Yakima roof rack: No rear tire rubber road adapter?
Dave Smith 19 April 2005 03:13:27
I just got a Yakima roof rack with Copperhead carriers. It installed very nicely and is great for my mountain bikes, but it has no adapter to hold down the rear tire on a road bike. I called the dealer and he said that Yakima just doesn't supply such a thing.
I'm sure I can come up with some kind of hold-down for it but this seems really weird to me. Why would they not supply one for the few cents it would cost? Is it not necessary? I'm sure that the fork in any fork mount system does most of the holding and stabilizing, but there would be about an inch of play in the rear without a bumper. Seems to me that that would put a lot of stress on the fork ends if that were allowed.
"Dave Smith" <none@none> wrote in message news:75f861lhfvof291kbaiane6e32ob23eps3@4ax.com...>I just got a Yakima roof rack with Copperhead carriers. It installed> very nicely and is great for my mountain bikes, but it has no adapter> to hold down the rear tire on a road bike. I called the dealer and he> said that Yakima just doesn't supply such a thing.>
I'm sure I can come up with some kind of hold-down for it but this> seems really weird to me. Why would they not supply one for the few> cents it would cost? Is it not necessary? I'm sure that the fork in> any fork mount system does most of the holding and stabilizing, but> there would be about an inch of play in the rear without a bumper.> Seems to me that that would put a lot of stress on the fork ends if> that were allowed.
David L. Johnson 19 April 2005 05:22:17 [ permanent link ]
On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:13:27 -0700, Dave Smith wrote:
I just got a Yakima roof rack with Copperhead carriers. It installed> very nicely and is great for my mountain bikes, but it has no adapter> to hold down the rear tire on a road bike. I called the dealer and he> said that Yakima just doesn't supply such a thing.
Huh? What do you use to hold down the rear wheel on the mountain bike? Why won't that hold down the wheel of a road bike? My Copperhead carriers had a plastic cinch-strap that holds either kind of wheel.
I'm sure I can come up with some kind of hold-down for it but this seems> really weird to me. Why would they not supply one for the few cents it> would cost? Is it not necessary? I'm sure that the fork in any fork> mount system does most of the holding and stabilizing, but there would> be about an inch of play in the rear without a bumper.
You mean, side to side play? I don't think mine does; the trough in which the wheel sits gets narrower at the bottom, and holds pretty well.
--
David L. Johnson
__o | Deserves death! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve _`\(,_ | death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to (_)/ (_) | them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. -- J. R. R. Tolkein
"David L. Johnson" wrote: (clip)What do you use to hold down the rear wheel on the mountain bike? Why won't that hold down the wheel of a road bike? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A mountain bike wheel and tire is fat enough to stick above the sidewalls of the rack (trough). A thin wheel and rim is not as tall as the depth of the trough. My solution would be to slide the strap forward, so it is ahead of the point of tangency. The additional distance to the inside of the rim will allow the strap to hold. I even do this on mountain bike wheels, because that way the tension tends to press the bike forward, providing a little extra security at the skewer or frame clamp.
"David L. Johnson" wrote: (clip)What do you use to hold down the rear wheel >on the mountain bike? Why won't that hold down the wheel of a road bike?>^^^^^^^^^^^^^>A mountain bike wheel and tire is fat enough to stick above the sidewalls of >the rack (trough). A thin wheel and rim is not as tall as the depth of the >trough. My solution would be to slide the strap forward, so it is ahead of >the point of tangency. The additional distance to the inside of the rim >will allow the strap to hold. I even do this on mountain bike wheels, >because that way the tension tends to press the bike forward, providing a >little extra security at the skewer or frame clamp. >
Thanks for clearing that up. *Duh.*
I thought about your solution, but it seems to me that it would put a lot of weird stretch on the strap. A lot of pressure on one side that might eventually damage the strap. It seems to me to be a poor solution to a simple problem that *should* have been addressed by Yakima. That's why I wonder if I'm missing something or if Yakima just dropped the ball in the design of this rack.
Dave Smith wrote:> I just got a Yakima roof rack with Copperhead carriers. It installed> very nicely and is great for my mountain bikes, but it has no adapter> to hold down the rear tire on a road bike. I called the dealer and he> said that Yakima just doesn't supply such a thing.>
I'm sure I can come up with some kind of hold-down for it but this> seems really weird to me. Why would they not supply one for the few> cents it would cost? Is it not necessary? I'm sure that the fork in> any fork mount system does most of the holding and stabilizing, but> there would be about an inch of play in the rear without a bumper.> Seems to me that that would put a lot of stress on the fork ends if> that were allowed.>
Any ideas?
My Thule trays came with little rubber bumper dealies, but I've never had to use them to hold down a road wheel. Guess all the rims have been "deep" enough to cinch down tightly.
You could try putting something in the tray /underneath/ the wheel, to make the rim ride a little higher for the strap to "engage"; or just bunch up a wash cloth or something inside the rim and then tighten it down.
"Dave Smith" wrote...> I just got a Yakima roof rack with Copperhead carriers. It installed> very nicely and is great for my mountain bikes, but it has no adapter> to hold down the rear tire on a road bike. I called the dealer and he> said that Yakima just doesn't supply such a thing.
