Here is my review from



Product Strengths:
Easy to move bike mounts around, and fairly easy to install and remove. Fairly unique in that you don't see many around.

Product Weaknesses:
My Saris roof rack has not held up well over the 4 years I've had it. The slot in the load bar where the fork mounts go has spread resulting in bikes rocking back and forth while on the rack. I have swapped the front and rear load bars as well as moved the fork mounts to alleviate this but the mounting slot eventually ends up spreading anyway. The screw that holds the fork mounts on broke after a couple years of use (it rusted through). There was not risk of the bike coming off but it definitely had to be fixed before the rack could be used again. There is a hell of a lot of stress on this screw especially while cornering and when the car rocks back and forth. Bad design! The rear tire straps don't stay on when a bike is not attached. I lost one of mine
on the freeway when I forgot to take it off the bike tray. Woops! Saris wants big $$$ for replacement ones so I just use a big zip strip now. The ski mounts are not very secure. One of mine pops open on its own even when locked. It would be really easy for a thief to force them open.
The load bar tensioning mechanism has become much harder to turn in the last year or so. I wonder if it is rusted inside?

Similar Products Tried:
My friends' Yaks&Thules.

Bike Setup:
'96 Trek 8500.

The Bottom Line:
A pretty mediocre rack; not very well engineered for long term/frequent use. My Saris has seen pretty heavy use over the years but I think a Yak or Thule would have held up better. 'm just about to get a new rack and I'll be going with a Yak or Thule.

My yakima Rack has been on three cars now. No problems at all. No rust. No broken parts. Nothing. I've only had to get new Qclips only because of Audi's door design.

99.5tqms
98 Specialized S-Works

...owner, and the rack Yakima built for my Nissan Xterra is a perfect example of a well engineered and durable rack. I can't wait to start strapping things to the top! :-)

Charles

Out with the Yakima and in came my Thule.
Quality is one major issue I went with the
Thule because there are parts on the Yakima
that are not stainless, so they're RUSTING.
All of the Thule parts are a lot sturdier
and even looks better than the Yakima.

say that Thule looks better than Yakima.