Roof bars look awful on a car!!
What do you need them for?
Well people don't tend to buy them as a style accessory do they ?
Why do you think people buy them - to carry things or put roof boxes on when needed !
But yes, as said above, they clamp round the edge of the roof into the door recess.
stuart_h
Guest
Just get Thule original bars - then if you change cars then it's only a £20 "fitting kit" to fit them to another car.
My bars have now seen action on 3 different cars I've owned: Clio, Civic and now my Ibiza. Each time I've had to buy a new fitting kit (plus I needed a short-roof adaptor for the CTR) but it's only £20 a time rather than a whole new set of bars.
The Ibiza actually looks pretty OK with bars and bikes attached - very sporty LOL
My bars have now seen action on 3 different cars I've owned: Clio, Civic and now my Ibiza. Each time I've had to buy a new fitting kit (plus I needed a short-roof adaptor for the CTR) but it's only £20 a time rather than a whole new set of bars.
The Ibiza actually looks pretty OK with bars and bikes attached - very sporty LOL
Priced them up at Halfords today and came to around £100. Think there was a website muddyboots used and its around £30 cheaper so think I'll use them. Already have the thing you put the bike on
Try out www.skidrive.co.uk - cheapest I could find when I got mine.
I've just got the cheaper black, square bars, not the silver aero bars - again that's the cheaper option. When you're sticking 2 bikes on the roof you're not going to notice if the bars look nicer or not LOL.
I've just got the cheaper black, square bars, not the silver aero bars - again that's the cheaper option. When you're sticking 2 bikes on the roof you're not going to notice if the bars look nicer or not LOL.
Fair point! 
. But my point about the black bars was that the wind noise from carrying two big mountain-bikes completely masks any wind noise generated by the bars themselves. It’d be different if you keep the bars on when you’re not carrying bikes though – you’re right, the aero bars would be better then as they’d be quieter I guess. Not an issue for me as I take the bars off as soon as I can cos they’re ugly!
Another bit of advice for roofbar users: I got hold of some “Venture Shield” – it’s basically that clear plastic stuff normally used on the front of cars to stop stone chips, etc. Cut 4 small patches to stick to the roof where the rubber pads of the rack sit on the roof, stops any scratching. I found no matter how careful I was with my last car, it was impossible to stop scratching, but this stuff works very well. It’s completely clear, the only way you know it’s there if because of the edges. Works brilliantly.
. But my point about the black bars was that the wind noise from carrying two big mountain-bikes completely masks any wind noise generated by the bars themselves. It’d be different if you keep the bars on when you’re not carrying bikes though – you’re right, the aero bars would be better then as they’d be quieter I guess. Not an issue for me as I take the bars off as soon as I can cos they’re ugly!Another bit of advice for roofbar users: I got hold of some “Venture Shield” – it’s basically that clear plastic stuff normally used on the front of cars to stop stone chips, etc. Cut 4 small patches to stick to the roof where the rubber pads of the rack sit on the roof, stops any scratching. I found no matter how careful I was with my last car, it was impossible to stop scratching, but this stuff works very well. It’s completely clear, the only way you know it’s there if because of the edges. Works brilliantly.
I have aero bars - not sure I would bother next time. They are a faff with bike racks and mean that I can't move my friend's rack onto my car. Also with Atera bike racks you loose an easy way of adjusting the rack.
I got the Seat bars with my car when I bought it. They guy who owned it previously had them for a roof box.
I spent quite a lot of time reseaching roof bars and cycle carriers recently.
I don't know if it is a specific 'aero' bar thing or not, but I would always look for bars that have slots in the top. It makes attaching things much easier as most things you want to put on the roof have fitments that just slide down these slots. The Seat bars have this. They use a specially shaped fastener to tighten them up too, so unless you have the supplied tool you can't get them off the roof.
The cheaper cycle carriers don't have the ability to use the slots I just mentioned (unless you buy an adaptor from the manufacturer) and this means that they take longer to mount to the bars.
In the end I was looking for a cycle carrier that was quick to mount/dismount and held my bike securely/was easy to attach my bike to and was lockable.
I considered the Thule Proride591 (or something like that) and then discovered an Atera carrier that was very similar called the Giro AF. I liked the fact that the arm that holds the downtube of the bike attaches to the carrier on both sides at the bottom so is more of an A frame than the single arm of the Thule. I think the Atera won an AutoExpress test a while back and when i phoned The RoofBox Company they recommended this one as being better than the Thule.
I actually bought if from The Roofbox Company (www.roofbox.co.uk) and am well pleased with it (and the service I receivced from them).
The bars and carrier now take me about 10mins max to mount/dismount and I have only done it twice so this will probably get faster. When mounting the bars I put a tea towel on the opposite side of the car to rest the other side on prior to securing. The cycle carrier uses quick release style clamps to grip the bars and one of these has a lock in it to lock it to the roof bars. Once the bike securing arm is in place that is also locked so the bike can't be removed.
I am not sure I follow DaveP's comment about aero bars making it a faff with bike racks and losing the easy way of adjusting Atera racks?? Could you clarify?
My only complaint is that the Atera instructions weren't crystal clear and getting it constructed right is obviously of paramount importance!
I spent quite a lot of time reseaching roof bars and cycle carriers recently.
I don't know if it is a specific 'aero' bar thing or not, but I would always look for bars that have slots in the top. It makes attaching things much easier as most things you want to put on the roof have fitments that just slide down these slots. The Seat bars have this. They use a specially shaped fastener to tighten them up too, so unless you have the supplied tool you can't get them off the roof.
The cheaper cycle carriers don't have the ability to use the slots I just mentioned (unless you buy an adaptor from the manufacturer) and this means that they take longer to mount to the bars.
In the end I was looking for a cycle carrier that was quick to mount/dismount and held my bike securely/was easy to attach my bike to and was lockable.
I considered the Thule Proride591 (or something like that) and then discovered an Atera carrier that was very similar called the Giro AF. I liked the fact that the arm that holds the downtube of the bike attaches to the carrier on both sides at the bottom so is more of an A frame than the single arm of the Thule. I think the Atera won an AutoExpress test a while back and when i phoned The RoofBox Company they recommended this one as being better than the Thule.
I actually bought if from The Roofbox Company (www.roofbox.co.uk) and am well pleased with it (and the service I receivced from them).
The bars and carrier now take me about 10mins max to mount/dismount and I have only done it twice so this will probably get faster. When mounting the bars I put a tea towel on the opposite side of the car to rest the other side on prior to securing. The cycle carrier uses quick release style clamps to grip the bars and one of these has a lock in it to lock it to the roof bars. Once the bike securing arm is in place that is also locked so the bike can't be removed.
I am not sure I follow DaveP's comment about aero bars making it a faff with bike racks and losing the easy way of adjusting Atera racks?? Could you clarify?
My only complaint is that the Atera instructions weren't crystal clear and getting it constructed right is obviously of paramount importance!
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