It's time for a new bike rack and I want one that I can just load the bike on without taking the wheels off. I like the sidearm and highroller because they hold the wheel secure and not the frame. I like the design and ease of use that the side arm has but it looks ridiculous folded up, while the highroller is still pretty compact and aerodynamic when folded. Anybody recommend one over the other?
cmanco
i have used the sidearm for a few years, and really think it is a more stable rack than the highroller.
another benefit, and this may or may not pertain to your application, is that the wheel tray extends 16" from the front of the ratchet arm mechanism, making it "effectively" shorter. the highroller has a 52" wheel tray, which may cause rear door interference with some vehicles.
there is a video out there of the 2 racks on a road test, and it shows the sidearm to be much more stable...you might want to google/you tube for that. i think it was done by bike magazine....or search for this thread on mtbr and i may have posted it a year or 2 ago.
another benefit, and this may or may not pertain to your application, is that the wheel tray extends 16" from the front of the ratchet arm mechanism, making it "effectively" shorter. the highroller has a 52" wheel tray, which may cause rear door interference with some vehicles.
there is a video out there of the 2 racks on a road test, and it shows the sidearm to be much more stable...you might want to google/you tube for that. i think it was done by bike magazine....or search for this thread on mtbr and i may have posted it a year or 2 ago.
I have a Highroller tray (used to be trays). I like how it mounts the bike, it's easy to use and secure.
What I don't like is are the following:
1. The mount to the bar is not as secure as I would like it to be. There are two of those plastic around bar mounts that Yak uses in the front and one in the back. Even when tightened down hard, there is still wobble back and forth - it is not play, it's because there is only a single piece holding it at the back. It works fine, but it could be better.
2. The bike is dependent on being held in place by a ratchet mechanism that cannot be inspected in that holds the aft most front bar/wheel holder. If that ratchet is damaged you cannot tell AND it can be damaged in such a way that it gives the appearance of being completely functional but will suddenly drop flat when a certain release force is hit.
I ran my rack into an overhead piece (all my fault and not the racks) that caused it to force the aft most bar down without releasing the lock. This stripped the ratchet inside, or at least damaged it. Upon inspection, the rack appeared to be just fine, everything worked properly etc. But, if you tried to push the aft bar down, it would hold until a moderate (not high, but moderate) pressure was put on it and then it would suddenly and completely release. In comparison to a working one, you could put lots more pressure on it. This concerned me not because it was damaged (my fault) but that you could not inspect this all important mechanism to determine if it was ok or not.
So, the issue is that the ratchet had stripped, it is not user accessible. This means that if you ever force the aft bar down, you need to pretty much throw the whole thing away because you have no way of ever figuring out if it is still in good enough shape to put your expensive bike on board.
When I talked with Yak about this, they concurred. I also asked them what they think is their most stable and dependable rack. Their answer was the Sprocket Rocket. The Highroller is aimed at the market of big downhill bikes that may not fit well on a fork mount. There is still the issue of the wobble but that is probably not anything other than just a cosmetic thing and also the result of having a bike so high up on the car.
If you want to see a really stable rack that doesn't require wheel removal, look at the 1UpUSA roof trays. They use the same trays as on their hitch racks but bar mounted. They also have a much, much lower aero profile than do the HighRollers or the Sidearm thing from Thule, both of which are horrible for aerodynamics.
Roof Tray
That all said, the Highroller is a decent mount.
What I don't like is are the following:
1. The mount to the bar is not as secure as I would like it to be. There are two of those plastic around bar mounts that Yak uses in the front and one in the back. Even when tightened down hard, there is still wobble back and forth - it is not play, it's because there is only a single piece holding it at the back. It works fine, but it could be better.
2. The bike is dependent on being held in place by a ratchet mechanism that cannot be inspected in that holds the aft most front bar/wheel holder. If that ratchet is damaged you cannot tell AND it can be damaged in such a way that it gives the appearance of being completely functional but will suddenly drop flat when a certain release force is hit.
