Yakima rack and fork safety tabs - how important to have safety tabs?
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Yakima rack and fork safety tabs - how important to have safety tabs?
I've been using Yakima's Forklift universal fork mount on my Subaru for a couple of years. I just bought another one and noticed in the instructions that it says, "designed for forks with safety tabs." My road bike doesn't have safety tabs. Are fork mount racks simply not "officially" recommended by rack makers? It seems to work just fine without the safety tabs, but I definitely don't want to tempt fate.
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I have heard the same thing. My bike also does not have safety tabs and I am shopping for a new car and will most likely need to use a roof mounted bike carrier. I think Yakima and Thule both say it for liability reasons--to cover their own butt. However, I too am not going to tempt fate. After I put the bike on the roof, I will run a tie down across the handlebars/stem and cinch it down to the roof rack.
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Anyone else run into this conundrum?
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Take a metal file and remove them only if you are smart enough to always be sure that your quick release is closed and tight.
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I have use Yakima Stealhead racks for going on 15 years and none of bikes had or have safety tabs. I have also never lost a bike on the thousands of mile I have driven with the bikes on the roof. Sounds like something the lawyers required.
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I personally have never lost a bike without the safety tabs using a Yakima tray, but I always make sure the QR is really tight and locked. YMMV though.
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My British bike (Mercian) does not have tabs and I've put it on my Yakima rack and driven cross country with it. No problems at all.
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You will be fine.
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Yakima and Thule sold a lot of fork mounted racks before lawyer tabs came into use.
The warning to only use lawyer tabs with their racks would appear to be lawyer speak.
The warning to only use lawyer tabs with their racks would appear to be lawyer speak.
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You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
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Now do you understand?
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Just to close the loop on this thread, the official response from Yakima's customer service was:
"Thank you for contacting Yakima Customer Support. What it means is that it will work with both types of bikes."
"Thank you for contacting Yakima Customer Support. What it means is that it will work with both types of bikes."
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Thanks....I LOVE happy endings!
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