Thule roof bars

[Pfalkingham]

Hi,

Anybody tried fitting the Thule 755 feet to an octavia 3 estate,

Thule recommend the 757 which replaced the 755.

Thanks

[Yogi-Bear]

I can't imagine they won't fit - roof bar feet are all much of a muchness.

 

Thule will always recommend their most recent products, but that doesn't mean the old ones won't fit.

[666djb]

Not much help but, I opted for the Thule Wingbar Edge. Very pricey, but they are the business and I'm leaving them on permanently as they are silent and I still get 50 mpg out of my diesel vRS estate with them on. Yes, I've spent a small fortune on accessories to use the t-track, but again this is brilliant as it takes seconds to slot in three bike carriers or my windsurfing kit carriers. I did toy with the idea of sawing down my old school Thule square bars from my Golf and getting the right foot packs but am glad that I eBayed them instead.

[Pfalkingham]

I'm looking at the wing bar and proride 951 for my bikes, just looking at eBay as can't afford to buy new so trying to make sure I get the right stuff to save having to re list it.

The wing edge is just a distant dream for me unfortunately.

[NickBrown]

Hi,

Anybody tried fitting the Thule 755 feet to an octavia 3 estate,

Thule recommend the 757 which replaced the 755.

Thanks

 

I have the Thule 755 feet on my Octavia Estate III. No issue at all.

[GBHam]

Thule have an online system where you can check which models will go with your car.

[RussD]

I have the Thule 755 feet on my Octavia Estate III. No issue at all.

 

+1 - no problem with 755s....

[Has]

I priced up Thule roof bars and two proglide bike carriers for my hatch and it came to £320. There are cheaper makes out there but Thule systems seem to be high quality.

For those with a Thule system already are they worth the extra cost?

[Yogi-Bear]

I've used Thule Aerobars (not the wing ones) for a few years now, and they are substantially quieter - not to mention better looking - than the square Halfords ones I used to use.  Also, everything is still working like new, the locks aren't seizing up or anything, and so I think the quality does show.  I am still using Halfords 'Advanced' bike carriers though, which do the job, but my mate has the ProRide (Proglide is Gillette shaving stuff!) carriers and they are utterly awesome - so much easier to use and fix your bike in.  I'd seriously be tempted to get some myself, but I'm probably going to get a tow bar system instead.

 

Oh, and with Thule you can buy a nice big set of locks that use the same key... don't underestimate how much frustration that will save.  I get peeved every time I have to work out which key is for the roof rack, which is for the roof box, which is for the bike carriers etc. (I don't have a Thule roof box either, they're very very nice but I just couldn't justify the cost when I only use that particular load carrying device no more than twice a year).

[Has]

Thanks Wiggos..for the detailed reply, I think I'll take the plunge as it sounds like I'll get many years of use out of them. So if a spead the cost over the years I'll use them them I guess it's not so bad. When I change car in the future I assume I just need to change to fittings and can keep the rest of the kit?

[Yogi-Bear]

When I change car in the future I assume I just need to change to fittings and can keep the rest of the kit?

 

If only life was that simple... yes, you can keep the bike carriers and all the locks etc.  You can also keep the bars - but keep in mind that different cars are different widths, and that's why you gets bars in different lengths.  It's mostly a cosmetic thing, as long as the bars are long enough, but if they're too long then that can cause issues too.  In theory, with all things being equal, then yes - you just need to buy a new foot pack or whatever.  I'm going from fixpoints on my 1 series to roof rails on the Octavia estate.  If I keep buying cars with roof rails that take the same size bars, then I shouldn't even need to buy any new feet.

[florino]

I bought the 757 and used my old square bars from the Golf mk5, Thule 769. For Octavia Estate Thule recommends 761 wich are 7 cm shorter but I managed to use the old bars by extending the ditch in a middle in one bar.

[Pfalkingham]

Thanks guys. I have ordered 755 and aero bars off fleabay collecting them from the post office on Tuesday so will let you know how they look.

Just looking at bike carriers now and not sure about the 591 or the one where they fix through the axle.

[Has]

My Thule system arrived today, roof bars for hatch and two ProRide bike carriers but will need to wait until the weekend to fit.

 

Will post some pics when fitted.

 

 

[Has]

Phase 1 of the fitting is done, roof bars are on just the ProRides to fit next.

 

I was a bit worried about the fitting when I first scanned the instructions but it wasn't too bad in the end once I'd got used to how the instructions work.  You get three instruction booklets (one for the bars, one for the feet and one for the fittings) and you need to jump between them as you put them together.

