The new Viper fork mount carries on Yakima's tradition for creating the best looking, highest performing, most durable bike mounts on the market.
For anyone looking to own the top of the line bike mount, the Viper is the ticket. Yakima's Viper is the first fork mount to carry bikes equipped with dual piston brakes while fitting all 9mm fork tips. With its clean looking, all-metal construction, the Viper easily mounts to Yakima or Thule bars with an oversized red lever, while the nickel plated long throw 9 mm skewer makes the Viper extremely easy-to-use. A fully locking system, the Viper out-performs all other fork mounts.
Submitted by
freezingprocess
a Cross Country Rider
from Oxford,NJ
Date Reviewed: May 28, 2010
Strengths: Does what it's supposed to do- firmly holds on to your bike- and does it well. Everything is well designed.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
I passed this up and bought the slightly-cooler looking Thule Echelon first, which is total junk in terms of functionality. Lesson learned and priorities changed. The Viper out-classes the Echelon hands down. Very well engineered; and for less money! If you're looking for a rack that you can clamp your bike on to and be confident it will still be up there when you get where you're going, buy the Viper.
This rack has served me well for four years. I've easily accommodated hardtail, dualies, and road bikes without trouble and feel that they are more than secure enough to drive highway or bumpy dirt roads. This product certainly works as advertised. I feel perfectly comfortable leaving bikes on the rack at pit stops along the highway with the added locks, though I suppose they are more of a deterrent than anything else. To that end, I would not leave a bike on the rack overnight at a hotel or in my driveway for that matter. The rack system (towers, crossbars, core locks, and fork mounts) is expensive...but then again, so is your bike. If you're going to take your bike places often, this rack (and system) should certainly top your list.
One caution: I would *not* leave the fork mounts on the rack in the winter. I'm sure the crossbars and towers are designed for cold wether, but I'm not certain about the fork mount. I always remove the entire rack from the car at the beginning of winter to avoid excess wear.
The rack system does cause some noise on the highway, especially when bikes are mounted, and even with the windjammer (front spoiler thing). Doesn't bother me though.
Lastly, I've had excellent experiences with the Yakima customer service. Some end caps fell off (stolen?) of the crossbars, and Yakima replaced them with locking endcaps for free a few years back. This year I called and asked how much it would cost to replace the towers' feet...I was sent four free replacements.
Submitted by
Ed
a Cross Country Rider
from Salt Lake City, Utah
Date Reviewed: February 28, 2006
Strengths: Holds bike well, fairly easy to load
Weaknesses: Durability! After only one year the skewers were useless due to nut rustwelding to the bolt. And $25 to replace each one? Absurd. It's a fricking bolt. But it seems typical of many of the Yakima products I've used that are ridiculously expensive and have problems with rust. No excuse for the rust problem - with the cost of the rack and where it's designed to be used the skewer bolts should be rustproof.
Bottom Line:
It's unfortunate there aren't alternatives to this stuff, as I've seen dubious quality with several of the Yakima products I've used (like rust on the inside of the bars that eventually winds up dripping down the side of your car). Come on Yakima, you can do better.
Strengths: - Easy to mount bikes - Solid, holds tight - Secure enough to leave if you're parked in a well lit, crowded area.
Weaknesses: - Slight wobble when you push your bike side to side - Not as secure as locking your bike inside your house - Not too secure if you leave it overnight in a dangerous neighborhood (duh!). But neither is your car.
Bottom Line:
I drove a 1500 mile trip at speeds topping 95 mph that included a 150 mile leg through the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia with heavy rain, high winds and wind gusts and the bike stayed secure the whole time.
I also left the bike in a few mall and grocery store parking lots and the bike stayed put.
At around 75 mph and up, you can hear the air whistling around the bike so close your windows cuz it gets louder the faster you go. I didn't notice any wobble, but the only way for me to check it was to look at the shadow the bike cast while driving. Passing trucks adds a little extra turbulence, but that's to be expected. However, drafting trucks cuts down on turbulence and allows you to slingshot around them.
Security can be a concern, but why would you leave your bike on the roof in a dangerous neighborhood? Otherwise, it's secure enough to discourage opportunity theft.
Four chilis if you buy new, but 5 if you buy used like I did.
Bike Setup: Haro Vector Series V2C, Manitou SRX 2000 fork
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Got2GoFast
a Weekend Warrior
from Russellville, AR
Date Reviewed: May 10, 2005
Strengths: Seems pretty solid. Has held up well considering I nearly broke it the first week that I had it--be careful going through McDonald's drive-thru's. Amazingly nothing happened to my bike, but the wheeltray on the rack bent down and a little to the right. The collision even shifted my lowrider rack system back a few inches and slightly warped the rear crossbar. You gotta love Raleigh bikes. I still can't believe it came out unscathed. The rack wasn't too hard to fix. It took a hammer and some caveman pulling and the whelltray finally got back to semi-straight again. Worked fine ever since.
Weaknesses: Wish the wheeltray was a little sturdier. It wasn't like I rammed into the building at full speed. I was barely rolling forward and snagged the tarp awning of the cashier's window. Thought it surely would've held up against that. I didn't even drive all the way through. I back up as soon as I heard the first noise of something being wrong. Still a great mount, though. Just don't go running into anything while you got a bike up top. I'm an idiot.
Bottom Line:
Get it. It'll work better than any of the other racks out there. Takes a lickin and keeps on tickin. Giving it 3 chili's on value just because they're a little expensive if you don't get a deal on them. (MSRP $129.00) But if want the best of the best, then quit being a penny-pincher and dish out the dinero for one.
