Yakima LockJaw Bike Carrier

Price Paid:  $999.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 lockjaw

Summary:
I took my 82 Volvo 240 ninja car on a jeep road in the rockies with 2 heavy double-butted CRMO frame mtn bikes. After an hour of serious bumps and side to side tilting, the rack had only shifted about 5mm in any direction. Pretty serious gear I'd say.

Strengths:
yep

Weaknesses:
expensive

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $350.00 from Apache Village

Year / Model Reviewed:
 2001/Lockjaw

Summary:
I may have wasted my money. I have 4 "Lockjaws" mounted on my 2001 Coleman Pop-up Tent Camper. My first year with the product, I took my family on a trip to Florida. Two of the rivets that held the crossbars to the brackets sheared off which meant a "rest stop repair". Since then the other two have broken and I have had to repair them. I just got back from a trip to South Carolina and had to stop 3 seperate times to make repairs. The first was when the rivet that holds the lockjaw arm at the pivot point broke on one side causing the bike to lean precariously to the side. The second and third near disasters were that bolts that cam the lockjaw shut broke in half. This caused the lockjaws to let go of the bikes. The only thing holding the bikes on were the straps at the front and back wheels. I am left with the option of either buying replacement parts or starting all over.

Strengths:
Easy to access bikes and don't need to remove wheels. Looks impressive.

Weaknesses:
Weak rivots that hold crossbars to brackets. Bolts used to cam jaws shut broke after 1 1/2 years of use. Paint scratched off of bikes from jaws.

Similar Products Used:
This is the first time I have purchased a roof mount system.

Price Paid:  $85.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Purchased 2001

Summary:
Other than the weakness, below, the Lockjaw seemed to work well for me. I drove it from Minnesota to Colorado and back.

Strengths:
None

Weaknesses:
One problem that I encountered was a bit of a surprise. I was driving up Guanella Pass Road, near Georgetown, CO. At one switchback, the car was tilted to the left as it rounded the turn. As I completed the turn, the right side of the car dipped into a depression rather suddenly. The inertia of the bike caused the Lockjaw to release its grip and the bike fell on its left side, held in place by the plastic buckles at the front and read. It's possible that I hadn't tightened the jaws that last turn, I can't be sure. I did make sure I tightened it as far as I could after this incident.

Fortunately, the only damage was a bit of scraped paint on my luggage rack (std. Subaru Forester). On less improved roads try to avoid this kind of rolling motion, which can come up suddenly and violently.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $80.00

Summary:
I bought one used for $30 and the other new for about $80. I would recommend them to anyone, especially if they don't want to remove the front tire. I have been quite happy. I leave the rack on all year and have for 3+ years. The red is a little sun faded, but they still work GREAT. They are abit $$$, as is all yakima stuff, but they are life long quality.

Strengths:
It is a very easy system to load and use. I am lazy enough to not always want to remove the front tire. It takes about 8 seconds to throw it up there. EASY. It is also very sturdy. I drove to alaska from chicago and back in one summer with 2 bikes on the roof of my subaru with no problems. I hit high speeds (before montana changed the limit) and carved up the mountains with no problems. Then I drove it into a low overhang. oops. I destroyed the wheel trays, but that was a concrete wall at 20 mph... but I replaced the trays and they still work great. They have migrated to my new car as well, an audi.

Weaknesses:
I wish I had purchased the locking units, but at the time, I couldn't lock the rack to the car, so there was no point. I used a large chain and that was fine. Some people think it isn't very secure, but a little tweaking, and you can make it quite tight.

Similar Products Used:
I have used fork mount racks and trunk/hitch mounts. It is much more secure than trunk/hitch units. The fork mounts are a bit tighter and (IMHO) a prettier.

Year / Model Reviewed:
 98 jetta

Summary:
This was my first bike rack, and admittedly, I purchased for the convenience the system offered. Today, I have a different bike and a fork-mounted system. It's really not that much trouble removing the wheel, especially considering the 'ease of mind' I have knowing I can trust the solidity of rack-to-bike connection. No side movement here!!

Strengths:
Easy to use, but that's about it.

Weaknesses:
Not as stable as fork mounted systems, wind, bumps, etc will place unnecessary force and eventually rub the paint off the down-tube where the bars clamp to the bike.

Similar Products Used:
yakima steelhead