Icycle

I have a 1999 Saturn SL2 with a Yakima roof system, and I currently have two bike racks for it. One is a traditional fork mount called the Sidewinder. The other is a discontinued model called the Sidewinder Duece, which holds the bike by a crank and straps both wheels to a wheel tray.

I recently bought a new touring bike, and I'm thinking about getting a new bike carrier for it as well. The bike is equipped with a low-rider front rack, so the fork mount doesn't work unless I remove the front rack, which would be a huge pain. The crank-secured rack makes me uncomfortable, because I feel like the crank and bottom brack on the bicycle aren't designed to handle the kinds of lateral stresses induced by sidewinds, turns, and potholes.

So can anyone recommend a Yakima-compatib roof-top carrier for a bicycle equipped with both a rear rack and a low-rider front rack and three bottle cages? Fork mounts are out, and downtube mounts like the Yakima Raptor would seem to be incompatible with the bottle cages. The Yakima Highroller and King Cobra seem like they would be OK, but if I ever decide to add fenders, it seems like the way the grip the front wheel would be incompatible with the fenders. Or perhaps I should just stick with my crank-mount model. Am I just being paranoid able lateral stresses?

acantor

I prefer a rack that attaches to the rear of the car as the car itself affords some protection from the wind. I know someone whose roof-mounted rack failed on a highway, resulting in the destruction of two expensive bicycles. Fortunately, there were no other vehicles around as the bikes bounced on the road at 100 km/hour.

Rear-mounted systems can fail, too, but I always check and double-check everything before setting off.

Icycle

For the rear mounted systems, I worry about rear-end collisions.

velo2000

It looks like the two non-fork bike carriers above the Raptor might work:


As long as the part that clamps on the front tire doesn't interfere with the front rack or fender. Also, the instructions for the Raptor make it sound like it might work even with your third bottle cage:
Maybe you can take your bike to a Yakima retailer for a trial fit?