I am planning on buying the following for my hatch:

 

roof rack:

 

http://www.thule.com/en/hr/products/carriers-and-racks/roof-racks/load-carrier-feet/thule-rapid-system-754-_-754000

 

http://www.thule.com/en/hr/products/carriers-and-racks/roof-racks/racks-load-bars/thule-wingbar-_-family_446560

 

+ bike rack:

 

http://www.thule.com/en/hr/products/carriers-and-racks/bike-carriers/roof-mounted-bike-carriers/thule-proride-591-_-591018

 

My question is how much time do you need to place this on your roof, both roof rack and bike rack?

 

I am not planning on using this all the time so I am wondering would it be feasible now to have this on your roof all the time, just to put it all on when planning a bike trip.

 

Or if the difference in consumption for just the roof rack (without the bike rack) is not noticable, I could have the roof rack permanently on all the time although I find the roof rack making my hatch not loking so good any more :p

 

I have thule roof bars and some cheap ebay bike carriers.

 

The bike carriers stay on the roof bars all the time and I just take the whole lot as one and stick it in the shed when not in use.

 

I can actually fit and remove by myself in about 5-10 mins.

 

What I do is open the clips right up, open all the doors and stand on one of the rear door sills while lifting the rack over the roof and place it down. Then go round and tighten all the clips. Done!

 

I wouldn't want to leave it on all the time. It does create some noise (even being the aero whisp bars or whatever they're called) and it will have an impact on MPG (it certainly did with the bikes on! Yikes!).

 

Phil

I have the thule aero bars which I leave with thule bike racks attached. Like Phil-E I just set the roof bars on when I need to carry the bikes. With the aero bars you just turn then ends and then lock them - takes about 5 minutes.

 

So far as difference in consumption - this is minimal without bikes fitted but definitely noticeable with. Also there is noticeable wind noise with just the bars and racks attached, this may be another reason you don't want to leave them permanently on. Despite them marketing as the quietest bars ever it is fairly irrelevant if you leave the racks attached.

With the aero bars you just turn then ends and then lock them - takes about 5 minutes.

 

On an estate yes... but the OP has a hatch.  Fixing the feet onto a car without roof rails is always much more of a PITA and takes longer than simply tightening feet onto roof rails.

I just realized my hatch has 2 holes above each window for fitting racks. Does thule 754 rack goes into these holes? Or do I need some skoda original racks for that?

You're probably going to want the t-track adaptors for the Wingbars as they are much wider than 'normal' bars so u-bolts / claws don't fit very well.

Looks nicer but it's more of a faff to get things on them as you need the rubber strip cut and installed around the t-track mounts to remove the >40mph whistle you'll get without them.

I dont neccesarrily need wingbar, I just thought they look cool, which one do others with a hatch suggest?

I just realized my hatch has 2 holes above each window for fitting racks. Does thule 754 rack goes into these holes? Or do I need some skoda original racks for that?

The Thule 754 footpack with the 1726 fitting kit use the holes provided in the car body above the window. The Thule fitting guide shows to use the holes nearest to the centre of the car for both front and rear.

 

I am not planning on using this all the time so I am wondering would it be feasible now to have this on your roof all the time, just to put it all on when planning a bike trip.:p

I would suggest that leaving the rack on permanently would eventually result in some water leakage around the door seal where it bridges the roof rack mounting brackets. Eventually, the seal would stay the same shape as the brackets and, inevitablely, start to leak.

I would suggest that leaving the rack on permanently would eventually result in some water leakage around the door seal where it bridges the roof rack mounting brackets. Eventually, the seal would stay the same shape as the brackets and, inevitablely, start to leak.

 

I had this happen on my old Citreon ZX when I used to use the roofrack a lot.

I've just bought that bar foot and the basic square bar. Once fitted first time it takes just a few seconds to tenure m remove each bar, you only need to loosen one side, then lift off. Is done 200 miles on the motorway with mine and a triple extension ladder on it, noise wasn't noticeable.  Mpg was down about 5mpg.

On my old mkI having the roof rack with bikes and/or roofbox used to knock the fuel consumption down by 5mpg, which was about a 10% reduction.

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What about this?

 

http://www.thule.com/en/hr/products/carriers-and-racks/bike-carriers/rear-door-mounted-bike-carriers/thule-raceway-991-_-991000

 

I am still sceptical about these rear end ones regardless whether they use or towbar or not.

I have the thule aero wing bars and pro ride cycle carriers on my mk2 fl vrs hatch. Attaches same way as the mk3. I tend to leave the roof bars on permanently (although it only takes 10mins to remove or refit) and only fit the bike carriers when I need them. Personally at legal motorway speeds there is little wind noise and fuel consumption is barely changed (1-2mpg). Above 80mph they tend to become slightly noiser but far less than a conventional square bar on. With bikes on the roof obviously noise/economy is affected quite a bit. Saying that I drove 100miles round trip a couple of days ago in strong winds, mostly country roads and shall we say making progress and still averaged 32mpg. My vrs is petrol tsi and remapped. Comments about them causing water leaks is untrue as well as I've had them fitted for two and half years and covered 40k miles with no issues.

They only distort the outer seal, which leaks any way, the inner seal keeps water out the car, outer seal is for noise reduction I think.