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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?

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Old 11-20-11, 10:43 AM
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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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Old 11-20-11, 10:51 AM
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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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Old 11-20-11, 06:05 PM
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Anyone else run into this conundrum?
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Old 11-20-11, 07:31 PM
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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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Old 11-20-11, 08:11 PM
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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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Old 11-20-11, 08:33 PM
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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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Old 11-21-11, 09:25 AM
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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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Old 11-21-11, 09:38 AM
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You will be fine.
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Old 11-21-11, 12:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Fox Farm
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.
Wut?
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Old 11-21-11, 12:42 PM
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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.
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Old 11-21-11, 12:48 PM
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Originally Posted by MegaTom
Wut?
you can file down the tabs on your fork so that the quick release on the wheel could actually be a quick release.
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Old 11-21-11, 12:49 PM
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I hate those "lawyer lips."
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Old 11-21-11, 02:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Yaniel
you can file down the tabs on your fork so that the quick release on the wheel could actually be a quick release.
I understand that... what I don't understand is how it pertains to the question at hand.
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Old 11-21-11, 03:08 PM
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Originally Posted by MegaTom
I understand that... what I don't understand is how it pertains to the question at hand.
I suspect these racks are liable to allow the fork to come loose if the fork mount is not tight....and the lawyer tabs prevent the fork from coming off the mount, just as they would prevent your front wheel from coming off even if you are an idiot and don't tighten the QR.

Now do you understand?
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Old 11-21-11, 03:14 PM
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Does it not mean that the QRs on the rack have more throw to clear the lawyer's lips?
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Old 11-22-11, 12:02 PM
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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."
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Old 11-22-11, 12:29 PM
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Originally Posted by justonwo
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."
Thanks....I LOVE happy endings!
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Old 11-22-11, 12:30 PM
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Originally Posted by datlas
Thanks....I LOVE happy endings!
That's what he said...
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