Opinions on roof top bike racks

If I'm not mistaken, the Subaru rack is made by Yakima, and would have round bars. While I've heard that they make a good quality system, I also heard that due to the round bars, accessories tend to rotate on the bars. I went with the Thule rack because it has square bars. The prices were very similar where I live, so it basically came down to round or square. To be fair, though, I have heard that the round bars are a little stronger. As far as how many bikes, that is mostly limited by bar length, and that by the width of you car. I only carry one on mine, but I should be able to get four fairly easily.

I think it makes a difference whether or not you have the factory rack. My Thule mounts right to the factory rack.

Tonyrama '95 Outback

Thule vs. Yakima...they really are all about the same. The bike shop I used to work at sold Thule opposed to Yakima. The reason was availability. We were about 20 minutes from Thule USA in Connecticut. I highly recommend getting one that goes "into" the factory rack as opposed to "onto" the rack or clamping to the roofline. The factory (onto) bike carriers limit you to what you can do. It's much too easy to steal the clamped on ones.

I have the Thule "tracker" going onto my OEM rack after the Thule "Aero Foot" setup got PRYED off the roof leaving $400 in damages. I installed the OEM rack on my 97 Impreza wagon, it is held on by a total of eight

1/4-20(ish) machine screws, two each fore and aft on each side. The OEM rack says it's rated for 150lbs.

With the tracker setup, I have two fork mount bike carriers and a narrowed luggage basket (Thule581). On a 6 week road trip I carried two bikes, firewood, and two dry bags full of clothes and such with no problem save for MUCH decreased gas mileage. An added plus, you can remove and refit really easy for the car wash, long trips, what have you.

Shamus

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For the one that got pryed off was that mounted to the factory bars or the roof edge, if you don't mind me asking?

TIA F. Plant

I have a 2003 WRX wagon and use a Yakima Boa (fork) mount. Up to 4 bikes can be carried with the 48" crossbars. If you mount the bikes to far to the rear of the roof you won't be able to fully open the rear hatch because the spoiler hits the bikes. So the best rack setup is a rear crossbar that attaches to the factory roof rails with the "Lowrider" mounts. And a front crossbar that attaches to the door frame with "Q clips". This setup will work perfectly and allows the rear hatch to open even with 4 bikes on top. The fork mount is a lot more stable than carrying the bikes with both wheels attached.

I know this line of thinking floats around, but I have the Yakima racks on my Foresters and have never had a problem with that unless I didn't snug the clamps down well enough. They can be torqued pretty hard with no apparent loss of function or durability, and once done, they hold very tightly. I also like the fact that the round bars allow me to rotate the spare bike wheel to exactly the angle I want it to run, rather than just straight upwards. These are not major issues to some people, so you have to decide that yourself. And Thule and Yakima ARE both good rack systems.

I've heard that too, but can't confirm or deny it. I've had no strength concerns with my Yakima bars, and have hauled some pretty hefty lumber on top on occasion.

You can choose from several widths of bars, but be sure you consider how much you want sticking out beyond the sides of your car if you choose something long. Mine are 48" wide, and suit me fine. Should fit the WRX fairly similarly as the Forester, I would guess. I suggest getting locking fork mounts, but do check out how they work with your forks, as some forks may put disc brakes so low on the fork that they cannot fit into a fork mount because they hit the tray (if you use a tray type.) I don't know if that is a non-factor now, but I have run across it. Pretty dumb planning on the part of the fork maker and/or the rack maker, I think. (I blame the fork maker mainly because fork mount racks have been around much longer than these suspension fork designs.)

Hi everyone, thanks for the info.

Steve

The one that got pried off was clamped to the roofline using the Thule Aero Foot setup.

I put on the factory rack and Thule Tracker after that fiasco.

I also had one pried off my Honda Accord that was clamped to the gutter.

The Tracker setup makes it easyto remove/refit, so if I go to a sketch area, or leave my car in an airportlot for days, I just take it off and leave it home. The setup is a quickdisconnect so the lining up of the rack is a no-brainer. Shamus

When I got my wagon, I bought a killer Thule setup, brought it home and installed it only to figure out that the fork mount trays stuck too far out the back. The rear spoiler hit the rack when I tried to open the rear hatch. I took it back and got the Subaru rack, made by Yakima. It bolts cleanly to the crossbars (which came as an option on my car) with Torx screws. It grabs and locks to the downtube. No complaints about it after one year.

Jerry

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The one I would be considering is (Watch for wrap)

with the locks -to keep honest people honest. How do you think this model would stack up against what you have used? TIA F.plant

Sorry to say, keeping the honest honest isn't as easy as it used to be. The cap that holds the lock is plastic. From experience (a customer lost the key and HAD to get the rack off, NOW) all it takes is a claw hammer to get those off. Looking at the Thule website, if you've got a MY02 or newer, you are limited to the 751 or the 415. I've zero knowledge of the workings of the 751. It looks cool, but a slotted load bar? Go to a shop that has experience (read: god-given-intelligence) with Thule and see if they can fit a Tracker to your car. Keeping the weight of the rack on the factory rack's mount has got to be safer than on the bars.

Shamus

Thanks for the feedback,

F.Plant