I am relocating soon, and needed to get a rack for my bike and to carry extra stuff (only want to take one car). For the roof rack towers/crossbars, much of the choice was between Yakima and Thule. Below is a synopsis of which is better for the Fit (spoiler: Thule).

I started by picking up the Yakima Q Towers, 48" round crossbars, and Q5 fit kit from REI. The front crossbar was fairly easy to setup (~1 hour, this was my first time, and I was going slow). It fit fairly close to the door frame, and did not bend the weather stripping much. The rear bar was different - I spent about 5 hours going between readjusting the length between towers and re-tensioning, and could not get a snug fit. I tried shortening crossbar length, so that clips would be tilted more, but with no luck. It was close, but it still pushed the weatherstripping more than I'd like - usually inverting the weatherstripping on one side. The Q Towers is that they could still move a little when fully tensioned (squeaks), and while tensioning it scratched and dented the inner door frame. The clips don't seem to engage the door frame much.

After spending much time fiddling with the Q Towers, I decided to pickup the Thule roof rack from REI (2180 Fit Kit, 400XT Aero Towers, 50" square crossbars). The 2180 Fit Kit is specifically for the Honda Fit, whereas Yakima's Q5 fit kit is for a range of vehicles. The 2180's pads are specially molded for the Fit, and the clips fit at a perfect angle (and engage a good portion of the door frame), no dents or scratching of the door frame yet. I setup the Thule rack in about a half of the time as the Yakima, and it fits like a glove without any movement/squeaking/etc... It is much much much tighter and secure to the Fit. It bends the outer weatherstripping less than the front bar of the Yakima. Since the Fit has two layers of weatherstripping around the door frame (plus an inner dust weatherstripping), I doubt leaving the rack on will let rain inside. The Yakima is going back to REI...

I did note some cons of the Thule:
* 24" crossbar spread instead the Yakima's 32" (some accessories require minimum 28" spread I think, but it isn't a problem for me)
* No quick, easy, on/off cam like the Yakima's... the Thule's cam needs to be unscrewed, and so takes more time. Since the Thule doesn't bend the weatherstripping nearly as much, and is more secure, I don't have a problem with leaving it attached semi-permanently.
* Rides slightly higher than the Yakima (~1" to 2" inches)

Noise without the fairing hasn't been bad, though I just got it installed and haven't driven it much. I'll skip the fairing, and save some MPG's. FWIW the Yakima was louder (though admittedly, I hadn't installed the endcaps when testing that).

Summary: Thule's 400XT/2180 Fit Kit roof rack attached more securely and with less weatherstrip bending than Yakima's Q Towers/Q5 clips. I recommend choosing Thule's rack over Yakima's, if you are adding a roof rack to your Fit.

 

Congrats on the roof rack. Yakima Q towers have a little trick to them. It's not that important to "squeeze" the towers inward more as it is the angle they approach the roof (that one funky screw). I had the same issue as you did with my back towers on a saturn and spent 3 hours trying to get it on. The last attempt I actually LOOSENED that angle screw and it latched down perfectly tight. It's counter-intuitive but once you realize that, you can put it up really quick.

I have friends with Thule racks and some with Yakima's. From what I've seen, they're both really good racks. Personally, I'd say go with whatever one you can get cheaper. I got my setup for $70. Couldn't pass that up.

 

I had Thule's on my Integra back in the day. I just like the build/look on their racks better. The Yakima's just seemed flimsy. They do the same thing so it goes down to personal taste and budget.

 

Exactly. I don't think I've ever heard of a story of either brand failing. Well, except for the "forgot i had the bike on top and pulled into the garage" kind of failing.

 

got any pics?

 

Is it an easy install? Also, do I use any kind of adhesive to keep it on the roof? Lastly, when it's screwed, does it ruin the interior/exterior or anything?

 

yes, no, no

 

why not use a hitch mount? cheaper and doesn't effect the MPG nearly as much.

 

The main reason I went with a roof rack was that I only have one bike to move, but needed the cargo capacity for moving and wanted to do it in one trip (just graduated from college... moving up to silicon valley). I currently live in socal, so renting a vehicle would have likely been cheaper (total cost of rack + bag + bike rack from REI is about $700), but I may attend grad. school out-of-state in the future and wanted to avoid needing another vehicle for that move. Plus I can take the roof rack equipment as a relocation tax deduction -- would not be able to do that for graduate school.

