Icycle

I have a Yakima roof rack system on my car, with several bike racks. But none of my existing racks work well, if at all with my touring bike.

My bike is a Bruce Gordon BLT, equipped with front and rear racks, front and rear fenders, and three bottle cages. The front rack and fender interfere with fork mount bike racks. I also have an AnkleBiter Deuce, which clamps onto the pedal crankarm. The attachment point needs to clamp on about halfway up the crankarm to keep the bike vertical, but it tends to slide down to the pedal, causing the bike to flop over about 15 degrees from vertical.

So I'm thinking about getting a new roof rack to be able to carry around my touring bike. Of the current Yakima rooftop bike rack models, the HighRoller, King Cobra, and Raptor seem like the most likely to be compatible with my touring bike. However, I'm not sure.

The Raptor clamps onto the downtube, and it seems like there might be a conflict with the bottle changes on the top and bottom of the downtube. Both the HighRoller and King Cobra grab the front and back of the front wheel, and it seems like this might conflict with the front fender.

Does anyone have any experience with putting a similarly equipped touring bike in a rooftop bike rack? Are any of these likely to work? If not, what options should I consider?

oldride

I have a Yakima system with the earlier version of the Raptor. I think mine was called Lock Jaw but it looks the same as the Raptor. I've had no trouble fitting my road and/or MTB (with 2 cages, 3 might be a problem)on the rack. However because of the increased drag, wind resistance at highway speeds, I'm considering installing a receiver hitch and rack. I use to have a receiver type hitch/rack on an older car and it kept the bikes cleaner and didn't affect mileage. YMMV

Icycle

I pretty certain that the third bottle cage under the downtube would interfere with a downtube clamp like this. However, of all the accessories on my bikes, the third bottle cage is the one I'd be most inclined to remove to mount my bike on the car, since removing a bottle cage is relatively easy compared to a fender or pannier rack. Anything but the very shortest of bottles interferes with the front fender in that position anyway, so it's of limited utility as it is. I wonder if this same Raptor rack would be compatible with my Breezer Uptown 8 U-frame? This bike has a very large diameter oval downtube. Yakima claims to support up to 3" diameter tubes, so I think this should work.

I've been hesitant to consider hitch receiver and trunk mounted bike racks to the possibility of much larger damage to the bike and/or car in the event of a rear-end collision.

bwgride

Two tie-down straps will provide you with an inexpensive option that will allow you to secure the bicycle very well to the roof rack. Use one on the left side and one on the right; once in place, you would not even need the ankle biter (although using that plus the straps makes for a very secure mount).

Econoline

I'm going through the same considerations right now myself. I have a Yakima Boa (fork mount) roof rack, and touring bikes with low rider front panniers. The fork ends need to extend below the low riders in order to use the fork mount, which is an extension of about 6". A "Fork-Up" adapter like this https://www.hurricanecomponents.com/product.php?id=3 would be the perfect solution, but it only gives 3" of extension. The only other options would be a hitch mounted rack like the Thule T2 (big bucks) or one of the Yakima downtube clamp mounts which don't really appeal to me and are bulky to store.

So I'm looking for other options to this dilemma too. One of my buddies uses a small pickup truck to carry touring bikes upright. He fabricated a very simple rack from a 2x4 and some hardware that clamps the bottom of the low rider front rack to the 2x4 keeping everything nice and secure. But of course this requires a pickup truck, van or tall SUV, none of which I have.

Econoline

UPDATE: I telephoned Hurricane Components about their Fork-Up Riser adapter, and they are looking at the possibility of making me a Riser with 6" of extension instead of the usual 3". This would allow the Yakima Boa fork mount to work with low rider panniers. Don't know anything further yet, but it maybe possible. If anyone else is interested in this product, let me know, and I could possibly propose a group purchase.

lighthorse

I always remember a comment on a "roof rack" thread a few years ago. If you are going to use a roof rack to haul your bikes, always put the garage door opener in the trunk of the vehicle before you leave home. It just might save you an expensive lesson.

Icycle

A 6" fork riser on a standard fork mounted bike rack sounds like just about an ideal solution. I might be a little worried about front to back stability, but lateral stability should be excellent, and there would be no conflicts with any of my accessories. Hopefully if enough of us express interest Hurricane Components will start to make it!

Econoline

As soon as I hear back from Hurricane Comp I'll post it here.

Icycle

I just realized that while it is about 6" from my fork to the bottom of my low-rider rack, it is less than 3" from the fork to the front of my low-rider rack. So if I were to mount the normal Fork-Up extender on a Boa rack, with the Fork-Up rotated 90 degrees to point backwards instead of straight up, it would probably work! This is of course assuming that my crossbar spread is wide enough to be compatible with the Boa. Otherwise, my front fender would still conflict with the wheel tray of a normal fork mount rack.

JackJ

I'm very interested. I've got two bikes with long front fenders (Honjos), and even with the Yakima Boa, I need more clearance. I'd contacted Hurricane several months ago, and their Fork-Up riser was out of stock then. They said they'd call me when it was back in, but I lost interest because I didn't think it would give me enough clearance. I'm considering getting a Yakima Raptor, but am not thrilled with that design.

Jack

CCrew

I have the Yakima Raptor. You can control where on the frame it grabs, by moving the tray fore/aft as needed. Not a world of adjustment, but some - in the range of several inches on the tube. That allows you to miss bottles, etc.

-Roger

Econoline

My Blackburn Custom lowrider rack measures about 5" to the bottom or front of the rack from the fork end, so that won't work for me. I think you would need to rest the bottom of the rack on the car's roof to make this setup stable enough. I doubt that the Fork-Up quick release could be made sufficiently tight to prevent the fork from rotating lower when the car is moving.

Econoline

*** UPDATE ***

I heard back from Hurricane Components today, and they are willing to fabricate a "Hi-Riser" Fork-Up with more than 3" of rise. The price would not exceed their MSRP of $52.50, and he said they might be cheaper depending upon quantity. https://www.hurricanecomponents.com/product.php?id=3

So if anyone besides me wants a Hi-Riser, this is the time to let me know, and tell me the quantity. You won't be sending me any money, we will each purchase through Hurricane Components as individuals.

The other thing they need to know is the precise rise that we want them to fabricate, and that needs to be the same for all of us. I suspect we may all have different low-rider racks and different roof racks, so measure carefully what minimum rise you need, and don't forget the the Yakima Boa style fork mount adds some rise itself. My first generation Boa has 1.5" of rise. So the minimum rise I need in the Fork-Up is a little less than 4".

IN SUMMARY:

If you want a Hi-Riser, PM me with:

1. Quantity you want to buy.
2. Desired rise in inches.

Let me know if you have any questions on this.

Icycle

Last Friday I went to my local REI and bought a Raptor, and it works like a champ. It easily and securely fits both my touring bike and my Breezer Uptown 8. The only modification I had to make was to remove the bottle cage under the downtube. And that wasn't much of a sacrifice since that bottle cage was incompatible with my front fender anyway.

kuan

I found a solution in case anyone is still looking.

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/471013-found-fork-mount-lowrider-racks.html