craigowl 0 Posted June 20, 2008 Thule roof bars (for Peugeot 205) are about £90. Paddy Hopkirk and others come in cheaper at about £60. Halfords do a dearer set of two they have at about £90, too. Anyone got any knowledge/experience/comments, please? :shrug: Avoid the predictable like "Halfrauds are bound to be rubbish" or "Thule are best you can get", please, cheps. :lol: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coolrado 0 Posted June 20, 2008 It's also worth looking into Mont Blanc roof bars, I have a set of thule bars and a set of Mont Blanc roof bars for the corrado, and i much prefer the mounting design on the Mont Blanc bars, It spreads the load better. I cant really see any reason why the thule bars would be any better than the halfords or paddy hopkirk ones apart from maybe looking a bit nicer, do you know if there is any difference in load capacity? Are there any Motorworld stores near you, as the roof bars they sell are actually pretty good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bog Standard VR6 0 Posted June 20, 2008 I went for the Thule system for my windsurf board and gear. It included the "short roof" attachment system - the front cross bar hooks under the front of the door opening, but the rear bar just sits on the roof over the back side window. The two cross bars are linked by another bar running front to rear on each side, then there is another fitting that hooks under the rear of the door opening and pulls down on the mid point of the fore/aft bar. This is hard to explain in words .... In effect the whole system is held down by two hooks into the door opening, which in my view makes the rear cross member insecure as it was held down by the hook mid-way between the two i.e. the clamping effect is front biased, but it seemed to work. It was only later that I discovered that you can hook the clamping hooks under the rubber seal of the back side window - there are even two little arrows on the rubber seal to indicate where to place the hook/foot. That is what I do now, without the short roof bar mid-way clamp and it feels much more secure. So all I can say is the Thule system works well for me - but don't bother with the short roof pack. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coolrado 0 Posted June 20, 2008 the short roof extension should not be needed for the corrado, according to a mate of mine who works in halfords, it is a mistake as thule dont seem to know that the corrado has mounting points above the rear side windows, mine also fits fine without it and the original VW roof rack fits the same way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bog Standard VR6 0 Posted June 20, 2008 There's pictures on this previous post (if the link doesn't work, do a search for +roof +rack and you'll see one called "Time running out to buy a roof rack" or something) viewtopic.php?f=3&t=43066&hilit=+roof+rack Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
was8v 0 Posted June 20, 2008 hummm he is looking for roofbars for a 205 isn't he? I'd always get roof bars off ebay, must be loads for peugeot 205s on there for like £20 or something. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
craigowl 0 Posted June 20, 2008 Thanks, guys. Funnily enuf, there aint any on ebay for old 205 that suited - I thought there would be as well. I think I will go for Mont Blanc - one place has them reduced to about £60 while another is selling for £90. Strangely, the kit for the 3-door (mines is a 5-door) is over £100. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yalan 0 Posted June 20, 2008 the short roof extension should not be needed for the corrado, according to a mate of mine who works in halfords, it is a mistake as thule dont seem to know that the corrado has mounting points above the rear side windows, mine also fits fine without it and the original VW roof rack fits the same way. Aah but we all know not to believe anything that a halfords 'specialist' says! Thule suggest using the short roof pack because the roof is short! Using the kit as recommended gives it a more stable footprint & therfore secures the load more safely. But hey, people have found it bolts on without and 'haven't had any problems yet' so it must be OK. Meh. Good luck with the 205 issue. For reference, I do like the Thule kit and personally I'd avoid Paddy kits as when I worked as a Halfords specialist I saw a few less than ideal fitments and thought the kit was generally a fair bit less solid feeling in camparison. The Halfords own kit was very utilitarian by design. I'd concur with looking at Mont Blanc though... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coolrado 0 Posted June 20, 2008 the short roof extension should not be needed for the corrado, according to a mate of mine who works in halfords, it is a mistake as thule dont seem to know that the corrado has mounting points above the rear side windows, mine also fits fine without it and the original VW roof rack fits the same way. Aah but we all know not to believe anything that a halfords 'specialist' says! Thule suggest using the short roof pack because the roof is short! Using the kit as recommended gives it a more stable footprint & therfore secures the load more safely. But hey, people have found it bolts on without and 'haven't had any problems yet' so it must be OK. ... actually if you fit the short roof pack to the corrado according to the instructions you dont use the rear mounting points so its much less secure, the mounting points are no closer together than a lot of cars including the audi coupe which used the same oem rack as the corrado and that doesnt use the short roof pack, also none of the other manufacturers use an extension kit. the rep from thule actually said it was a mistake and that it should be fitted without the extension pack. yeah most of the halfords guys are total muppets but the guy i know in halfords is actually a very knowledgeable guy who has had several front page mag featured vw's all done by him Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philuk 0 Posted June 21, 2008 the halfords own bars are thule but reboxed, mont blone and automaxi are decent it you aint using them to carry massive weights all the time :D Thule bars are well expensive. where i work if we have the full set in we are doing -20% off because they are so expensive to buy! :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
craigowl 0 Posted June 22, 2008 Have ordered Mont Blanc set from http://www.towequipe.co.uk of Nuneaton for £69, including p&p and insurance. They have quite a good website for car stuff of the towbar/roofrack kind, etc. The Thule fitting kit for 5-door Peugeot 205 is widely advertised but most do not have it and the last 5 come into the country in July, I am told, and those will be the last. Always check that stuff is in stock by sending an email or phoning!!! I have already had money taken from my card by one company before they knew they could not get the bits (Grrrrr!). Will not be carrying outrageously heavy stuff on bars - mainly camping gear :camp: I am getting Thule Ranger 90 (soft) roof box from http://www.roofrackshop.com in Livingston - only a few miles from here as it turns out. :shock: Their prices include VAT and free delivery in UK. Most places in the country that advertise it do not have it in stock due to large demand. roofrackshop's website and customer service, etc is one of best I have experienced recently. The Ranger 90 has the advantage of being collapsible - you do not have to find a place to store a huge hard canoe-like roof box. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
