Roof bars

thejaguar

Hi,

Mrs thejaguar has just bought a lovely new Handiholdall roof bag for an upcoming trip. Now, I'm not complaining, but I wasn't consulted on this purchase and as a result, we have a lovely bag but with nothing to hold it on the roof.

We're off next Thursday, so I'm looking for a set of roofbars and I'd appreciate any advice on what I need to be considering. I'm obviously limited in what I can do given the time.

It's for a Hyundai ix35 2015 - with solid roof rails.

Mick's Garage is out of stock on basically everything that would fit my car. Halfords have a €96 own brand set of bars and then basically everything else is Thule - in the €200 bracket (and above).

So my question is this - is there any reason that I should not buy the Halfords own brand bars?

bennyc

thejaguar wrote: »

Hi,

Mrs thejaguar has just bought a lovely new Handiholdall roof bag for an upcoming trip. Now, I'm not complaining, but I wasn't consulted on this purchase and as a result, we have a lovely bag but with nothing to hold it on the roof.

We're off next Thursday, so I'm looking for a set of roofbars and I'd appreciate any advice on what I need to be considering. I'm obviously limited in what I can do given the time.

It's for a Hyundai ix35 2015 - with solid roof rails.

Mick's Garage is out of stock on basically everything that would fit my car. Halfords have a €96 own brand set of bars and then basically everything else is Thule - in the €200 bracket (and above).

So my question is this - is there any reason that I should not buy the Halfords own brand bars?

Lidl have them in next Thursday for 30 odd quid , so you can head off and queue up while the missus does the packing

sunnysoutheast

thejaguar wrote: »

Hi,

Mrs thejaguar has just bought a lovely new Handiholdall roof bag for an upcoming trip. Now, I'm not complaining, but I wasn't consulted on this purchase and as a result, we have a lovely bag but with nothing to hold it on the roof.

We're off next Thursday, so I'm looking for a set of roofbars and I'd appreciate any advice on what I need to be considering. I'm obviously limited in what I can do given the time.

It's for a Hyundai ix35 2015 - with solid roof rails.

Mick's Garage is out of stock on basically everything that would fit my car. Halfords have a €96 own brand set of bars and then basically everything else is Thule - in the €200 bracket (and above).

So my question is this - is there any reason that I should not buy the Halfords own brand bars?

I will say that my Thule bars and roofbox are as old as my eldest child who is going to College in September so they are expensive but worth it imho.

The other consideration is that you can usually just buy a new footpack if you change car and sell the old ones, ours have been on 7 different cars.

thejaguar

So these probably aren't a great idea then....

https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/summer-staycation/car-roof-rack-bars/p45782

sunnysoutheast

thejaguar wrote: »

So these probably aren't a great idea then....

https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/summer-staycation/car-roof-rack-bars/p45782

If you can get them I'm sure they'd do the job, I'd assume they're TUV approved etc. if on sale in Lidl. Their stuff is usually pretty good.

ratracer

thejaguar wrote: »

So these probably aren't a great idea then....

https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/summer-staycation/car-roof-rack-bars/p45782

I used a set off those on a Hyundai Sante Fe for a few years, including bringing a roof box to France a few times. Never had any issue with them. The locks aren’t the most secure, other than that. Cheap and cheerful if you’re stuck, they will do the job!

Wheety

I got a set for a Hyundai i30 on Adverts for €40

Genuine Hyundai ones for €70 in Sandyford

https://www.adverts.ie/exterior-parts/genuine-roof-bars-for-hyundai-ix35/20875708

You could chance an offer of €50. They've been up for 6 days.

hero25

I've these Thule up for sale ... if you've a gap under your roof rails ... ???
https://www.adverts.ie/exterior-parts/roof-bars/20829012

tphase

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

If you can get them I'm sure they'd do the job, I'd assume they're TUV approved etc. if on sale in Lidl. Their stuff is usually pretty good.

they won't fit on solid rails

Edit: just tested one on my my own solid rails - it will clamp on but the grip isn't great. Bit too much movement for my liking.
If you were stuck, it would be OK if you needed to transport something a short distance but not for motorway speeds or rough roads

sunnysoutheast

tphase wrote: »

they won't fit on solid rails

Edit: just tested one on my my own solid rails - it will clamp on but the grip isn't great. Bit too much movement for my liking.
If you were stuck, it would be OK if you needed to transport something a short distance but not for motorway speeds or rough roads

Looks like the OP needs a trip to Halfords then! Unless there is a different type of bars suitable for the solid rails going on sale in Lidl at the same time. I know they can sometimes have variations of a product

ratracer

tphase wrote: »

they won't fit on solid rails

Edit: just tested one on my my own solid rails - it will clamp on but the grip isn't great. Bit too much movement for my liking.
If you were stuck, it would be OK if you needed to transport something a short distance but not for motorway speeds or rough roads

I went to France with a roof box on those Lidl rails, never had a problem.

TrailerBob

... waiting for the boards martyrs to come on and say you don't need a roof box, sure you can bring 4 kids, all their bikes and 2 Irish Wolfhounds to Egypt in a Nissan Micra...

OP, the Halfords bars are just fine. I bought a set for the landcruiser 9 years ago and they've lived on it permanently carrying ladders, timber etc everywhere. Recently put them on the Kuga for the roof box for family holiday in Kerry. I'd have no problem buying another set from them

tphase

ratracer wrote: »

I went to France with a roof box on those Lidl rails, never had a problem.

what kind of rails did you have on the car? Not solid, I presume.