Submitted by
Tim Rapp
a Cross Country Rider
from Boulder, CO
Date Reviewed: May 7, 2005
Strengths: Easy to load bike, looks great, disc brake compatible, secure locking.
Weaknesses: Slow to move to another car.
Bottom Line:
Works well for both road and mountain bikes. Designed to work with bikes that have disc brakes. Great bike mount if you leave it on your car. If you need to switch it to another car (e.g. for road trips) then it can be a pain. Skewer is unnecessarily long, takes a while to unscrew all the way, which must be done to remove mount from crossbars. I plan to cut my skewers about 1/2 - 1 cm shorter. Rear tire strap is hard to remove if you get it too tight, the solution is to just ratchet it until it contacts the rim -- tell your riding buddies this *before* they load their bikes.
Similar Products Used: Rhode Gear rack. Also have a King Cobra.
Bike Setup: Turner XCE
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Submitted by
John Clasen
a Weekend Warrior
from Portland, OR
Date Reviewed: August 13, 2003
Strengths: Bike mounts quickly and is sturdy.
Weaknesses: Locks aren't very assuring.
Bottom Line:
This rack system is easy to put on your car and to use. It will hold your bike on no matter what, my wife rammed both of our bikes into a carport and they stayed locked in the mounts. The locks are OK, at least they would slow a thief down. I would never, under any circustance, leave my bike on the car over night. All you need is an Allen wrench and you take the bike, leave the fork. I do, however, feel comfortable leaving it on while I run into store. This is the best rack system out. Anyone in the market for a rack should get this one, it's worth it.
Similar Products Used: Rhode Gear trunk mounted rack.
Bike Setup: Specialized S-works M4, Rock Shox SID SL, XTR components.
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Submitted by
Brendan
a Weekend Warrior
from Oakland
Date Reviewed: June 23, 2003
Strengths: Great, very fast. Strong, I've driven 85 mph with two bikes on and didn't even have to think twice about it. Slick looking. FIts road and mountain bikes well.
Weaknesses: none.
Bottom Line:
Great product, owned by a good company in northern California, made locally. I wouldn't leave my bike on this overnight. But I wouldn't see a reason to, it only takes 30 seconds to put the bike on. I don't have a problem leaving my bike on at the grocery store. It is perfect. I would buy this over all other racks. I was working at the sportsbasement and could have gotten a Thule rack, but chose not to bc Yakima's design is better and are a local company. Great product.
Bike Setup: no disc brakes but wanted to upgrade if I had the chance. That and my roommate's bike had a disc brake.
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Submitted by
Ted Schlaack
a Cross Country Rider
from McKinney, Texas USA
Date Reviewed: March 9, 2003
Strengths: 10 Second Load time, Once it is set there is no adjustment, Rock solid. Three bikes mounted to my trucks glass lid with rail riders and I have driven in 35 mph cross winds with no issues. Heck the wife even put the bike into the garage and the rack didn't budge! Easy to use, fits all bikes I have tried, good security, and zero hassle.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
Best fork mount bike rack I have ever seen. Easy to use.
Strengths: Set's up easily on the vehicle. Holds the bike tight and secure. The quality of the hardware is very nice and it looks good on my vehicle.
Weaknesses: I have found none at this time. It is a little expensive, but that's to be expected, because we all don't go out and buy a new rack every year or so. That's of couse you have lot's of money to through around.
Bottom Line:
I hear some saying alot about crime area's and that the security locks are not that great. I live near Baltimore, and locks or no locks, the bike does not stay on top of my car too long without me being near. As someone has said, if you are a good thief you'll get the bike anyway no matter what locks you have. Over night... NO WAY!. You need to go into a restaurant... great, get a window seat. If not, then go the drive through rout. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would not trust my bike on top of my car no matter what rack I own for any extended period of time.I have already folded the seats down and place the bike on the inside of the car in questionable area's.
All in all, it's a great piece of harware, so but it!
Similar Products Used: Performance brand, EXPORT, Nice rack for the money though.
Bike Setup: NRS-1, Trek 8500, D-back XR-4, Specialized Hardrock.
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Submitted by
Vick
a Weekend Warrior
from Los Angeles
Date Reviewed: December 2, 2002
Strengths: Slick design, does not fight you. Reasonably secure.
Weaknesses: Steep list price. Wait till clearance days and get em cheap.
Bottom Line:
I wouldn't trust this in a bad neighborhood, with my bike in it over night, but, with a cable lock on it as well i feel pretty comfortable leaving it outside a restaurant for a couple of hours. The price is outrageous, so, shop around and wait for sales.
If you don't think about the price, this rack has about all the features one would need. The locking mechanism although it could probably be broken by a skilled thief, is still solid enough and well constructed enough to deter most casual would be thieves. The lock is definitely better than the one of the Yakima Copperhead which I also reviewed.
If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably have dished out the extra $40 and bought myself another Viper rather than sticking with the Copperhead which has no real ability to lock your bike down.
Submitted by
Don
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, Texas, USA
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2001
Strengths: Sturdy, easy to use.
Weaknesses: Locking mechanism is a joke.
Bottom Line:
This is a good product for transporting bikes but the security lock system could be broken so easy it is virtually useless. Since the product is a redesign of a similar product to improve security it is a total failure. If you have any concerns about leaving your bike in this product overnight in even a low to moderate crime area you should think again. A 1/4" chisel, a 10 oz hammer and one blow would easily snap off the locking mechanism.