I ran my rack into an overhead piece (all my fault and not the racks) that caused it to force the aft most bar down without releasing the lock. This stripped the ratchet inside, or at least damaged it. Upon inspection, the rack appeared to be just fine, everything worked properly etc. But, if you tried to push the aft bar down, it would hold until a moderate (not high, but moderate) pressure was put on it and then it would suddenly and completely release. In comparison to a working one, you could put lots more pressure on it. This concerned me not because it was damaged (my fault) but that you could not inspect this all important mechanism to determine if it was ok or not.
So, the issue is that the ratchet had stripped, it is not user accessible. This means that if you ever force the aft bar down, you need to pretty much throw the whole thing away because you have no way of ever figuring out if it is still in good enough shape to put your expensive bike on board.
When I talked with Yak about this, they concurred. I also asked them what they think is their most stable and dependable rack. Their answer was the Sprocket Rocket. The Highroller is aimed at the market of big downhill bikes that may not fit well on a fork mount. There is still the issue of the wobble but that is probably not anything other than just a cosmetic thing and also the result of having a bike so high up on the car.
If you want to see a really stable rack that doesn't require wheel removal, look at the 1UpUSA roof trays. They use the same trays as on their hitch racks but bar mounted. They also have a much, much lower aero profile than do the HighRollers or the Sidearm thing from Thule, both of which are horrible for aerodynamics.
Roof Tray
That all said, the Highroller is a decent mount.
I can't suggest one over the other, but I recently got a sidearm and like it very much. Its a very sturdy rack and a bike mounts up in less than 30 sec. Every vid of the Yak that I've seen seems to show a mounted bike teetering from side to side once the car is in motion. Now THAT looks rediculous to me. LOL. See the beginning and the 3:33 mark of this vid, for example: Yakima FrontLoader Wheel Mount Bike Carrier Review Video | etrailer.com
Whereas the Thule mounted bike remains rock solid.
The look of it in the folded position never even occurred to me. I had no idea it looked ridiculous (but hey I ride a Lefty, too!). Its a roof rack. By definition, any rack kills a car's aero.
Whether ugly, beautiful or inbetween (it's all subjective after all), I just had no idea that roof rack aesthetics (when not in use) were important to people. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
In my eyes, form follows function. A good sturdy rack that also allows quick easy "touchless" wheel-on mounting is going to have some beef to it. That beefy aesthetic is much more pleasing to my eye than a bike teetering on one's roof via a minimalist rack that folds to a low profile when not in use.
In my eyes, form follows function. A good sturdy rack that also allows quick easy "touchless" wheel-on mounting is going to have some beef to it. That beefy aesthetic is much more pleasing to my eye than a bike teetering on one's roof via a minimalist rack that folds to a low profile when not in use.
I have 2 Thule side arms and they work great. I have 5 bikes of all wheels sizes and axles so fork mounts weren't an option.
They hold rock solid and don't interfere with my wagon's rear hatch like some of the longer tray racks. The only downside is how bulky they are when not in use.
The yakima ones looks very slick when not in use in comparison but I haven't personally used them.
They hold rock solid and don't interfere with my wagon's rear hatch like some of the longer tray racks. The only downside is how bulky they are when not in use.
The yakima ones looks very slick when not in use in comparison but I haven't personally used them.
I don't hear any more wind increase because of them (even with my bike on). I usually travel around 70-75mph on the highway too.
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Actually, my understanding is that both Yak and Rhule use the sidearm arrangement with rear wheel strap because of a patent held by 1UpUSA. 1Up licenses their patent to Raxter I believe.
I can't find the link right now. But there are other considerations other than what is the BEST way to do it.
If you want a totally solid roof rack, use a 1Up tray. It works better than either Yak or Thule.
I can attest that the Highroller works fine for thousands of miles, over bumps and at high speed. Any time you stand up a whole bike on a narrow tray you will get some wobble. It's sort of inherent in the whole design.
