Hi Peeps,

I'm thinking of putting some roof bars on my new Octavia hatchback, to keep a muddy bike out of a lovely clean boot!

I've always used Thule bought from the Roofbox Co. as they are a great cheap on-line shop.

This year I see I have the option of choosing 'Whispbars' as a Thule alternative.

Their blub is impressive as they are an aero wing design therefore meant to be quieter and more fuel efficient.

Has anyone tried Whispbars?

Do I risk damaging my paintwork or is the roofbar foot well protected?

Any ideas much appreciated.

Thanks

Seem a bit pricey at £179

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel3.php?emulate=whycar&query=8110&vptype=&producttype=Roof+Bars

Depends how much you use them, if they are on the car all year I guess quietness is important.

If its just for the odd summer bike ride, the £60 option might be better.

Need to get some for mine soon also.

Clean the area well before you fit them, the rubber foot shouldn't cause damage, or maybe get some clear 3m paint protect film from eBay to stick under.

Edited 11 May, 201610 yr by glosrich

I've the standard Thule bars. No paint damage so far, the feet seem good.  I've not noticed the bars overly noisy either but they are only on the car when loaded up.

I've never gone for cheap bars, too many expensive mountain bikes have come to grief using cheap bendy bars!

 

My old Thule bars have been good, but the last 2 cars have been estates so no foot 'print' to worry about as they clamp directly onto the roof rail.

Sadly it looks like my old Thule square bars won't fit even if I swap the feet to make it fit a non-roof rail car, but as a friend has an estate on order I can even up the costs by selling on my current ones. He's up for that.

 

Good point about noise, as yes when you've got bikes on top they create both noise and drag.

I think one selling point with the Whispbars are that they are so aerodynamically good you can more or less fit and forget and not hear noise or suffer  much reduced mpg - hence the question about anyone using them.

 

Anyway, not totally convinced about bars on this car. The family are growing up so don't need to carry a roof full of bikes, just mine. Therefore one option is to protect the boot and put it in there.

That is a sensible option, except the boot lip is quite high, so would need to protect the bumper/lip area when lifting in and out.....

 

Decisions decisions!

can anyone help further with this?  What's the best bars for my mk3 hatch?  it would seem the fitment holes are within the door shuts?  are there universal fitting ones available?

I swear by Thule and have used their equipment on all my cars. The Whispbars are quieter than the square bars but only slightly better than the old Thule aero bars.  The Whispbars also suffered with high rate of failures when they first came out which has hopefully now been resolved but still shouts of lack of R&D and testing in the first instance.

The new Thule Wingbars are near silent with only wind noise coming from the feet. The Thule Wingbar Edge reduces this further but also increase costs too whilst reducing the available usable width of the bars.

 

If any one is interested I have a new set of Thule Wingbars in black (969b) with used foot pack (754). Only needs the adapter kit (1726) to fit the Octavia Mk3 hatch. £120 posted. They were for my Octavia Mk2 but were never used before I sold the car. New car requires completely different fittings.

 

Quote

can anyone help further with this?  What's the best bars for my mk3 hatch?  it would seem the fitment holes are within the door shuts?  are there universal fitting ones 

 

You can get universal fitting ones but the clamping mechanism is usually quite crude and can cause marking on the roof. Thule use a large shaped rubber pad on the roof contact specific to the car to avoid any damage. 

 

Edited 19 April, 20179 yr by CWARD

I don't really understand the point fully of the wingbars. Surely when you have got the bike carriers fitted they themselves cause drag and noise? It's not as if you are going to remove the bike carriers each time you use them as it is easier to remove the roof bars entirely.

 

Having said that I have some of the Thule wingbars to fit which I bought off the classifieds here so saved a few pounds. They do look nicer than regular bars and will match my Thule bike carriers.

Edited 19 April, 20179 yr by Kahunajb

You picked up them Wingbars for next to nothing, got to be the bargain of the year. 

The Wingbars and Whispbars are only quiet when nothing is fitted to them. Plenty of people do leave them on the car with nothing fitted. The T Track system makes it easy to fit and remove racks and boxes. 

I have official Skoda ones for the hatch. Only used a handful of times. You can have them for £100 if you like :-)

Cruz aero bars £120 new.

 

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-specific-accessories/cruz_optiplus_120cm_roof_bars_2_no_st_120_921_310_/Qx%40w%2C6M4%2CME}%40nkCu5P5zqBAFE1RMjGGTAMRWIwrnpnj4}EFa2r`bKZSa}lM0wXs

2 hours ago, tigermad said:

I have official Skoda ones for the hatch. Only used a handful of times. You can have them for £100 if you like :-)

Are these for the Mk 3 hatch?

2 minutes ago, Bidey said:

Are these for the Mk 3 hatch?

Yes they are :-)

1 minute ago, tigermad said:

Yes they are :-)

Can you PM me and we can discuss?

http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel3.php?query=8110&emulate=roofbar&vptype=575133&boxpackage=20253

 

Excellent write ups. Premium reduced from £120 to £105

Edited 1 May, 20179 yr by chuffer123

i can recommend the skoda ones. I've got them on my hatch, using thules 598 bike rack.

 

 

I've got Wispbars currently fitted permanently to our Ceed. Very little noise when nothing fitted to them, the Thule FreeRide bike racks do make a fair bit of noise when fitted. Currently waiting for a build date on the Octavia estate, will be buying the adaptors for the Wispbars @ £28 for the roof rails. 

 

Cheers,

Jamie

Does anyone know if a Rapids genuine skoda roof bar setup (2015 Skoda Rapid space back ) will fit a MK3 2016 Octavia hatchback?