Coming this summer, Yakima will unveil their all-new WhispBar roof rack cross bars at Outdoor Retailer in early August., Designed with a super aero-profile, their launch invite says they’ll be the “world’s quietest, most fuel-efficient vehicle rack.” Stay tuned…
I wonder if they’ll unveil this…
https://bikerumor.com/2010/02/15/wispbar-roof-racks-ultra-quiet-fuel-efficient-cross/
If they actually produce bars that don’t hurt fuel economy, I would be totally interested…
“Anyway… Once you go receiver hitch mount, you can’t go back.”
The best racks I’ve used have actually been the strap-on-the-trunk kind. I know, bizarre, right?
The hitch racks – bizzarely, because you’d think the opposite, just aren’t as secure. I’ve tried 3 of them, and their fundamental problem is always the same – they bounce the bikes. Sometimes only a little. Sometimes a lot (depending on model). They’re also a pain to take on and off the car – more work than the strap models, again, unexpectedly. You can leave them on the car, but they’re all made out of steel and they start to rust (especially since I live in Minnesota and bike in the winter).
A good strap rack attaches securely and non-bouncily to your car with 3 attachment points on each side of the rack – up, down, and to the side. It’s like giving the car a hug. A hitch rack, on the other hand, attaches at only one point. And while my Saris Bones rack kept my bikes tightly and securely attached to my car, all of the hitch racks I’ve used bounce up and down slightly to egregiously (depending on the model) independently of the car.
I could write more, but – that’s been my experience. All the hitch racks I’ve tried, including the Saris Cycle-On that I use now, will bounce around behind the car a little. My strap-on racks (had a Saris Bones) had a rock solid attachment that never bounced the bikes. Because the rack was made out of solid plastic, never had issues with the rack rusting either.
Not exactly new… Yakima brought new zealands leading roof rack company (Pro Rack) earlier this year… http://www.whispbar.co.nz/
I have been running them on my Mazda station wagon for just over a year and have been very impressed.
Nothing new here. I have had a Saris rack for 15 years and has exactly the same design as this one, including the cross-sectional profile and the center channel attachment point. The main advantage of the Saris is that it had a long threaded bolt that allowed centering the rack over the car by turning ONE knob on either side of the rack, allowing you to tighten the grip (boy, and what a grip!) while remaining centered! This technology/design is OLD. The only problem is that SARIS no longer makes this rack but I have 2 that fit Toyota Camry/Corollas and Nissan Pathfinder/Sentra.
