vehicle, buying a Thule system was a no brainer.

Have you looked at the car manufacturer's roof bars? This proved a better option for my focus. Might work out better for you depending on what car you drive.

buying a Thule system was a no brainer.

Whys that then ?

Try gumtree. I waited ages for a set to suit mine, got fed up, bought a new set, a week later some came up 5 miles away at about 25% of what I’d just paid.

Have you looked at the car manufacturer’s roof bars?

Which are mostly rebranded Thule.

Whys that then ?

Secure, well made kit that just works. Doesn't damage carbon frames, goes on and off in five minutes or so. Adapts and grows to take more bikes if needed. Etc. Etc.

I had various Thule roof carriers for best part of 20 years, until going to towbar mounted a few years back. Always found them infallible. I did sometime wonder how solid the things they attached to were, whether roof rails or mount points. Now use a Yakima towbar rack....and still wonder whether the towbar will come undone (removable) or the clamp holding the rack on will fail 🤔

Secure, well made kit that just works. Doesn’t damage carbon frames, goes on and off in five minutes or so. Adapts and grows to take more bikes if needed. Etc. Etc.

But why does all that make Thule a no brainer.

Other brands are available that so all that.

But why does all that make Thule a no brainer

Well, people saying stuff like this sure as hell helps!

I had various Thule roof carriers for best part of 20 years, until going to towbar mounted a few years back. Always found them infallible

Got a thule towbar rack and a thule roof rack with kayak carriers.

Yep. Expensive - but the bike rack goes from car to car and at less than 5% of the cost of the (occasionally 4) bikes it carries...

Don't dispute they are good but far from only quality option and not a no brainer....unless they are the only ones that fit your car

Get searching on Gumtree/Facebook marketplace. I picked up 2 Thule 591s for £30 each a couple of weeks ago. There are no end of roofracks available. You do need to know what you are looking for though.

Wait till after summer holidays and there will be loads of bargains on ebay.

I got a brand new set of bars from Ford with a Thule bike carrier for under £200 from my Ford main dealer.

The aerobars are Thule with Ford badges

Look for used, and remember that most systems have interchangeable feet. I got a set of whispbars and 2 nice altra bike racks for £25 on eBay because they were to fit a rare car, and I had to get them from the middle of nowhere... Cost me that £25, another £25 for the new feet and about a tenner in petrol...

I've slowly acquired two sets of Thule roof bars and feet, one set that have steel square bars for the bike racks and roof box, and a set of aluminium oval bars for surfboards. All of it was second hand and has cost less than £100.

I've got a set of Paddy Hopkirk bars and feet that are too short for my current car that I can't sell for love nor money. So certain kit sells, other bit not so much.

£500 seems expensive. I’ve had a few sets over the years for a variety of cars and circa £300 seems about the usual rate. Priced up a set of wing bars for my wife’s car recently and they were £350 too but managed to get a foot pack for an existing set I had. Maybe it’s the lockdown premium kicking in. Had a set of thules on my smax for 5 years and when I came to remove them not one bolt or screw was seized and the thing was like brand new. No peeling powder coat, no corroding aluminium alloy, no faded and tatty looking plastics, lock action was as good as new. Sold it used for about 70% of what I bought it for so always seemed good value to me. Always got good money when I sold thules on and why I never saw buying used as good value. I guess it probably depends on the popularity of the vehicle the bars are for as to what you can get for them at any given time.

They’re not the only game in town these days, but they’re still the best.

If they’re going to be on permanently Thule is worth the money, if not and they’re going to see occasional use then lesser products will do.

I got a four bike Atera set up with aero bars a couple of years ago from roofbox.co.uk (excellent service). Was about £350-400 in one of their package deals.

Thule stuff is nice but I can't say I have any had any reservations about the security or robustness of the Atera stuff and it's often 10-25% cheaper.

I think that the unrestrained enthusiasm for Thule for many people is probably partly routed in familiarity. At the end of the day the kit is tested to a standard in terms of its safety so I generally would think you can take that as a given.

It is, however, fair to say that the higher end stuff like Thule (and the bit cheaper Atera) definitely has some nice ergonomics and design features.

I went for Atera aero bars last time round, had Thule before. Needed a different length bar as well as different feet, and the Atera setup was about half the cost. I actually prefer the Atera ones, they have a permanent rubber strip ahead of the t-track, so you don’t need to remove or cut like you do with Thule ones. They’re quiet all the time regardless and that strip means you don’t get any marking from bike racks or anything else.

Still use Thule racks (because I already had them) but heard good things about the Atera ones too.

I need to sell all my Thule stuff as we've switched cars and bought a van.