J.
I can't find the link right now. But there are other considerations other than what is the BEST way to do it.
If you want a totally solid roof rack, use a 1Up tray. It works better than either Yak or Thule.
I can attest that the Highroller works fine for thousands of miles, over bumps and at high speed. Any time you stand up a whole bike on a narrow tray you will get some wobble. It's sort of inherent in the whole design.
J.
The 1up looks nice and seems to be the real deal. Its certainly neat and tidy for those who are concerned with that. I have no opinion on it vs a Thule Sidearm or Yakima Strongarm set-up. Why do you say it's "better"?
I disagree that wobble is inherent in any stand-up design. The thing I like about the Sidearm is that the arm is VERY tightly pressed down into the front tire. On an MTB w/ 30 psi or so in the tires, the arm sinks deeply into the tire, compressing it into the tray with quite a bit of force. This, coupled with the rock solid base attachment results in zero wobble.
Does the 1up create significant tire compression?
Now wobble may not really matter in terms of ultimately losing a bike. I just do not like the aesthetic and insecure feeling of wobbly-mounted bikes.
The 1UpUSA racks wobble less than do my High rollers and about the same as do my sprocket rockets maybe a touch more. None of them are a problem nor do I think the Sidearms wobble would be a problem either. I think we can write this off as a non issue in all cases.
It's easy to load the bike into the 1UpUSA - just put it up there and then pull inwards on both wheel holders simultaneously. You can get considerable tire compression that way. However, you are not dependent on wheel compression to hold the bike in the rack because both wheels are contained and can't come out - unlike the sidearm/rear wheel strap designs like the sidearm. Even if your tires go flat the bike will not come out. There have been numerous cases of the sidearm/rear wheel designs having just this problem with a slowly deflating tire when loaded in the rack.
Using the 1UpUSA roof rack, you can get the same tire compression as on the Sidearm but you don't need to and it just makes it tougher to open. You only need to make sure that the tire is held firmly. Also, there is no failure mode where it cn can fail open, as can happen if the arm fails on the Sidearm (ratchet stripping). For what it's worth, I stripped out the ratchet on one of my Highrollers when I ran it into the garage. Would still hold a bike and looked fine, but firm pressure on the wheel holding mechanism caused it to fail open. That's a serious problem when the ratchet mechanism isn't available for easy inspection and the arm holding the single wheel can be a single point of failure.
J.
It's easy to load the bike into the 1UpUSA - just put it up there and then pull inwards on both wheel holders simultaneously. You can get considerable tire compression that way. However, you are not dependent on wheel compression to hold the bike in the rack because both wheels are contained and can't come out - unlike the sidearm/rear wheel strap designs like the sidearm. Even if your tires go flat the bike will not come out. There have been numerous cases of the sidearm/rear wheel designs having just this problem with a slowly deflating tire when loaded in the rack.
Using the 1UpUSA roof rack, you can get the same tire compression as on the Sidearm but you don't need to and it just makes it tougher to open. You only need to make sure that the tire is held firmly. Also, there is no failure mode where it cn can fail open, as can happen if the arm fails on the Sidearm (ratchet stripping). For what it's worth, I stripped out the ratchet on one of my Highrollers when I ran it into the garage. Would still hold a bike and looked fine, but firm pressure on the wheel holding mechanism caused it to fail open. That's a serious problem when the ratchet mechanism isn't available for easy inspection and the arm holding the single wheel can be a single point of failure.
J.
To be clear, 1UpUSA has a roof tray too. I probably have serial #1 of that - a tray that fits either on the rear hitch set up OR on the roof rack.
It has the lowest cross section in front than either the Yak Highroller or the Thule Sidearm, you don't need to remove the wheels and it is more secure than either.
J.
It has the lowest cross section in front than either the Yak Highroller or the Thule Sidearm, you don't need to remove the wheels and it is more secure than either.