I had a set of the Lidl roof bars on my old car, never had a problem with them either (other than an annoying whistle which I fixed) but the rails were raised off the roof of the car. My current car has solid rails, no gap underneath so, if those Lidl bars are the same as the ones I have, they will not fit properly.

SCOL

I bought a set of thoese lidl rails years ago and they are great, I've loaded them up big time on a few jobs and they held.

thejaguar

hero25 wrote: »

I've these Thule up for sale ... if you've a gap under your roof rails ... ???
https://www.adverts.ie/exterior-parts/roof-bars/20829012

My roof rails are solid, thanks though.

thejaguar

Thanks to everyone on here for so much help.

I've managed to get a lend of a set for this trip - which gives me some time to hae a proper look.

I'll take a look in Lidl on Thursday and see what they're like. If they're no use I'll probably just go with Halfords.

thejaguar

Wheety wrote: »

I got a set for a Hyundai i30 on Adverts for €40

Genuine Hyundai ones for €70 in Sandyford

https://www.adverts.ie/exterior-parts/genuine-roof-bars-for-hyundai-ix35/20875708

You could chance an offer of €50. They've been up for 6 days.

Thanks for the tip Wheety - I got these in the end - absolutely perfect.

brennarr

thejaguar wrote: »

Hi,

Mrs thejaguar has just bought a lovely new Handiholdall roof bag for an upcoming trip. Now, I'm not complaining, but I wasn't consulted on this purchase and as a result, we have a lovely bag but with nothing to hold it on the roof.

We're off next Thursday, so I'm looking for a set of roofbars and I'd appreciate any advice on what I need to be considering. I'm obviously limited in what I can do given the time.

It's for a Hyundai ix35 2015 - with solid roof rails.

Mick's Garage is out of stock on basically everything that would fit my car. Halfords have a €96 own brand set of bars and then basically everything else is Thule - in the €200 bracket (and above).

So my question is this - is there any reason that I should not buy the Halfords own brand bars?

Hi, just wondering if you would recommend the HandiHoldall 400 litre bag? I'm trying to decide between this and a traditional roof box - thanks.

thejaguar

brennarr wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if you would recommend the HandiHoldall 400 litre bag? I'm trying to decide between this and a traditional roof box - thanks.

I'm not sure I would - let me explain :rolleyes:.

To be fair - it turned out that it didn't quite fit my roof bars, but I had no choice and used it anyway. It also survived a trip from Dublin to Achill with a decent amount of stuff in it.

It fixes to your car using straps that you pass through a loop and then strap to the roof bars. There are loops at 4 corners of the bag - 3 loops at each point to allow for different roof bars.

When I pulled the straps tight the first time I put it on the roof - 3 out of the 4 loops that the straps hold onto ripped. As I said - my roof bars were a bit wider than the recommended width - so I was probably pulling it in the wrong direction.
I moved to the next loop and added a few more straps and it was fine. It didn't budge on either journey - but I sweated it the whole way. I was just waiting for a strap to go.

It might be a different story if the roof bars fit - but the fact the 3 out of 4 loops failed didn't sit well with me. After I burst the first one I was being pretty careful.

loyatemu

brennarr wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if you would recommend the HandiHoldall 400 litre bag? I'm trying to decide between this and a traditional roof box - thanks.

roof box all the way - they last forever and are virtually indestructible. Getting a bag seems a false economy by comparison.

thejaguar

Probably worth adding - we've sent back the bag and ordered a roofbox.

The one thing that is really going for the roof bag is how small it is. It's about the size of a fold up beach chair - or smaller.

brennarr

thejaguar wrote: »

I'm not sure I would - let me explain :rolleyes:.

To be fair - it turned out that it didn't quite fit my roof bars, but I had no choice and used it anyway. It also survived a trip from Dublin to Achill with a decent amount of stuff in it.

It fixes to your car using straps that you pass through a loop and then strap to the roof bars. There are loops at 4 corners of the bag - 3 loops at each point to allow for different roof bars.

When I pulled the straps tight the first time I put it on the roof - 3 out of the 4 loops that the straps hold onto ripped. As I said - my roof bars were a bit wider than the recommended width - so I was probably pulling it in the wrong direction.
I moved to the next loop and added a few more straps and it was fine. It didn't budge on either journey - but I sweated it the whole way. I was just waiting for a strap to go.

It might be a different story if the roof bars fit - but the fact the 3 out of 4 loops failed didn't sit well with me. After I burst the first one I was being pretty careful.

Cheers for that, the last thing I want is to be worrying about the bag blowing away for the whole journey.

thejaguar

brennarr wrote: »

Cheers for that, the last thing I want is to be worrying about the bag blowing away for the whole journey.

Definitely.

It lasted fine for one journey - but I'd have been reluctant to use it again even if I got a replacement.

positron

Also bought and returned the Lidl roofbars as I couldn't get them to fit right with the integrated (solid) roof bars on our Renault Megane Tourer.

I was looking to bring bikes on the roof, but eventually got put off by the overall cost of a solution + the hassle of mounting on the roof, taking it off etc.

In the end we managed to take both wheels off and fold a seat and fit the bikes in the boot that way, but it's a bit of a headwreck trying to put it all together at the destination and then back again into the car etc etc.

Still looking for a permanent solution. Saris bones type rear door / window mount is not suitable for this car with it's plastic spoiler.. So its now either the Rockbros / Seasucker yoke, or a tow bar. Probably the tow bar.