Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with yakima

Where to go outdoors in the Pacific Northwest?

j1950 — Wed, 06 May 2009 06:49:43 -0800

Where to hike, bike, or kayak between Yakima, WA and Portland, OR? A friend of mine and I will be traveling between Yakima and Portland on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. We'll be on a trip to the Northwest, and want to do something outdoors-y, we're New Yorkers and have heard a lot about how beautiful the area is. We're both in good shape and young, but aren't especially experienced at outdoors activities.

Any advice on where to go/what to do? We'd be willing to do more than one thing during the day, if it'll help break up the drive.

If anyone has any more recommendations on routes to take/stops to make along the route, or anywhere from Seattle to Yakima (we also like wineries), feel free to chip in.

No more (bike) junk in my trunk

fijiwriter — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:41:51 -0800

Shopping for trailer-hitch mounted bike rack for my road bike, with room for two additional ones. What should I look for? Who do you recommend? Who or what to avoid? I've grown tired of putting my road bike in the back of my SUV, so I'm shopping around for a trailer-hitch-mounted rack. I've seen my fair share of Yakimas and Thules, but I really love how the Saris models look.

But seriously, what should I know? What should I look for? Currently, I have a road bike, but I can foresee needing space for two more bikes for my family or cycling trips with friends.

To add more confusion, I don't currently have a trailer hitch, so I'd need to get one - it looks like 1.25 or 2".

Side-question: can I make do with a standard gate-mount rack, rather than such a big $$$ investment for a hitch and rack?

FWIW, it's a '97 Ford Expedition, with factory roof rack (which I don't want to use), no trailer hitch.

Calling all roof rack ninjas.

mragreeable — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 08:06:28 -0800

Help me quickly disassemble a set of Yakima racks. I'm finally getting my racks back from my ex wife. She said I can drop by and pick them up. She lives with her folks and I don't want to spend a whole afternoon there trying to figure out how to get them off the car. In fact, I want to be out of there very, very quickly.

Maybe they come apart super easy and it'll be obvious once I start, but I just wanted either some assurance that that's the case, or some tips on how to get them apart with as little hassle as possible.

I bought them around 2001, I'd say, and they've been installed since then. 4 towers, two cross bars, 2 steelhead fork mounts, 1 fairing. My trunk is little so I'll have to break it down completely. (i.e. I can't throw the cross bars and fork mounts into the trunk as a single unit, if that's even possible.)

I'll have a decent complement of tools and a can of WD-40 with me. And anything else within reason that's recommended here.

I have the key to the fork locks. If I remember right, that's the same key to the towers. If not it'll be a quick and entirely unsuccessful trip I assume.

Any pointers?

Should I Put a Yakima on the Roof?

Mid — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 09:40:36 -0800

I'm thinking about buying a big Yakima or Thule roof cargo box. I'd appreciate your advice/tips on whether this would be a good idea and whether you found either brand to be better. We have a VW Passat station wagon. Baby on the way; dog goes in the back. We're going to need more room, especially for long trips, but we really really don't want to buy a bigger car. A cargo thingamajig on the roof seems like the way to go, but I have no experience with them and don't know anyone who has one. Here are my key questions:

--Yakima or Thule? I'm leaning Yakima, but that's really just because their website is a lot better.

--Is it easy to pop on and off, or do you just have to leave it up there all the time? I understand there is a big gas milage hit, so I'd like to pop it off when I am not using it, but don't know if that is feasible.

--Will it whistle and make all kinds of noise up there?

--Will it block the sunroof?

Thanks for your advice.