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I need to get a roof rack for bikes and the Whispbar range seem to be the best looking for my car as they sit closer to the roof and seem to fit better than the Thule equivalent.
However they are expensive and don’t come up second hand as much.
So has anyone used one and Thule aerobars so they could compare? I like the fact the Whispbars are meant to be quiet which is a big plus for me.
I’ve got some whispbars about to go up for sale.
they were off my wife’s old Polo Dune.
would you be interested if they would fit your car?
jonjones - yes but I’d need the exact model numbers you have to make sure they fit my car.
I need the PRS15 bars (PRS15B if they are black). I also need fitting kit PRK679 but that is only £25 so I could buy that separately
I had some, but went back to Thule aero. Design is good, but quality, durability and execution less so. Both are much quieter than standard square bars, but I found very little, if any difference in noise between Whispbars and Thule aero. Also, once you have a cycle carrier or roof box on top, the noise issue is pretty irrelevant. Worth it if you have the bars on the roof all the time though.
Angel dust - what issue was there with the quality?
for my car I need the 754 foot pack from Thule which is seriously ugly compared to the Whispbar and sits a long way from the roof. Which is why I’m leaning towards the whispbar.
I've had whispbars on two cars now. I use them in conjunction with Thule 591 to carry one bike. Never had any issue with them at all, fit and forget. Just give them a good jiggle every now and then to see if they've come loose, they never have. Think they look nicer than more traditional roof bars, if that's important.
Quality problems? Poor fit and finish compared to Thule. Mine looked pretty crap after a couple of years light use (some idiot on eBay paid almost full new price for them though, so cant complain too much). For example the covers housing the bolts to tighten onto the rails are poor fitting and cheap looking. Decals wore off quickly, and materials are not very abrasion resistant (Thule much better in this respect). The rubber under the T-bar channel goes brittle after a while, which makes inserting carriers a pain. Nice design, but some of the plastics and other materials used are poor quality, and break easily. Manufacturing quality is well below Thule. I thought the Whispbars were great when new, but have found Thule wear much better. Modern Thule Aero look just as good, and are a much better product imo.
Should add too, in the metal the Whispbar stuff actually looks quite cheap due to the poor fit and finish. And it gets worse with ware. Not great when it is a premium priced product.
I have Whispbar, they always make me think of chocolate.
In terms of quality they feel similar to other Thule stuff but I've not been able to compare the Thule bars themselves. Only gripe with them is that the clamp can fall apart when it's not on the car so you might end up.losing bits of it. I had to make a replacement bolt for one of mine. Also the rubber feet aren't fixed on so they too can fall off.
The finish on mine is no worse than the thules I used to have. Main benefit from my perspective is that we can use them on either of our cars by swapping the foot adapters (although that is a bit time consuming). Also means we don't have to buy new bars whenever we change the car, whereas our previous bars would only fit one...
Skip past the 2 pedal pics (they're for sale too )
https://imgur.com/gallery/JuFzgbV
I need to know the model numbers.
I've had some fitted for around 18 months and never given them any thought. I like the way the cycle carriers can be slid on and off without cutting the rubber strips (it is a little fiddly the first time). I've never noticed them making a noise.
I've had the Aero X version on my cars over the past 3 years. Very quite, even with a Thule bike carrier (which wasn't the case with the previous bars). As mentioned above the logos look tatty quickly (I removed mine with IPA) and the covers fit badly. The design of the Aero X means that the load area is much narrower which may be an issue (our XL roof box had to sit on the feet).
Service from Roofbox was really good, when we changed cars and needed wider bars they stripped one they had in stock and sold us the bar only without the feet.
I’ve got some. They've been completely trouble free for the last 2.5yrs. I bought them used. As others have said, the quality isn't quite as good as Thule. On my car, doing the clamps up tight enough means the plastic track for the covers is deformed so the covers don't slide in perfectly. It's totally not a big deal and hasn't caused any problems, but it just shouldn't be.
I've never noticed wind noise, and they've been solid/dependable.
Just be aware that a traditional rack is a fair bit wider so you are limited with the Whispbars. Not an issue for me (I only use 1x 591 on mine) but might be for some.
So yeah, I'd recommend them with those caveats.
roofbox.co.uk says this model is what I have:
Just be aware that a traditional rack is a fair bit wider
When I bought mine 7 years ago I had the choice of ones that overhang the feet or ones that merge into the feet. I was advised to get the overhanging ones because you get much more load space, and he was right. We put 3 bikes on ours but 4 will be no problem.
<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">roofbox.co.uk</span> says this model is what I have:
Sorry if you cant be bothered to type out which one you actually have, you obviously don’t want to sell it. 🙄
Looks like that transaction is over 🙂
Looks like that transaction is over
i don’t think it ever started. If someone can’t be bothered to take any effort in selling something then I will assume they a) won’t have taken any effort in looking after the thing they are trying to sell and b) won’t take any effort in packaging it properly to send it to me.
Jeez you guys are a bunch of miseries this morning!!
The link I pasted obviously didn't paste properly.
It was these but I'd rather not sell them to you, so cheerio
Whispbar 79cm Aero-X rail bars (2) no. PRS43
HA HA!! I missed this reply:
"i don’t think it ever started. If someone can’t be bothered to take any effort in selling something then I will assume they a) won’t have taken any effort in looking after the thing they are trying to sell and b) won’t take any effort in packaging it properly to send it to me."
Yeah, I would have probably just chucked them in a plastic bag and left them on the street for someone to deliver to you.
You're hilarious!
i don’t think it ever started. If someone can’t be bothered to take any effort in selling something then I will assume they a) won’t have taken any effort in looking after the thing they are trying to sell and b) won’t take any effort in packaging it properly to send it to me.
