Yakima stories

As I drove down I-84 towards Hood River, OR, I heard nothing. Nothing at all. Sure, the hum of my tires on the asphalt, but that was pretty much it. Which surprised me, considering I had a rack on the roof of my car and some accessories. Why is this a surprise? Let me turn on the way back machine to 28 years ago… I got my first Yakima rack back in 1988. Those round crossbars across the roof were my portal to adventure. First came skiing. Then snowboarding. Then biking. All with these classic round Yakima bars and Yakima’s nifty accessories for carrying my various toys. Since that first rack, I’ve had a number of other cars and made

When you think about sexy bike parts, a rack rarely comes up. It’s utilitarian. But the reality is it’s incredibly important. You’ve made a substantial investment in all those sexy bike parts, and the last thing you want to do is put your beauty on a rack for a trip only to arrive with new scratches on the bike or the car. At the same time, you don’t want to spend a fortune, and you want something that is versatile enough to handle whatever bikes you’ve got. Generally, if you’ve never bought a bike rack before, the first type you’ll look at are the kind that strap on to the back of the car. They are super cheap, and they

For those with a spare tire on the back of their vehicle, the Yakima SpareTime will fit many models and allow two bikes to be carried securely on the rear. Using the Fit My Car menu on the Yakima website narrows down the search for compatibility. TELL YOUR FRIENDS You can lock the SpareTime to your vehicle, and you can secure your bikes to the SpareTime with the included cable lock. The rack folds down when not in use keeping protruding metal objects to a minimum on your vehicle. WISH LIST As the rack’s point of contact with your bike is the top tube, it is suited for diamond frame bicyles with fairly straight (horizontal) top tubes. For $65.00CAD ($39.00USD),

In August 2015, Yakima launched an all-new, responsive website that was the result of an eight-month, multi-departmental project. The new site is stocked with tools for researching, installing and customizing a rack setup. According to Jenna Fallon, digital director at Yakima: “At the end of the day, the focus and initiative to invest in technology and digital tools is all about supporting the consumer. One of our main driving forces was to be able to meet their changing needs in terms of mobile.” Supporting the consumer, in Yakima’s case, means empowering them with education and ease of research. In developing the site, Fallon and her team spoke directly to consumers who said they research purchases online and in store before

Yakima Products, Inc. has launched a new website to make it easier for consumer to research rack an cargo carriers that fit their vehicles and lifestyle. Company leaders say the new site is also designed to support retailers partners as well. A key feature of the website includes the “Fit My Car” rack finder application, which can also be used by Yakima retailers. How-to-videos on the website also make it easy for customers to install Yakima products on their vehicles.

Well-known—and often parodied—for its hipster, localist reputation, Portland, OR, also hosts a legion of top-notch U.S. travel and outdoor companies. Nike is there, in a sprawling campus in nearby Beaverton. Then there’s the North American hub of New Zealand-based Icebreaker and Adidas, and the future northwestern HQ for the ever-expanding Under Armour. But, true to the city’s more independent spirit, there’s a handful of great, smaller companies based in the Rose City that are doing great things. Here are seven of them, along with a few of their signature products. Less about something you use while traveling, and more about making it easier for you to travel with all your stuff, Yakima takes its inspiration from the Hood River, just

The SUPDawg rack system makes launching your board easier than ever! Comes fully assembled out of the box, features integrated rollers for easy loading and includes SKS Locks for apres-paddles security. Holds up to two 36″ wide boards. MSRP: $259

When my kids were little, we used to pack suitcases, food bags and backpacks of books in the footwells of the backseat. But lately, I’ve noticed that both my kids — and their stuff — is getting bigger. Going on long trips with lots of gear is getting trickier. Where exactly do we store all this stuff?? Oh, I remember the days of slipping my boys’ bikes into the back of my SUV if we headed to the park or a playdate. Now their 20″ frames require a different storage solution. Since we have a family of five, we need a bike rack that can accommodate a small army of wheels. Lately we’ve been trying out the new Yakima FullTilt

Y’all, this cargo box! It arrived at our door last winter and we’ve worshipped it ever since. In a word, it’s unbelievable! Cargo boxes aren’t a new concept, but I never owned one prior to the SkyBox LoPro. It easily attached to the built-in roof rack on my Subaru Outback, but here is the kicker: it is so low and aerodynamic that I can pull into our garage without smashing into the ceiling. I don’t know if y’all have ever done that {I have}, but trust me: it’s humiliating. In addition to the low profile, I also love the dual-sided opening. You can access your goods from either the driver or the passenger side of the vehicle; the LoPro pops

BUY THE RIGHT RACK FOR YOUR TERRAIN “Where you live matters,” Dorr says, founder of the website Exploring Elements. If you live where trees might hit a bike on your roof, use a rear hitch system. If you’re out in steep, rocky terrain like Moab, where you might smash your Hitch, buy a roof system like the Yakima Frontloader. If you’re too short to reach the top of your car or can’t lift your bike that high, don’t buy a roof rack. Go with a hitch instead. We like the Yakima TwoTimer because it carries both road and mountain bikes.  

