moscafj

Interested in thoughts on advantages/disadvantages of car top carriers that secure by the fork as opposed to those that force you to leave the wheels on.

Havs

I recently bought a Yakima roof top rack for our van. I went w/the 'Copperhead' trays, fork mounts. We drove ~1400 miles with 3 bikes (and pulling a jet ski), no probs/very happy with it. East to install, VERY secure, fast to load/unload, secures w/locks. Never used a front tire mount, so cant say on that model.

woodcycl

I've been using a Yakima since 1991 (now on my 2nd one) that utilizes the fork mount and have been very happy with it. No complaints in the least.

johnny99

I've never heard any complaint about Thule or Yakima fork mounts. The other type that clamp on to your bike have various potential problems, including not finding a good place to clamp (especially with mountain bikes), clamping causing tube or paint damage, problems fitting a mountain bike front tire, and they are often not as secure as fork mounts.

DRLski

I do not like the ones that you leave the wheels one, had a Thule one, was not stable (bike swayed a lot!) and the rubber clamp left a rub mark on my paint. I took that off and got both a Thule Velo Vise and Yakima Copperhead, both are great, much more stable, easy to put the bike on, lockable and cheap. However...make sure you take the skewer for the copperhead off if you leave them on during the winter because it will rust, they had the entire skewer made in stainless steel but did not make the bolt stainless so mine rusted, I did however call Yakima up to order a new one and they shipped one to me next day air free of charge when I told them what happened, so A++ on Yakima's customer support.

NuckingFuts

I have a thule velo vise and a yakima viper. They both are superb products, but i prefer the thule locking mechanism due to it's ease of use and dual-cam action. Easier to get the fork in.
But go with the fork mounts. Never heard of anyone having a problem with them. Plus, it just looks cooler (ocp points!)

merlinextraligh

Fork mounts are the most secure, but a little bit of a hassel. Yakima ankle biter does a pretty good job, and clamps onto the crank arm rather than the frame, for a wheel on option that won't mar your frame.

SDRider

I have a Yakima roof rack on my car that I picked up slightly used from a guy who works at my LBS. I bought the Thule V2 bike tray which mounts on either a Yakima or Thule rack. It is very stable and secure and I don't worry about my bikes when they're up there at all.

robot

i use to have the thule big mouth upright racks when i used to ride bmx. those racks were never the sturdiest even at normal city driving speeds, let alone highway speeds.

On a road trip up to boston one time with my friends, there were three bmx's on the roof of my explorer in the big mouth racks. While crossing the throgs neck bridge from long island, i suddenly hear a very loud crash and had my friend hang out the window to see if the bikes were still there, only to find that all three bikes toppled over on my roof. they were all hanging on by the tire ratchets only. Those racks have been notorious in the bmx scene for letting loose and tossing bikes off the roof of your auto into the path of the semi that's driving behind you. i could go on with horror stories of other riders showing up at contest's with mangled bikes because of this. i got a hitch mount rack as soon as i got back from boston. last thing i wanted was my $1500 4130 cromoly steel pig of bmx tumbling down the long island expressway at 70 mph sparking the entire way.

sivat

With the fork mounts, you also have the option to lower the seat which will give you more clearance. Nice for tall trucks or low parking garages. I think the fork mounts are more secure, and, since the center of gravity is a little lower, probably more stable as well.

rainmann

If your car already has a roof rack check out the Rocky Mounts trays. They work great and are easy to install. https://www.rockymounts.com/