Don't use eBay. Your head might explode :-).
Oh, and if you are picky/discerning (delete as appropriate) think twice about the Whispbars anyway. The niggly faults nearly every owner on this thread has mentioned will make you wish you went for Thule pretty quickly (in my experience).
Don’t use eBay. Your head might explode :-).
I use it very often. Head not exploded yet. 🙄
i've got the thule aero bars on my leon st. I paid extra for the black ones to match the car and a black proride carrier... really really happy with it. look awesome and no noise.
often leave em on as they dont affect my mileage noticeably (20 mile motorway commute each way, every day.. mines the leon st ecomotive. get about 55mpg most of the time with or without em).easy to put on and remove once you've done it the first time. and boot access when riding/changing if need be is very useful.
cant compare to the whispbar as i was using a rear carrier before.
Oh, and if you are picky/discerning (delete as appropriate) think twice about the Whispbars anyway. The niggly faults nearly every owner on this thread has mentioned will make you wish you went for Thule pretty quickly (in my experience).
Theres someone at my work with the same car as me with Whispbars so I think I’ll ask them how they have found them and it’ll give me the chance to inspect what the quality is like on their car.
I had the Thule system on an older car and I really didn’t like how far they sat away from the roof, it really put me off them. The Whispbar seem to be much closer. Not sure if I prefer the closed end type or the traditional style which extends past the mounts. I’ll probably have 2 bike on the top and I don’t think I’ll ever need a roof box so it should be ok.
Pics of colleagues car when I saw it in the car park. Looks quite a neat install
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Whispbars were subject to a product recall a few years ago. I had a pair, I think the issue was that when loaded up in cross winds they were prone to flex to the extent that they could pop off certain flush-fit roof rails. Halfords took them back off me and replaced with Thule aeros.
I have the ones that fit between roof rails (Aero-X?). No reason to ever take them off, have been on the car for 2 years and still look ok.
The matching fork bike carrier is also good, but actually quite easy to install / remove as there's no faffing with cutting the plastic strips.
Those are exactly like mine.
I was also told when I bought them that the extended ones could fit a wider range of cars cos you can adjust the width of the feet. Not had to do it though.
I was also told when I bought them that the extended ones could fit a wider range of cars cos you can adjust the width of the feet.
That's a very good point.
I have a pair of Whispbars and a pair of Thule's.
The Whispbars came with the car and I leave them on all the time, but also bought a pair of Thule's for when I needed the extra length. I've also owned several other Thule racks over the years.
My summary would be;
Whispbar - "good quality"
Thule - "absolutely bullet-proof"
If you want to leave them on all the time and don't need extra length then I'd go with the Whispbars even though they are slightly lower quality. If you are not leaving them on the time (or need the extra length), got for Thule.
^ thule aero like i have arent wider either though...i didnt like the look with the bits sticking out and i just wanted it for my one bike.. so YMMV
If you want to leave them on all the time and don’t need extra length then I’d go with the Whispbars even though they are slightly lower quality.
Both brands are available in wide or narrow versions.
They are a really close fit on my Superb, officially they don't fit but they do with a couple of mm spare for the fixing bolts. When using a large roof box which has channels underneath for the bars the box kissed the roof but didn't cause any issue in a 1500 mile trip.
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Bad cover fit and logo
[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/846/43397377512_d7fffaa6c8_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/846/43397377512_d7fffaa6c8_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/297SUoL ]IMG_20180716_134735[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/rjohnson76/ ]Rob Johnson[/url], on Flickr
Cheers-drive - do you think the poor fitting has anything to do with the “not supposed to fit” issue? It looks like the roof bars are slightly curved on your car which might be why the clamp cover has opened out a little.
Both brands are available in wide or narrow versions.
OK, yeah you're right. The Whispbars I'm talking about are exactly as the pics in the post above. I thought the Thule equivalent (Edge?) weren't quite as low-profile but looking at them now maybe they are.
Cheers-drive – do you think the poor fitting has anything to do with the “not supposed to fit” issue?
The foot accounts for any slight curve. I'm sure it's because of the rails on the car being low. They were recommended for the Octavia I had previously and the covers were still like that.
The covers sit flush on my Octavia estate using the roof rail fitting.
Cheers-drive – do you think the poor fitting has anything to do with the “not supposed to fit” issue? It looks like the roof bars are slightly curved on your car which might be why the clamp cover has opened out a little.
Mine were the correct part, and were 'supposed to fit', and still fitted poorly (different model to above though). I seem to remember something in the Whispbar literature that stated that a slight curve to the bars was 'normal'.
I have them on my Passat GTE and the rear has a very slight curve whereas the front appears completely flat. Covers fit fine though.
Wish I'd have taken a photo of my Ebike on the roof of my Ecar in Walking Bottom carpark on Saturday, I'm pretty sure this place would have imploded.
tbh I look at other makes every time I get a new car but keep going back to Thule.
Got a selection of roof racks in the shed I need to get rid of, 118mm aero bars and 108mm steel bars and some feet pack that fitted them to a 306 hatchback if they sound like they will be of interest to anyone. All my cars have roof rails now so switched to 757 foot packs and wing bars
I’m pretty sure this place would have imploded
If I'd spotted you I'd have tutted
Would it have been loud enough for me to hear or a good, English, almost inaudible tut with a touch of grumbling?
Latter, I'd have been mortified if you'd noticed😀
Glad to hear it because if I'd have heard you I'd have given you a very stern look! When your back was turned.
I’ve just picked up some Thule Aero bars & they have a very slight curve to them.