Yakima HighRoller Bike Mount
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The Yakima HighRoller upright bike mount secures your full-suspension mountain bike or your lightweight road bike to your roof rack for easy transport to your favorite bike trail.
Shop similar products- Strong, wide wheel tray holds tires from monster freeride bikes to the skinniest of road bikes—no adapters necessary
- Firmly grips wheel sizes 20 - 29 in.
- Handles disc brakes, thru axles or funky suspensions like it's any other bike
- Single, easy-to-reach knob controls retention, adjustment and release
- Sliding wheel tray is easy to adjust so positioning the rear wheel is a no-brainer
- Doesn't touch any painted surfaces of your bike, so no worries of scratches
- Premium finish gives it that sweet, high-money look
- Fits round and square crossbars; compatible with factory rack crossbars when you add Universal MightyMounts or MightyMounts (sold separately)
- Integrated cable lock for security (lock cores sold separately)
Imported.
| Best Use | Cycling |
|---|---|
| Number of Bikes | 1-bike |
| Weight | 20 pounds |
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Ups and downs.
I had a couple issues with the HighRoller specifically, and a couple with Yakima as a whole. First and foremost, the HighrRoller WORKS WELL with my Devinci Wilson, mounted on a Mk3 Jetta. Some Modifications were needed, but I'll get there. I got my first HighRoller, and it had broken tabs on the plastic shrouding that covers the mounting points. The Yakima logo was a peeling sticker and the red plastic buttons were faded. This was a previously used and returned item. I give no fault for its neglect and failure to preform. Make note of the broken plastic shrouding, however. These parts are necessary to the unit, as they serve as stability points for the front u-bar. Without them, the bike will roll all the way forward and hang off the front of the unit, not seeded in its tray properly. Second HighRoller had broken internals. The dial wouldn't tighten without excessive force, and the quick release button failed. The guts were all backwards basically. Third one I purchased is about a month old and has been doing VERY WELL. Fitment. The hardware probably works well if you have a Yakima or Thule load bar setup, but if you have aero bars, a Nissan X-Terra, or factory bars from Volkswagen, be prepared to fashion your own mounting hardware, as the fit kits Yakima offer just don't work. Mighty Mounts are plastic and Flex too much, Aero Bar kit is the same. I ended up machining my own mounts for a truly secure fit. A kit made specifically for proper fitment should never include shims, and should not be made out of plastic. Once you have a complete and properly set up unit, however, THIS THING ROCKS!!! Simply pull the bars open, literally toss your bike up there, and it holds itself up as you strap your bike in. I have used other roof racks, and I can't stand it when a bumpy road, or highway winds toss your investment two feet left/right. If your HighRoller is properly secured to your car, the bike will barely sway or budge, making you feel confident that nothing will blow it off. The rear strap easily slides forward and back with the bike mounted for adjustability, and the ratchet system does a good job. hasn't popped loose yet. The HighRoller does NOT like to be overtightened. Just dial it in as much as you need to. I don't use the locking attachment, I run my own "handcuff" locks to guarantee my bike doesn't get jacked. Speaking of security. There is no good locking system out there. SKS lock cores pop out with a cordless drill. Use Locktite or JB weld to secure your HighRoller to your car, because thieves will just pop the locks and remove your whole rack with bike still attached, using a rubber hammer and a cordless drill. I have seen this aftermath here in Spokane, people go to their car and the whole rack popped right off- bike and all. Quick issue to note with Yakima: Their fitment can sometimes be weird. Volkswagen has rack mounting points clearly marked on their cars, and any VW dealership/specialist will tell you not to mount your footprint anywhere else. Yakima's instructions often differ than what factory specs require. So, you pick one, the other or somewhere in between? I called Yakima and they said to use YAKIMA SPECS only, or it will not fit properly, and anything different will void their warranty. The load bars never stayed on, and I now have four lovely dents in my roof. This isn't my first roof rack, and I have lots of experience with automobiles, so I know user error is possible, but not likely. Word of advice: Always follow vehicle recommendations, not the roof rack company. Get the factory rack system no matter how much more it costs.
High Roller...
Initially, I really liked this rack. It was very simple to setup and easy to use. I really liked the rack for about the first 6-8 months. Then I started having some difficulties. First, I am a bigger guy and I like downhill mountain biking. Which means, I have a heavy bike. Initially, the rack was fine, held the bike great. However, after about 6 months of use on the weekends back and forth to the trails, the rack developed slop which would not have been a problem, however, Yakima did not provide a way to adjust the slop out. Over the next couple of months, the bike would bounce around alot more than I was comfortable with. I think that if you had a lighter bike (under 30 lbs) this would not be much of an issue. But even better would be for Yakima to provide a way to adjust the slop in the wheel holding bars for long term use. Second, the cable for the locking mechanism is much too puny. I always back up the lock of a rack like this with a LARGE cable lock an u-lock type of thing. I came to my car one day after riding to find that someone had snipped the yakima cable. The other cable that I had on it was messed with but intact, so I was able to keep my bike. I think Yakima needs to either provide a beefier locking mechanism for this rack or eliminate it altogether. Third issue. The plastic clips that are used to attatch the High Roller to the roof rack leave the most to be desired. This is the interface that holds the bike to the car and secures everything together. This piece can be cut by an in expensive pocket knife and I feel this is the Achilles heel of the high roller. I don't want to trust my $5,000 bike to a .25 piece of plastic. I think that if Yakima were to address these 3 issues, they would have an EXCELLENT product here.
Buyer beware! This item should be recalled!