My Yakima bike carrier (ca 1991, don't recall the model name) came with a little plastic spacer thingie that slid onto the cinch strap and took up the free play between a road bike wheel and the cinch strap. I find it very hard to believe that Yakima no longer supplies this item. I suggest you contact Yakima directly and/or find another dealer. -- mark
On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 15:29:41 GMT, "mark" <mark@mousepotato.com> wrote:
"Dave Smith" wrote...>> I just got a Yakima roof rack with Copperhead carriers. It installed>> very nicely and is great for my mountain bikes, but it has no adapter>> to hold down the rear tire on a road bike. I called the dealer and he>> said that Yakima just doesn't supply such a thing.>
My Yakima bike carrier (ca 1991, don't recall the model name) came with a>little plastic spacer thingie that slid onto the cinch strap and took up the>free play between a road bike wheel and the cinch strap. I find it very hard>to believe that Yakima no longer supplies this item. I suggest you contact>Yakima directly and/or find another dealer.
Yep. I think it's really weird too, but I did contact several dealers in my (San Diego) area and they all say that Yakima no longer supplies the adapter. I'm surprised that there haven't been more knowledgable posts on this as I thought Yakima racks were pretty popular and others would have run into this.
"Dave" wrote: (clip) they all say that Yakima no longer supplies the adapter. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In an earlier post, I suggested just moving the strap forward, but now I will make a second suggestion: Thule wheel straps are almost identical to Yakima's. Are they available from any of the dealers you have been searching?
"David L. Johnson" <david.johnson@lehigh-nospam.edu> wrote:
On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:13:27 -0700, Dave Smith wrote:>
I just got a Yakima roof rack with Copperhead carriers. It installed> > very nicely and is great for my mountain bikes, but it has no adapter> > to hold down the rear tire on a road bike. I called the dealer and he> > said that Yakima just doesn't supply such a thing. >
Huh? What do you use to hold down the rear wheel on the mountain bike? > Why won't that hold down the wheel of a road bike? My Copperhead carriers> had a plastic cinch-strap that holds either kind of wheel. >
I'm sure I can come up with some kind of hold-down for it but this seems> > really weird to me. Why would they not supply one for the few cents it> > would cost? Is it not necessary? I'm sure that the fork in any fork> > mount system does most of the holding and stabilizing, but there would> > be about an inch of play in the rear without a bumper.>
You mean, side to side play? I don't think mine does; the trough in> which the wheel sits gets narrower at the bottom, and holds pretty well.
I'll second what David said here. My (old) Yakima racks came with a little thingie that slides onto the cinch strap and fits a road rim, but I would not go to any extra effort to use them. The strap by itself works just as well.
On 20 Apr 2005 06:55:19 -0700, "Anthony A." <ana2002@med.cornell.edu> wrote:
I have a Yakima rack and while mine came with the road wheel wedgies, i>never used them. I simply applied the wheel ratchet-strap at a location>in which it would pull on rim, rather than just on the rack channel.>This is the same approach suggested by other posters.>
As for the contention that this would put "weird stretch" on the strap>that might cause damage - this has not been my experience - some of my>straps have been in service carrying heavy MTBs and light road bikes>for 5+ years now, in all sorts of North East (NY) weather, and appear>to be just fine.
I may end up trying this.
Yeah. I guess "Weird stretch" isn't very descriptive. By that I mean that the strap would be stretched at an angle front to back due to the angle of the rim. I think that you got that.
"Dave" wrote: (clip) they all say that Yakima no longer supplies the >adapter.>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>In an earlier post, I suggested just moving the strap forward, but now I >will make a second suggestion: Thule wheel straps are almost identical to >Yakima's. Are they available from any of the dealers you have been >searching? >
I actually have the Thule straps from my previous rack. The reason I got the Yakima was that we got a new car and the old rack didn't fit it. I never liked the fork retention device on the Thule so I went with the Yakima which has a fairly standard quick release type fork retainer.
Anyway, I tried adapting the Thule straps and bumpers to the Yakima carrier without success. Thanks very much for the suggestion. It certainly was worth a try.
I had my dealer get me some thule tire blocks to use on my Yakima straps. I had to cut the side of the straps to get them to fit. One side works great the other side gets stuck a lot and I have a hard time getting it open. As I see itnow I would have been better off setting the straps a little long for my bike and and then the agle of the strap tightens down on the rimm higher up on the rim. I know that works because I take the block off sometimes for my mtn bike ans do not always bothe to put it back
Yakima did supply those spacers, but haven't in years. The Thule strap and> the Yakima strap were the same size (or very close) so the spacer from Thule> would fit Yakima and vice versa. Several years ago Yakima changed the style> of their strap, and it is now wider so neither old Yakima or Thule spacers> will fit the new Yakima straps.>
FWIW, like others I've been moving the strap fore or aft so the strap hits> the rim at a higher point. It's worked fine for me although I would prefer> those spacers again. You might be able to retrofit Thule or Sportworks> straps (Sportworks straps are the same as old Yakima) on a Yakima channel> and use the Thule spacers if this thing really bothers you.>
