I'm just about to push the button and order a westdubs pop top roof and I'm leaning towards the premium (Sauleda) fabric. I'm considering yellow or red, but not sure if these allow too much light through. Could anyone shed any light (puntastic) on this issue? I'll go black or dark grey if it means my 6 year old daughter sleeps in for another hour in the mornings!
Westdubs pop top fabric options
Im trying to make the same decision. I contacted West Dubs to try and find out difference between Sauleda and Odyssey and information was pretty vague other than both are marine fabrics and that they fit Odyssey 70% of the time. Sauleda is a heavier duty fabric which according to the company converting my van makes it harder to pack down especially when cold.
I hadn't considered that heavier fabric would have the downside of being harder to fold down. Westdubs have confirmed none of they're fabric is blackout. I asked whether the dark colours were more effective at blocking out light, and in response I got a list of the colours they sell most of, not answering my question at all. I'm going to see some fabric swatches tomorrow at the conversion company I'll be using. I'll report back any useful info.
Colour definitely effects the amount of light. I have looked in vans with silver, charcoal and black and the amount of light was noticeable more with the silver. Colour wise im moving towards the charcoal as a compromise so it not to dark in the day but dark enough to sleep under. I love some of the other colours but not sure I would want to live with a van bathed inside in a single colour.
We've got a Westdubs roof with 'standard' material in, I think, silver. I say 'silver' but it seems to be a bit darker that the representation of silver on their website but not as dark as the charcoal! My personal opinion is that it looks a lot better than, say, black and I don't think that it lets through masses of light (but it would certainly be more than the black version). Whatever colour you do end up with make sure to get a pop top bungee as well - it makes life easier when opening and closing as you can forget about the supplied elasticated straps - indeed, I've got rid of them! FWIW, here's a picture of mine.
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Pretty certain that's the charcoal. Silver is a lot paler than that. Seen people mentioning the bungee but now I understand what it is thanks for tip.
That was the easy decision
. Colour of pop top, shades, and flooring etc far more difficult. Especially as once made its not like it cheap/easy to change you mind if don't like final effect.I went to the workshop today, and I saw a sauleda in black and an odyssey in red, and swatches of both ranges. The sauleda blocks out much more light, virtually blackout in my opinion. For me, the odyssey let's too much light through, so despite the folding problem Garry33 highlighted, I think I'll go for the sauleda. I have attached the swatches from the sauleda range plus the internal carpet options. The technician I was speaking to thought Westdubs offer black, anthracite or smoke. I'm going to enquire whether silver is an option. Also, the sauleda swatch range is much larger than on the Westdubs site, I'm going to ask if they can supply a scenic from the extended range. I'll report back.
I was warned of the silver carpet by my converters. They said that even though its exactly the same material etc as the other colours for some reason it bobbles very easily. Might just be that it shows up more because of the colour. Interesting to see the extended range of colours.
Good evening we had the standard Dark Grey fabric from West Dubbs which is easy to fold when the roof goes down and even after we have not used it for 6 months when we opened it up there was minimal creases in the fabric and windows. We also went for the Pano front. As you can see although a poor picture we had the lights on and if it was not for the front window panel open it was not emitting to much light out. I can say that there is some natural light that comes in but nothing that a few beers doesn't sort out
Hope this helps
That's really good to know. The various coloured samples feel exactly the same, but as you say it could just be that the silver shows more bobbling.
This looks like a really slick colour combo. Left to my own devices I would go for dark grey, but the other committee members are greyist.
That is the colour im pretty certain we will be having. Love the Pano front panel but looks like they don't do anymore as no mention of it on their site
Well worth asking as they had loads on order cheersThat is the colour im pretty certain we will be having. Love the Pano front panel but looks like they don't do anymore as no mention of it on their site
That is the colour im pretty certain we will be having. Love the Pano front panel but looks like they don't do anymore as no mention of it on their site
What's the difference between a pano and scenic?
Pano it the size of the clear front panel.If you look at PIPPS30 van you can see it wraps around the corners rather than just a panel in the front. Scenic is the ability to unzip the front of the pop top and clip it back (so like a giant sunroof). It would appear that the Pano roof is a speciality of PIPS30 roof fitter as West Dubs don't list it anywhere and my converter says they have no knowledge of it.
If you need more details of my roof it was fitted buy a guy called Dan the owner from Kent Poptops based just outside Maidstone Kent. He di say it was there prototype but I do see a further 3 vans having it fitted although different colours.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
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