I bought two of these carriers for my our 29" mountain bikes. They look great. Yakima is otherwise an excellent brand. And they appeared to be a step up in terms of their other model, the $20 cheaper "Front Loader". Fast forward to the third use. We were reloading our bikes after a long day on the trails, and one of the loaders was "ratcheting". When you went to tighten on the front wheel, the tightening knob kept popping and the tension was released. You could notice a difference in the knob action between the two units. This left us stranded, high and dry in the mountains with no where to load the other bike! What an ordeal! Thankfully, this didn't happen while driving. That would have been even messier! I brought them back to REI for a replacement. During this process I did some google searching and found this has been happening quite a bit to other users. It turns out that there is a plastic gear internal to the device which strips out. I can't imagine that on a $200 bike rack, meant to protect your significant investment(s), that a cheap plastic gear holds the tension on the bike! Now, onto the replacement. I replaced it with two of the Front Loaders, also by Yakima. First observation is that the tightening knobs do not have the same "quick release button" that the High Roller has. So no plastic gear to strip. Definitely a more reliable design! Yakima needs to take note. Overall, I would say that the High Roller looks and feels to be the superior rack. It is also more aerodynamic than the Front Loader. But due to the ratcheting issue, I can't imagine loading my bikes into that model until the issue is resolved. So buyer beware! Thank you REI for the amazing customer service as always! The exchange process went smoothly and the staff at the REI East Hanover store handled the situation perfectly and were extremely helpful! This is why I come back to you guys!
Solid rack. Build can be OK
I bought two of these racks, one had to go back due to a malfunctioning tension knob. The replacement works but the angle of the front wheel holder is slighter steeper than my other rack, which makes securing a 29er a little more difficult as you have to hold the back bar with your hand while tightening before it stays. Not a really big deal, but it makes me a little suspect of the initial build quality. My first rack is perfect, and works amazingly well, very happy with it, easy loading and securing. Would give it 5 stars if I didn't have my initial problem.
Not Quite There
The materials and design of this rack give the impression that it's sturdy and easy to use. In reality, it works, but needs a lot of tweaks: -- The removable baseplates stay on only while the rack is uninstalled. When it's installed, there isn't enough clearance from the bar for the baseplate to clip all the way in, so it's loose every time. No amount of force or wiggling will keep it attached for more than 30 seconds. -- My road bike with 700/28mm tires wobbled a lot. Adjusting the handle on the front bar does nothing to mitigate this, nor will tightening the back bar. I had to run a tight bungee around the bottom of my front wheel and the baseplates to minimize the wobble. -- The red release button is useless. It just doesn't work, at all. Fortunately, you still have the option to loosen the back bar manually. A bike with fatter wheels might wobble less, but you still have the loose baseplate and the useless red button. This rack works, but I'm returning it for something with a more tried and true design.
Beware 29ers
Positives: Set up was easy and well thought out by Yakima! Love that you only need one core lock to lock everything together. Looks nice in the new all black color for 2013. Negatives: Had to jam the front tire holding clamp to extreme end of u-bar holder with it staying open, not clam-shelled shut, to accommodate 29 x 2.2+ tire size. 5' 7" woman needed help putting up the big 29er mountain bike on Subaru Outback, which is not as tall as an SUV.
Easy to use and to setup!
I purchased this rack for a 2007 Toyota Avalon. Drove to Moab from Denver, it performed flawlessly!!! It feels very solid with my Intense UZZI SL 26'er(LOL). Went through serious rain and snow both ways and it was solid. I also used it with a cargo bag on top of the car as well. Had no problems with stuffing 15 cubic feet worth of camping goodies and using the HighRoller. I did mount the front right half of the rack on the outside of the Q Tower(passenger side) so I would have enough space for the cargo bag. It worked great and I'm keeping it that way since I will be using the cargo bag a lot for camping. I will be buying another one for the driver side soon! I used to have the Ankle Biter rack from Yakima and it seemed a little flimsy, but worked. It had a clamp that grabbed the crank with a beefy forearm that attached to the tray. I had that rack for 8 years and no problem. The HighRoller seems to be a lot more stable all the way around and a lot easier to use. If I could recommend to Yakima, I would tell them to improve the cable lock mechanism by making it a bigger diameter cable. Used a third party heavy duty cable to secure it to the crossbar. Also, why not make the racks with an SKS lock feature!! I'd have to buy more locks!!! Any thief could take the rack off the bars in 30 seconds
Mechanism BROKE???
Had it just over a year... and the inner clamping mechanism for the tightening nob broke?
Safe, sturdy, easy to use.
I have had two of these on the roof of my minivan for a couple of years. I use them mostly for my road bike with 23x700 tires and my 29 inch mountain bike (2 1/4 inch tires. I have also used it for a comfort bike with 26 x 1 3/4 inch tires. It always holds the bike solidly. My bikes weigh 20 to 35 pounds. The ease of use is most impressive. Before I lift the bike up I will fold open the front brace. Then just lift up your bike and then lift up the brace that comes up behind the front wheel. Right away it has ratchets to hold it up and then just twist the red knob and tighten it some. Slip the plastic strap through the rear wheel and it is done. It never loosens during travel, even after 500 miles. The front brace or u=bar has detents for each wheel size. Each detent is labeled with the tire size. The locking cable is included and I look at it more as an extra security to hold your bike in case of an accident, not to keep a burgler from stealing it. I have it attached to Yakima round bars. I put one of these on each side of my van with space in the middle for the Yakima box, if I need it. Also, then it is easy to reach since I put longer round bars on so that there is about 14 inches of overhang, and the bike rack is all outside of the RailGrabs.
Difficult setup, Easy Use
The install of this on my Toyota Rav4 should have been easy, but the universal mounting brackets tie into this in a really weird way making the install really cumbersome and rather concerning as there isn't an easy way to tie it down. However, I have had it all year and drive across the country with my bike secured to the top no worries. It is very easy to lock your bike down and pull it off.