Roof bars for XL

parkin21

Guest
Hi I have just bought a 57 XL 1.9TDi and am really pleased with my first few weeks with the car. I am looking to buy some aero profile roof bars and was wondering if anyone has had any experience in purchasing them. In the past I have used thule but they are really expensive - over £150 and would be looking for a cheaper alternative.

thanks

paul
 

markirel

faster on 2-wheels
Apr 7, 2006
169
0
Midlands
I got some Atera roof bars from the Roof Box Company online.

Loads of adjustment and they fit really well onto the XL's rails with rubber protection to avoid damage. I mounted a 400+ litre halfords roof box and a single bike carrier and had a successful trip from middle England to middle France last year. I think I could also have got a second bike carrier on there as well.
 

Craig Senior

I've been Tango'd
May 24, 2004
1,099
0
Yorkshire
I got some Atera roof bars from the Roof Box Company online.

Loads of adjustment and they fit really well onto the XL's rails with rubber protection to avoid damage. I mounted a 400+ litre halfords roof box and a single bike carrier and had a successful trip from middle England to middle France last year. I think I could also have got a second bike carrier on there as well.

Have you got any pics of them fitted?

I've been thinking of getting some but can't decide between Atera or Thule.
 
Apr 21, 2006
59
0
Cirencester
Markirel.

Just being nosey.
I've got Thule bars and they have locating pegs on the legs so they can only be fitted to the roof rail to match the holes/detents in them. The picture of your bars look as if they can slide/fit in any position along the roof rail. Is this the case.

Tony
 

JohnS

Guest
I've got the bog standard Altea and use the Thule aero bars. You only get what you pay for and wouldn't hesitate in recommending them. There are normally bars on e bay at this time of year so have a look on there. I use a Thule box on Thule bars and have never had any probs on my many journeys to France at motorway speeds over the last 13 years. Have looked at cheaper alternatives when I've changed my cars in the past but have always stuck with thule, the quality of other bars is not as good as Thule. Try the online retailers mentioned earlier or skidrive.co.uk. They offer far better prices than local motor factors.
That reminds me better go fit my bars and box as I'm away at the weekend.
 

Craig Senior

I've been Tango'd
May 24, 2004
1,099
0
Yorkshire
I had Thule one on the Leon and thought they were great.

May go with thule again for the XL but it depends on how they look/fit. I want some that are quite low and don't sit too high off the roof. Don't think there is that much between Thule and Atera quality wish.
 

parkin21

Guest
thanks for the information

The altera ones look to be good quality so may end up buying them. I need to sell my thule bars off my previous multipla before making the purchase. Think I will try ebay to sell them - but the postage for the buyer will be a fortune !!!

Once I get the bars I will post some pics

thanks for the info

paul:)
 

markirel

faster on 2-wheels
Apr 7, 2006
169
0
Midlands
Markirel.

Just being nosey.
I've got Thule bars and they have locating pegs on the legs so they can only be fitted to the roof rail to match the holes/detents in them. The picture of your bars look as if they can slide/fit in any position along the roof rail. Is this the case.

Tony

Have you got any pics of them fitted?

I've been thinking of getting some but can't decide between Atera or Thule.

Pics attached. They're not close-in so I don't know how useful they are to you but as mentioned before, they fit really well. They don't have tabs to engage in the detents on the Altea's rails but I did use these as a guide for positioning. They are fully adjustable, are supplied with relevant tools and clamp firmly to the car.

XLwithroofbars1.jpg

XLwithroofbars2.jpg


When I did my research on bars I think that Atera supply a number of manufacturer branded bars as well which is a good indication of their quality. I opted for the non-aero black plastic covered version because no-matter who's aluminium bar you buy they will scratch in storage and use and look a mess. Aero wasn't a factor for me either as whatever you put on the roof is significanty going to affect aerodynamics and fuel consumption. When I get to camping sites I lift the whole roof bar, box and bike carrier assembly off and use it as storage and something to lock the bikes to. It also leaves the car clutter free and I can enjoy its normal appearance and economy (well if you can call 34mpg - in normal use - as economic).
 
Last edited:

xlray

Active Member
Jun 6, 2007
62
0
I have the Thule Aero bars for my XL. They do look good on the alloy roof rails as they match quite well. I don't keep them on all the time though.

Xlray
 

Td1man

Guest
If you had Tule on your previous cars and still have them just get the correct foot pack and legs, I did that and they cast me £25.00, I have a set of feet for an A4 avant, if they fit you can have them cheap if interested let me know, (I'll dig them out and let you have the model number,
Cheers, Mike
 

parkin21

Guest
thanks for the offer - the old thule bars were from a fiat multipla and were 1.5 metres long and would not allow adaption to the XL even with new feet !!! Have since sold the bars in my local ad trader and have just order a set of the bars recommended above.:)
 

bobbycfc

Active Member
Jun 6, 2007
200
1
Motherwell
I have the Thule bars and 4 Thule bike carriers for my XL.
Really good quality however I have one issue with them.

The clamps have small lugs in them to direct them into the holes in the rails which is great. However as the roof obviously angles over its length, it means that the front bar and rear bar are not perfectly aligned. I try to keep the 4 bike carriers clamped at all times so that I can then just lift the whole thing on and off.

However I can never seem to be able to clamp the feet back into the holes as they are sitting at the wrong angle and need to release the bike carriers a bit so as to twist the bar back into the correct angle.

If you get bars without these lugs then I would expect it would be a lot easier!
 

tetchy100

Guest
Markirel, Ive just clicked on the link that you provided but it lists the bars as Audi A4? is the part code AR4208 for the bars that you used?
 

clutha

Guest
Ordered a pair of Cruz bars from the Roof Box Co on 6th and they arrived this morning, (8th).

IMHO they are well worth the £70 (incl delivery).

I've had 2 sets of Thules previously, on a Citroen BX hatchback and estate and they definitely were top quality, but £130 against £70 was a no brainer:p (for a pensioner:happy:)
 

martin.cat

Guest
The genuine Seat roof bars are made by Thule so I was told. They retail at £130 but you can get 10% discount anywhere and i actually negotiated £110 at LC Charle before dropping lucky on Ebay where Kendal Motor Village were selling off stock at i got them for £78 with postage. They look good have the T slot for attachments are locakable and fit using the 2 pin holes with clamp/lever action.
 

clutha

Guest
The genuine Seat roof bars are made by Thule so I was told. They retail at £130 but you can get 10% discount anywhere and i actually negotiated £110 at LC Charle before dropping lucky on Ebay where Kendal Motor Village were selling off stock at i got them for £78 with postage. They look good have the T slot for attachments are locakable and fit using the 2 pin holes with clamp/lever action.

Result!:)
 

DAN M

Full Member
Oct 15, 2002
68
0
Visit site
I've just put mine up for sale on a certain auction website. Don't want to put a link as I might be breaking forum rules.
 

spider74

Guest
I have thule cycle racks and a genuine seat altea bars. the problem is that despite the rails looking like the thule "T-Bar" fittment they have a wierd different t-bar. i managed to source some but now the thule cycle racks still dont fit? anyone had any success fitting these? i.e. thule cycle racks to Seat genuine bars?
 

Johnersh

Active Member
Apr 13, 2011
35
0
Does anyone know if a set of whispbars would fit the altea? There are Alhabra and Leon variants listed on the web, but not an Altea specific one. All designs are potentially more streamlined than the Thule equivalents... http://www.whispbar.eu/findmycar
 
Progressive Parts, performance parts and tuning specialists