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Hi folks,
Just changing my car to an 2011 Audi A4 avant with silver roof rails and was wondering if anyone had a recommendation for Alu roof rails?
I have a Volvo v50 with black roof rails and had the Thule feet and square black bars.
Anyone any experience of the best value Alu bars to get, Audi ones seem horrifically expensive. I have three Thule Pro Ride carriers, I seem to remember getting T inserts for Alu bars, can you just use the usual fittings or does it need to be the Alu Bar T inserts as Ive lost them. Gulp
Thanks
I have just removed my Thule Aerobars from my car as they won't fit on the new one, and have some Atrea bars in the garage ready to go. The Thule have been spot on, just unfortunate they're too small. The Ateras are regularly recommended on here. I was emailing roofbox.co.uk yesterday and they told me you can't buy the T bolts on their own 🙁
+1 Thule Aerobar's
Try contacting Thule UK direct for spares, in the past they have provided the bits I've needed for a nominal fee.
https://roofracks.co.uk/Thule-Fit-Guide/ use the guide then off to ebay for cheap aero bars , my full set up would have been close to £400 if bought new , I got my job lot inc 3x 591 prorides for £185 ,offa that ebay
I've got the Aerobars and they work well but sit quite high.
If aesthetics are more of a concern then Whispbar Rail Bar are far better looking, but you lose a lot of width. You might only get two bikes on the roof using those unless you turn the bars beforehand.
A lot of manufacturer branded stuff are Thule anyway, just more expensive.
I've used Thule aero bars in various styles for ages and they've been very good. Got the new style wing bars on roof rails now and the Thule roof rail adapters seem very good. Got some other Atera stuff as well and they seem to make good stuff too.
Ebay is always a very good source of this stuff (as said ^^)
And you definitely can by all the spares, including T-bolts, separately - eg [url= https://roofracks.co.uk/Thule-Products/Accessories/T-Track-Adapters/ ]https://roofracks.co.uk/Thule-Products/Accessories/T-Track-Adapters/[/url]
P-Jay - yes, I looked at the Whispbar rail bar too, but needed to fit 3 bikes on, or maybe a box and a bike, so decided I needed the width. Last change of car I thought "Oh, I've got the bars, all I need are some feet for roof rails!"... but no, old bars were way too short for new car.
I have a 2013 A4 avant, I'm using Thule wingbars - the full length version not the edge ones.
They're quiet enough, very easy to fit, I paid £140ish from a local motor factors for the bars, foot pack and fitting kit.
Use them with 591 cycle carriers (2 or 3) and occasionally a slimline roof box.
Audi bars (and Volvo) and rebranded Thule stuff at three times the price. The areo/wing bars are top end so personally if you are prepared to spend the money I would stick with Thule.
You will need t-bars to fit to the areo/wing bars. You can get individual bolts off ebay for a couple of £'s. You could also try Thule. I got spares for free from them when I worked at Halfords.
If you need really wide bars Thule now do sliding bars. I've no experience of these though and they are £200+ just for the bars!!