Go for official Skoda items or aftermarket?

Halfords site has none for price comparison - is there much money to be saved...?

After cost-cutting but not at the expense of reliability...

Are you talking an estate with roof rails already on?

One possible advantage of after-market ones is that they may fit other cars that you have in the future.

For example, on my Octy 1 vRS estate I use the same bars that I had on my previous car - an Alfa 156 Sportwagon. I guess the cross section of the rails is pretty similar. I suspect there is less chance of this with OEM ones.

If you do go aftermarket, buy decent kit though.

Thanks for input...

If you do go aftermarket, buy decent kit though.

Can you define "decent kit"?

I didn't go for the Skoda items (£100 down from £120) as Halfords have bars that will fit for £40 less. False economy...?

I bought the car less than an hour ago and I'm sure he'll retain the discounted price if I change my mind...

The proper Skoda ones are very good, hardly any wind noise compared to the Halfords ones on my old Octy (I didn't fit them, they were already there).

They look the part too.

Cheers!

Skoda ones it is then

Thanks for input...

Can you define "decent kit"?

I didn't go for the Skoda items (

Don't Thule make alot of OEM bars?

The Skoda ones look very Thule-like.

The official Skoda bars are in fact made by Thule and clearly marked as such on my set. If you are looking for a much cheaper alternative then the "Paddy Hopkirk" roof bars kit is pretty good. You can get them on ebay for around £45 and yet they have full TUV approval and the per bar load rating is in fact 10KG higher than the Skoda/Thule bars, so unlikely to fail in use. However unlike the Thule bars they cannot be locked to the roof rails hence there is always the risk that they might disapper if left on the car overnight.

Another thing to bear in mind is the aerodynamic properties of roof bars, the normal square ones are not so good for fuel consumption and wind noise.

The OEM/Thule bars are quite streamlined compared to others out there.

The more expensive bars may offset the extra dosh in fuel consumption over time.

It all depends on what they are going to be used for and how long they will be on the roof of the car.

Mine are on there permanently hence I have the quieter Skoda bars.

The rails on the Octy 2 estate are sort of triangular so will aftermarket bars fit as well as Skoda ones? I have the official Skoda bars which are quite quiet and fit perfectly (as you would expect).

The only problem I can see is that they are quite wide (deep?) as in the hook on my ladder clamp only just fits around it and many bike carriers I have looked at don't fit as the bracket that goeas around the bar isn't big enough.

Yeah they are quite broad bars and thats one reason why I don't use ladder clamps, I use ratchet straps.

How about the genuine Skoda bike carrier that goes with the genuine Skoda roof bars? £49 according to the brochure.

In relation to roof bars for the hatch for anyone ineterested, I was told theres a modified version with an A at the end of the number IIRC. I think the original ones could damage the paint.

And just for information, my OEM Octy I bars didn't fit on the mk2 - they're too short. The roof rails on the Mk 2 are further apart so I had to get new bars.

And just for information, my OEM Octy I bars didn't fit on the mk2 - they're too short. The roof rails on the Mk 2 are further apart so I had to get new bars.

Thats another thing I like about the Thule ones - the bars stick out through the foot. This gives a bit of extra load width, and as mentioned above probbaly gives them a better chance of fitting any future cars you may get. Do the OEM ones just have the bar and a 90 degree turn down to the foot?

I also wonder about the bar shape - I can appreciate that aero bars will give less wind resistance (better mpg and less noise), but I feel that the flat bars will have a better friction grip on whatever is tied down to them to help prevent sliding. Not sure this makes much difference if the load is well secured.

All things considered, went for the Skoda ones. Ordered, done.

Only thing going on the roof is my Halfords box.

Anyone want roofbars for a Mk 1 hatch...?