Having a roof rack my also help if I need to move a mattress or something - unlike the hitch. To those that have a roof rack: do you need something extra in addition to the crossbars to move long objects (e.g. a basket)? Or attach tie-downs to the front of the vehicle?

I have a friend up there who also has a mtn. bike, but I'll probably just assemble some fork mounts on a 2x4, to move the bikes inside the vehicle. I'm still considering ordering a hidden hitch and the $90 2-bike hitch rack from etrailers, but I wasn't sure of the quality... do you think it would last multiple 2,400 mile trips (e.g. grad school) without a problem?

 

The directions were tricky to follow - but after doing it once, it is pretty easy (less finicky than the yakima). No adhesive is used, the rack towers have rubber pads. I haven't see it ruin anything yet - I'm going to take it off again tomorrow to see if it did anything.

Side note: Yakima might fit better with two people, since you could apply tension to both sides simultaneously. I agree with Slovenian that it is all about the angle of approach with the Yakimas. In my case, the approach angle was too steep and bent the inner line of the door. This was partially due to tensioning one side caused the whole crossbar to shift, so that the other side was off.

The Thule you screw a bolt to tension, which takes more time. But, if you walk back and forth between sides, you can get a pretty even fit.

Btw, does anyone with a Thule rack know how tight you were suppose to screw? The instructions say when the "cam is locked in position", but I'm not sure how to tell if it's locked.

 

i ordered that exact hitch and rack setup. i'll have it in a few days

 

The cross bars are pretty close together on the short roof of the Fit. To move a mattress, you will need to fasten a couple of long supports, like 2 X 4's to the outside edges of the cross bars. But that much flat surface (the mattress) will act like a wing and try to fly off the car at anything but surface street speeds.

 

I took it off tonight, and found no scratches, denting, or anything. It did leave some slight marks on the rubber along the sides of the roof. Not the rubber seals for the windows, but the long 1" wide strips that cover a weld (I think). Not a big deal and makes positioning of the rack in the future quite easy.

It came off easy, but not quite as quick as the yakima, since you have to unscrew the bolts. There is a plastic piece that holds the tensioning cam, kinda like on a gas pump - the little piece that keeps the pump on so you don't have to hold it. This allows less screwing/unscrewing for future installs/uninstalls. Overall I'm quite pleased.

Side note: For carrying cargo... should I get a hard-bottomed bag (like the Thule Ranger 90), that would rest above the roof, or something that would rest directly on?

 

When you said a bolt on, is it kind of like a C clap, with the top of the clamp having a rubber to prevent slippage on the roof and then you screw it in at the bottom much like a C clamp?

 

bwb-
Tightening the cam/clamp bolts is a matter of personal feel- no recommendations from me, but you will know when it is tight enough to be safe. Suggestion- don't leave the rack on the roof any longer than necessary. The rubber strips than run along the sides of the roof ARE seals for the weld seam underneath. Summer heat and tight clamping force will make the bottoms of the towers leave an impression in the roof seals that is visible when the rack is off the car, and the paint on the seals will begin to fracture and peel with enough flexing of the tower footprints. Again, this is brought about by leaving the rack semi-permanently on the car in temperature extremes.

 

thanks for the tip. i was going to go to rei soon to pick one up.


i just like the thule/yakima look on cars. from the xb's to the 4 door integras. they look sweet.

i do mountain bike, but that could always fit in my car(since normally i ride with just 2 front seats) . but i think it adds the extra umph to the outside of the car heh.

 

Man great write up...I have the Yakima bike rack and so far im loving it. I debated from the Thule one and the Yakima one for a long while, both without a doubt are great, but ended up going with the Yakima one due to some personal likings..lol

 

No. The louvers attach to the window frames. The rack feet clamp to the door frames.

 

I just picked up the Thule setup from REI and was unable to install it. Try as I might I could not get the cam to compress enough to lock the plastic tab. Took 'em back, which is too bad. I wanted the square bars for my fishing pole rack but it looks like I'll have to figure out how to adapt it to the round bars of the Yakima.

 

The clamping cams on the Thule are pretty stiff, but you only have to set them once. After that, all of the adjustments are done with the bolts. If you had invested a few bucks in either a bar clamp or Channel Locks slip joint pliers at your hardware store, you would be using your rack right now and would have the tool or tools for other uses the rest of your life.