>>I put the front wheel in the boot. I've been meaning to get a pair of fork mounts for the rack; there's plenty of room for them on there.
>>
>>The 17 inch (medium) Id frame is 6.5lbs. I have it built up to 29lbs. The Sun Rhyno Lites that are on there are pretty heavy. I'm switching to some nice tubless Mavics soon, that should bring it down even more.
>>
>>It's a 6 inch rear travel bike, but the Romic coil shock is great, this bike doesn't bob much. I had to get the proper spring for my weight - went with the 600lb spring.
>>
>>It's a great all-mountain bike, I love it!!

I can't ride anything but Rhyno lites (to fat)
I would not waste your money on the fork mounts. They are really hard to get tight. Once they are tight the front wheel shakes side to side above 50 mph. That and if you do get them the nuts block the sunroof. I am thinking of buying a Sportworks rack to go on the Yak bars.

 

BuckeyeMCS,
What's a Sportworks rack?

chollomo,
On the Yakima setup, the Q Towers sit on top a piece of clear rubber pad (not sure if it's actually rubber.) So they never come into contact with the roof.

The rubber pads do leave some marks on the paint, but according to DiD, those come off very easily with a clay bar.

 

>>I would not waste your money on the fork mounts. They are really hard to get tight. Once they are tight the front wheel shakes side to side above 50 mph. That and if you do get them the nuts block the sunroof. I am thinking of buying a Sportworks rack to go on the Yak bars.

We have the Thule fork mounts on our rack. I adapted the factory rack to include a Thule load bar which sticks out beyond the towers. The fork mounts are bolted on there so they do not block the sunroof. They do start the shaking in the wind so the wheel is bungee corded to the bike handlebar.

On a side note, the past couple of weekends I have driven the same route from LA home, once without the rack, and once with both bikes on the roof. Without the rack the OBC indicated about 37 MPG, with the bikes it was closer to 31.

 

>>BuckeyeMCS,
>>What's a Sportworks rack?
>>
>>chollomo,
>>On the Yakima setup, the Q Towers sit on top a piece of clear rubber pad (not sure if it's actually rubber.) So they never come into contact with the roof.
>>
>>The rubber pads do leave some marks on the paint, but according to DiD, those come off very easily with a clay bar.
>>
>>

The Sportworks rack fits Yak or Thule and it holds the entire bike. I have some friends that have the "Bob Ratchet" it is a tank. The bike is rock steady. No need to worry about where to put the front wheel because it stays on the bike.
Sportworks Bike mount

 

I'll be carrying a 9' 6" surfboard and want the sunroof open too. I saw some older posts here regarding the Yakima w/ the sunroof open and it looks great. The Yakima web site said the sunroof could not be opened with a rack in place but obviously some of you proved that theory wrong. Thule has a nice surfboard carrier so I may look into that as well.

Golden_child sent me some good info on his Yakima and having the struts spread to 30" instead of the tiny 18" - makes sense with a long item like a surfboard; stability is key.

Any thoughts?

ThanX!