 

To fit the ProRides you have to cut the rubber strip which runs down the length of the bars to make room for some adapters which fit in the channel, hopefully I won't mess that bit up.

 

The quality so far looks excellent and everything fits perfectly.

[toni8b]

Phase 1 of the fitting is done, roof bars are on just the ProRides to fit next.

 

I was a bit worried about the fitting when I first scanned the instructions but it wasn't too bad in the end once I'd got used to how the instructions work.  You get three instruction booklets (one for the bars, one for the feet and one for the fittings) and you need to jump between them as you put them together.

 

To fit the ProRides you have to cut the rubber strip which runs down the length of the bars to make room for some adapters which fit in the channel, hopefully I won't mess that bit up.

 

The quality so far looks excellent and everything fits perfectly.

 

This looks bulky.. and I wonder how much the fuel consumption gets bigger with this on the roof...

[Daveinuk]

Has anyone tried fitting Thule Roof Bars to the Mk III Hatch using the 1726 fitting kit in combination with the old 750 Foot Pack and Square Bars (769)? I just did and failed with the front bar. I couldn't tighten it enough to get the rubber foot pad seated in the right place with the fitting kit bracket tightened against the car body. According to Thule, the correct footpack is now the 754, but I believe the 750 is equivalent and it certainly was on my prevous Renault Laguna. It looks to me like the 1726 brackets for the front bar have the wrong angle for this footpack, but if anyone begs to differ, please advise.

[Daveinuk]

Has anyone tried fitting Thule Roof Bars to the Mk III Hatch using the 1726 fitting kit in combination with the old 750 Foot Pack and Square Bars (769)? I just did and failed with the front bar. I couldn't tighten it enough to get the rubber foot pad seated in the right place with the fitting kit bracket tightened against the car body. According to Thule, the correct footpack is now the 754, but I believe the 750 is equivalent and it certainly was on my prevous Renault Laguna. It looks to me like the 1726 brackets for the front bar have the wrong angle for this footpack, but if anyone begs to differ, please advise.

Update - For anyone who might be interested, the old style Thule 750 Foot Packs are NOT compatible with the 1726 Fitting Kit for the Octy III Hatchback. You need to buy the 754 Foot Packs.

[neil_f]

This looks bulky.. and I wonder how much the fuel consumption gets bigger with this on the roof...

I've got these on my mk2 tsi vrs and leave them on permanently. Usually take the cycle carrier off if I'm not going to be using it for a while but leave the roof bars on. Can honestly say I've hardly noticed a difference in economy. I still seem to get better mpg figures than a lot of new others. Mostly motorway driving at 70-80mph will see 38-40mpg.

[Yogi-Bear]

This looks bulky.. and I wonder how much the fuel consumption gets bigger with this on the roof...

 

Sorry for the late reply... have just been to France with my 120d, 3 bikes on the roof on Thule bars / ProRides.  Normal motorway cruising consumption with just me in the car is 60-70mpg @ 60mph.  With the bikes on, the family in the car, and the boot overloaded, doing 80mph down the autoroute yesterday to get to Calais in the wind and rain saw the consumption drop to about 30mpg.

 

On previous experience, with just me and 1 bike on the roof, consumption drops by about 10-15mpg.

[neil_f]

Sorry for the late reply... have just been to France with my 120d, 3 bikes on the roof on Thule bars / ProRides. Normal motorway cruising consumption with just me in the car is 60-70mpg @ 60mph. With the bikes on, the family in the car, and the boot overloaded, doing 80mph down the autoroute yesterday to get to Calais in the wind and rain saw the consumption drop to about 30mpg.

On previous experience, with just me and 1 bike on the roof, consumption drops by about 10-15mpg.

that seems a massive drop in fuel economy especially for a diesel. My petrol vrs still achieves over 30mpg easily at 70-80mph with two bikes, boot full, two adults and a child.

[Yogi-Bear]

that seems a massive drop in fuel economy especially for a diesel. My petrol vrs still achieves over 30mpg easily at 70-80mph with two bikes, boot full, two adults and a child.

 

It was exceptionally wet and windy as well, which didn't help.  With the cruise set at 85mph on the M4 last night on the final leg home, and when it was nicer weather (it would have been sunny if it hadn't gone dark because it was nearly midnight), it was returning just over 40mpg.

[NevilleStreet]

Hi, if I buy the Thule bars can I use them with my Fiamma box from my motorhome? Ugly but big and ok to drop daughter at university. Is it just the distance between the bars? Can I vary that or is it set by the holes in the door frames? Don't really want to drill extra holes in the roof box.

Thanks for advice, NS