J.
Sorry to bump a zombie thread here, but I wanted to see if anyone else here had used the 1upusa roof rack could comment on its attachment to the crossbars. I had to get a whole new setup to fit my Subie legacy since the fit kits arent made for the older style 400xt footpacks. Since noise, especially with my sunroof open, always bothered my a bit I decided to get the Thule aeroblades (hitch was not an option, too much multi sport use) I have a thule sidearm now, but like how low profile the 1up tray is when folded.
How does the 1upusa roof tray clamp to the crossbars? Would it be able to clamp to a wide, asymmetric bar like the Aeroblade? Does John or anyone else have a pic of the clamp mechanism?
How does the 1upusa roof tray clamp to the crossbars? Would it be able to clamp to a wide, asymmetric bar like the Aeroblade? Does John or anyone else have a pic of the clamp mechanism?
I'm not sure why anyone would bump a thread with thule and yakima in the title and then ask about the 1up rack.....
anyway I was waxing my car today and had the rack off so I snapped a couple of pictures.
anyway I was waxing my car today and had the rack off so I snapped a couple of pictures.Attachments
I received my 1up on April 30 (less than a month ago). Possibly norm's brackets are the ones spaced for aero bars.
I have a Inno rack for skis and stuff. It's ok - basically a Thule knockoff.
Apparently 1UpUSA has a patent (if I understand it correctly) for holding both wheels with a bar like that. That's why everyone else like Yak and Thule that use a piece the holds the tire use a strap for the other tire. Apparently they have licensed their patent to Raxter. Be interesting to see what happens with this Inno rack.
J.
Apparently 1UpUSA has a patent (if I understand it correctly) for holding both wheels with a bar like that. That's why everyone else like Yak and Thule that use a piece the holds the tire use a strap for the other tire. Apparently they have licensed their patent to Raxter. Be interesting to see what happens with this Inno rack.
J.
I ran across this discussion a little while back when trying to decide whether to go with a Sidearm or Highroller and promised myself I'd come back and post up my own thoughts after using one or the other.
I had been using a Thule Peleton with an all Thule roof setup on my car, but needed to add a new rack for my AM setup with 20mm thru-axle. I had great success with my Peleton and Thule in general, so that was my first stop for researching a new rack. I looked at the sidearm and big mouth, but got an amazing deal on a new highroller.
It was a breeze to set up and loading my bike up was quick and painless, but I wasn't overly comfortable with the look and feel. Granted, any fork mount carrier will seem a bit more secure, but I began to worry about putting my pride and joy on the Highroller and heading down the road.
After a few weeks of use, both on and off the highway with some pretty decent winds, the Highroller has calmed a lot of my initial worries. The front metal wheel arm brace resting against plastic molding still doesn't inspire a ton of confidence in the long run, but so far, I've had absolutely no issues.
I like not having any part of the rack resting, gripping or otherwise in contact with my frame or fork. It really is easy to load the bike up and go. Overall, I've been very pleased with the purchase.
I had been using a Thule Peleton with an all Thule roof setup on my car, but needed to add a new rack for my AM setup with 20mm thru-axle. I had great success with my Peleton and Thule in general, so that was my first stop for researching a new rack. I looked at the sidearm and big mouth, but got an amazing deal on a new highroller.
It was a breeze to set up and loading my bike up was quick and painless, but I wasn't overly comfortable with the look and feel. Granted, any fork mount carrier will seem a bit more secure, but I began to worry about putting my pride and joy on the Highroller and heading down the road.
After a few weeks of use, both on and off the highway with some pretty decent winds, the Highroller has calmed a lot of my initial worries. The front metal wheel arm brace resting against plastic molding still doesn't inspire a ton of confidence in the long run, but so far, I've had absolutely no issues.
I like not having any part of the rack resting, gripping or otherwise in contact with my frame or fork. It really is easy to load the bike up and go. Overall, I've been very pleased with the purchase.
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