While many variables (truck size, type of shell, your preferred sports) come into play when putting together a rack, you’’ll want to get big crossbars – which enable you to store more gear on your roof – no matter what. I live Yakima’s 86-inch crossbar Pairs ($159).  

Wendy Fisher, former Olympian, freeskiing champion, and mother of two, wants a better bike transportation system. “If I go somewhere, I’m throwing in all the gear I can—the bikes, skateboards, soccer ball—because I don’t want the boys to be bored,” Fisher says. She currently uses a hitch system on her car that accommodates just two bikes—enough for her boys, but not the whole family. I suggest the Yakima Fourtimer because it holds bikes of multiple sizes, meaning she won’t have to upgrade as her sons get bigger.

YAKIMA WIDEBODY ARTIFICIAL RAINGUTTERS – I mount my racks to Yakima Widebody artificial raingutters. The Widebody ($40) have a huge surface area that distributes the load evenly on the fiberglass roof. Mount your racks fairly far back to help with raising you roof.

YAKIMA SUPDAWG – Even solid tie jobs can leave paddleboards flopping on your rack in high winds. The SUPDawg grips boards on a padded cradle with nitfy hide-away straps.

Try kayaking along the water to get in some leaf peeping from a totally different vantage point. The Yakima JayLow fits up to two boats on top of your car with this handy attachment. JayLow, $169; Yakima.com

There is simply no better way to carry your full suspension mountain bike (or any bike, really) than an upright style hitch mount rack. Thanks to a pivoting arm and deep wheel trays, nothing touches the frame of the bike, there’s no need to remove the muddy front wheel and place it inside your rig, and loading and unloading is minutes faster every time—and easier since you only have to lift the bike to knee height. YAKIMA HOLDUP – First off, these racks are fairly similar and they’re both top quality without getting pretentious about it. Initial setup time was similar for both racks (20 minutes tops). To load you simply stand the bike upright in the wheel trays and bring

When opting to expand the hauling capability of your vehicle, there are many options. Most people think cargo box, but odd-sized items don’t always fit. The Yakima LoadWarrior is a great alternative that beats the box in many ways. The “Catch All” Basket Heading into the summer, I was scratching my head how I’d haul some of the gear I knew I needed to haul. My Subaru Outback can haul plenty of gear, but I needed more space for big, awkward items. So, I started looking at options and realized that cargo baskets would provide the right kind of flexibility. Enter the Yakima LoadWarrior with the ability to throw all kinds of gear on top — including the kitchen sink.

Transporting a fat bike can be difficult. Let Yakima Help.  Yakima told us their Yakima TwoTimer will handle all the new wheel sizes. The strap included works for regular and plus size tires with the purchase of longer straps, a 4.0 tire can be transported in style. Roof racks can be a drag so let Yakima smooth things out with a more aero dynamic style crossbar. 

Traveling with your canoe or kayak can be intimidating if you don’t have a big enough truck or the right rack. Because of saddles with combined rollers in the front and rear, the Yakima Sweetroll keeps everything secure from your home to the water.

  SUPDawg, the latest from Yakima, stands apart from other standup paddleboard-specific vehicle racks for two important reasons. First, it has the widest capacity of any dedicated SUP carrier on the market, accommodating two boards up to 36 inches wide. While that might not matter much for ocean SUPs, the latest river running boards require at least that width. Second, the rack couldn’t be any easier to use. It comes fully assembled out of the box, with universal hardware to fit any bar type, and installs tool-free. An SKS (same-key system) locks the boards to the SUPDawg and the SUPDawg to your vehicle, keeping both the SUPs and the carrier secure.

MAKING ROOM FOR SKI GEAR – THE YAKIMA CARGOPACK When it won’t all fit, even with skis shoved under the seats, this roof bag can save the holiday. Adjustable straps latch the bag to the rooftop rails or even onto a blad car. Four suitcases fit inside the 16 cubic feet space.  

    YAKIMA FORKLIFT  Bike racks that mount on the roof can produce wind drag and noise at highway speed. On the other hand, a roofie anchors bikes vise-tight and won’t obstruct the trunk or hatchback. There are cheaper one-bike carriers, but the Yakima ForkLift is the best: It fits any roof bars, holds practically any bike, and installs without tools. Just remember to save room in the trunk for the front tire.