Which roof cycle carrying option?

[steverob55]

I am looking to carry 2 adult & 2 child bikes on the roof of my 2018 Superb SportLine Hatch. 

The Skoda bars are currently on offer at £216. Can get cheaper ones elsewhere but wondering if the Skoda ones will just fit better. Does anyone have any experience using them or could recommend a good setup please?

Looking at the Thule 598 carriers, again any advice on these is welcomed.

Thanks!

[CoolC]

I have the Skoda bars (got them thrown in with the lease deal) and all I can say is that they just fit perfectly. 

 

Having said that, I have no reason to believe any Thule set-up wouldn't be just as well fitting.

 

Personally I have Monte Blanc bike carriers, but not heard a bad word said about the Thule 598.

Edited 5 January, 2019 by CoolC

[steverob55]

Thanks for the advice. They look neat. Sadly couldn’t get them thrown into my lease. Tried but then did get good cashback so swings and roundabouts. 

 

How many carriers do you fit on? 

 

Being a lease is the only reason thinking of going to Skoda is that they fit them for me. Ie no damage to car. 

 

Di you take yours off or just leave on?

[GrahamVRS]

I have a Thule wing bar setup on my Sportline with 2x 598 carriers. It fits really well, better than it did on my Octavia. The 598s are really easy to use too and with the T-bar mounting you could likely get your 4 bikes on the roof, though you may have to mount them alternating forward/rear facing. 

 

Another thing to consider is, can you transfer your roof bars to your next car whenever that may be? All I needed for the superb was the purchase of a new fitting kit for the superb and was still able to use the existing wing bars. 

 

Photo is with just 1 carrier on, but gives you an idea of the room on the roof.

 

 

 

Edited 7 January, 2019 by GrahamVRS

[Puuriit]

I have the same setup as GrahamVRS - Thule Wingbar + Thule 754 feet + Kit 1726 (Superb/Octavia HB). I can put up to 4 carriers on it (Proride for Alloy frame bike and Thruride for carbon frame bike). I would recommend getting Thule since you can easily use it with your next car changing the "kit" or feet if the car has rails. Škoda specific bars will not fit anything else...

[Mickey43]

Got the Thule bars and carriers for my estate, the feet clamp onto the roof rails.  

 

I've got 3 carrier on but could probably squeeze in a 4th.  I also have a Thule roof box which fits onto the bars after ive taken the carriers off.

 

Great pieces of kit.

 

 

[CoolC]

On 05/01/2019 at 16:47, steverob55 said:

How many carriers do you fit on? 

 

Being a lease is the only reason thinking of going to Skoda is that they fit them for me. Ie no damage to car. 

 

Di you take yours off or just leave on?

I've not actually fitted my carriers yet, not had the need, but I recon I could get three on as the Monte Blanc has quite a wide footprint (I only have two) Maybe four at a squeeze alternating the direction.

 

I only fit them when I need them, and take then off when not being used, it's a 5 minute job, but a bit awkward on your own holding the other side off the roof while fitting, much easier with two people.

[Q102]

Roof only has a 100kg limit, soon goes over that with a 4 bikes on.

If you want to frequently carry 4 bikes, get a tow bar and attach bike rack to that- far safer.

[Puuriit]

11 hours ago, Q102 said:

Roof only has a 100kg limit, soon goes over that with a 4 bikes on.

If you want to frequently carry 4 bikes, get a tow bar and attach bike rack to that- far safer.

 

That really depends on the bikes, my road bike is 7,2kg and MTB 10kg so having even 4 MTBs on the roof would not exceed the limit. Most of the modern bikes should not exceed 15kg in weight. If you are carrying 20kg monsters then it's a different story. 

[beardyweirdy]

If you've got a carbon framed bike, I'd be cautious about using a 598 type rack. Mid tube isn't designed to take any kind of clamping force, and it could cause problems. I'd suggest a fork mounted opposition like the Thule Outride instead. You can either pop the front wheel in the boot, or there are separate Thule front wheel mounts you can buy for roof bars.

[Gomezz]

Kids bikes can be just as heavy or more heavy than a good adult bike, be careful.

[MTwedVRS]

On 07/01/2019 at 07:17, GrahamVRS said:

I have a Thule wing bar setup on my Sportline with 2x 598 carriers. It fits really well, better than it did on my Octavia. The 598s are really easy to use too and with the T-bar mounting you could likely get your 4 bikes on the roof, though you may have to mount them alternating forward/rear facing. 

 

Another thing to consider is, can you transfer your roof bars to your next car whenever that may be? All I needed for the superb was the purchase of a new fitting kit for the superb and was still able to use the existing wing bars. 

 

Photo is with just 1 carrier on, but gives you an idea of the room on the roof.

 

 

 

 

Hi, do you notice that when you remove them the rubber seals on the windows are misshapen and do they let water in when removed due to the seal being misshapen? 

 

Also are they easy to remove?

 

Many thanks

Matt

[GrahamVRS]

8 hours ago, MTwedVRS said:

 

Hi, do you notice that when you remove them the rubber seals on the windows are misshapen and do they let water in when removed due to the seal being misshapen? 

 

Also are they easy to remove?

 

Many thanks

Matt

They fit better around the seals than they did on my Octavia, but they haven’t mis-shapen the seal. I only use the rack a few times a year when we travel to family/holidays and it’s a 10-15 minute job to fit or remove carefully. 

[MTwedVRS]

1 hour ago, GrahamVRS said:

They fit better around the seals than they did on my Octavia, but they haven’t mis-shapen the seal. I only use the rack a few times a year when we travel to family/holidays and it’s a 10-15 minute job to fit or remove carefully. 

Thanks Graham, much appreciated. I had the Skoda ones on my old Octavia Hatch and they caused the seals to mis shape which annoyed me and now I’m considering a Superb hatch, seems like the Thule ones may be a better bet, 

 

Thanks

Matt

[Swirly182]

Why not go for the estate with the rails there ready to clamp to? 

[Bap33]

On 08/01/2019 at 10:16, Q102 said:

Roof only has a 100kg limit, soon goes over that with a 4 bikes on.

If you want to frequently carry 4 bikes, get a tow bar and attach bike rack to that- far safer.

The max weight on the tow bar is something like 75-85 kg. Thus, once you take into account the weight of the bike carrier itself (~23-25 kg, depending on the manufacturer), it strongly reduces the total weight for the 4 bikes.

Using roof bike carrier may offer a better margin regarding the total bikes weight. One shouldn't forget that kids bikes easily reach 15kg. I don't even mention adults electric bikes.

 

Personally, I use Thule wing bars on my Superb 3 Estate. But I only have a roof box. No bike carrier.

I'm fully satisfied with them. Very easy and quick to install.  

 

Edited 31 May, 2020 by Bap33