I've got the feet for grabbing your roof bars, the aero bars and two 598 bike carriers. Based in Sheffield.

I might just drop a stealth ad right in this thread

Best bit about Thule is that they purposely hange the fixing kits every few years, forcing you to spend £100 or more if you just change cars when all you should really need is an adapter kit.

Aye, I'm with TR, there's many other brands that are every bit as good as Thule, but folk seem to like the brand, it's a bit Audi-esque, certainly not a no brainer.

As for not damaging carbon frames, it's Gibbon fisted folk that hoik them up too tight, nowt to do with the hardware.

I'm looking at new roof bars at the moment, and Atera are looking pretty good if I can't find second hand. Cruz have come up a few times as a bit cheaper again, but I don't know much about those.

As soon as I dig out all the bits my old Thule ones (from a MK2 Focus, holy stealth ad!) will be going up for sale.

Cruz are absolutely fine. Not quite as nicely finished as atera or Thule, and a touch more fiddly to set up, but very solid.

That reminds me, I've two sets of Thule feet to sell....

Cheers @paule, that's good to hear, I might give Cruz a go. Once they're on the car they'll be staying there so a bit more faff won't kill me. I'll still be using Thule bike carriers too.

For that kind of money you could get a towbar (assuming your car is compatable) and rack.

A basic two bar system cost me £60 because my roof rails  sit flush and I needed audi type clamps

Its OK for sheets of plasterboard but I wouldn't fancy a bike flailing about on it.

Then I doubt I could lift my ebike up there anyway. 🤔

Re: Cruz, although the bars I bought from Roofbox are perfectly functional, cosmetically they are a step down. On mine the Cruz label is missing entirely from one bar end and on another has been applied at 45 degrees. I'll remove all the stickers to make it look less shoddy.

They'll be going on an old Honda FR-V, it's not exactly the prettiest car to start with.

My Thule aerobar is a re-badged Thule, and my 4 racks are re-badged Thule Freeride racks (Thule's lower version).

Saved a fair amount as bought the racks in a 2 for one offer (old Halfords Advanced racks). Had them over 15 years now, no breakages and I've carried kids bikes, road bikes and big burly Trail bikes.

Mate has similar set up, and just changed his feet when he changed the car.

I've owned Thule, Whispbar (yakima) and Atera. The latter are by far the best and I won't use anything else now, given a choice. Always excellent service from roofbox.co.uk

Seek out a second hand Thule rack where someone is selling the whole lot, e.g. for a Golf, collection only. The key is to find one that fits your car with a switch of foot pack. Buy the foot pack for your car new, swap them over, sell the foot pack for the Golf.

SharkAttack....i'd be interested if its still for sell

also, is there much of a issue leaving the bars and bike rack on all the time? with them locked to the card i presume they wont get stolen?

I leave the bars on all the time but I do take the bike carriers off. Mainly because someone tried to nick one.

I'm a thule fanboy. Also a kayaker and have the same thule roof bars that have been going for 28years of overloading with upto 8 kayaks and youthful exuberance of urban surfing. They are still straight and switched from car to car/van, kayakers swear by thule too. However I've also got an Altera towbar rack which is brilliant, so will be dividing my fanboy love with Altera too

Have just fitted Thule aero bars onto a t5 campervan. Cost was under £200 complete from the roof box co.

Mr trickey, i presume the bars were under £200, but add 2* bike racks for the bars, and thats another +£200...the roofbox pacakge offer seems a good deal, found a aset that are in stock, using a thule 531 bike rack for about £300

If anyone is interested I have the following available...

Thule ProRide 598 Cycle Carrier * 2
Thule Rapid System 753 + Kit 3015 for a Ford Focus
Thule 757 Footpack for Skoda Octavia
Thule 118cm Wingbars

Based in Aldershot.

Cheers,

Paul

I thought the great advantage of Thule was that, while they change bits, modern feet will work with old bars and so on? That and the key-alike.

I had OEM Toyota bars with my last car (rebadged Montblanc). They were OK but came with plastic keys which appeared to be made of cheese, so I had to swap the locks, but apart from that they were fine and the T-track was fine with Thule 598s. Are Montblanc no more?

just sold my Thule setup for my 911 and my Thule Ocean 600 roof box... kept my Thule bike carriers and spent yesterday retrofitting them to my 'new' trail transport...

Oh nice lancia.

Might want to check for low bridges on the way to the trails

I thought the great advantage of Thule was that, while they change bits, modern feet will work with old bars and so on? That and the key-alike.

This is what I've found, had my bars and feet for ages and just swapped the foot adapter pack when changing car.