Ken Schroeter wrote: > > Not to start a Thule versus Yakima fight, but I've always wondered if Yakima > round bars allow accessories like the saddles or rollers roll on the bar. > It seemed to me that this would be a problem. Hmmm, the Thule vs. Yakima wars. I don't own either, although I did have Thules at one time, so I can comment without defending turf. >From the comments I have seen in earlier discussions, I believe here but possibly on other internet forums, the Yakimas do have that problem of the accessories rolling off center on the round bars. Some people report it, some don't. Some people have commented that the avoidance tactic (really tightening down the accessories hard) sometimes does damage to the connection over time. On the plus side for Yakimas, their round bars allow you to keep accessories on an exact horizontal plane when you have a car in which the roof is decidedly unflat and almost domelike in its configuration. A square bar setup, under such circumstances, would not have the accessories in absolute horizontal lineup. BTW, when considering racks, there is a world beyond Thule and Yakima. For example, Barrecrafters. Their bars happen to be square a la Thule and will accept Thule accessories, although Barrecrafters has its own array of accessories. The setups are priced less than Thule/Yakima and seem excellent in construction. Recently, I bought the Barrecrafters Unisport 1401 setup to use on rental cars. I have had limited experience with it but it will work on gutterless and gutter roofs pretty universally and is supposedly able to fit on 85 per cent of cars right out of the box, which is what I hope it will do (Thules and Yakimas have too many individualized hooks for specific cars to make them an option for the randomness of choices of rental cars). The Barrecrafters have the beauty of one large knob that tightens the bar on to each tower and that knob also cinches up the hook that grabs either a gutter or gutterless spot on your roof; i.e. it is all done in one smooth motion with no tools necessary not even a screwdriver. (there is also a backup setscrew type device that tightens the bar in place inside the tower but most of the grip is via that one knob that does that dual job). No tools and a pretty fast setup. Oh, there is a lock already built in, so no need to pay extra for that, not that any of rack locks are much deterrent. Up until now, I have been using a foam blocks setup to tie boats to rental car roofs but I have not liked the fact that they require running webbing straps through the car where in a quick stop you might get scalped. The Barrecrafters bar setup, I hope, will eliminate the need for that. Even if the company's claim is exaggerated and fits only 50 per cent of cars, I see that as an improvement in keeping my scalp. If I find a rental that it won't work on, I will just grab the foam blocks setup instead. Both setups are in a handy place with complete sets of straps and bow/stern tiedowns and would take only a few minutes to switch between. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Nov 22 2000 - 18:58:05 PST
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