Yakima Frontloader vs. Highroad – Comparison in 2023

In the case of planning to move your bike from one place to another, disassembling the entire bike to make it fit into the trunk of the car can be a tedious task.

Besides that, shipping your bike by a shipping company to that location will also take quite an amount of time.

Well, in that case, you can easily do the transportation by yourself installing a roof rack system on your car and getting a proper bike mount. Two of the famous mounts that are in the market are from Yakima.

And this topic rises up quite frequently, and we are here to talk about it. Hopefully, by the end, choosing one will be an easy task for you.

Yakima Frontloader vs. Highroad Comparison in 2023

Yakima Frontloader Bike Rack

While there are many bike racks in the market, not all of them will be able to accommodate most large-sized bikes. Well, that is where the frontloader stepped in.

Moreover, the rack can virtually accommodate all types of bikes that are out there, including the ones that have disc brakes, full suspension, and thru-axles.

The wheels that it can hold are from 20 inches to 29 inches, and the tires are up to three inches.

Apart from that, you will not have to worry about disassembling any of the parts of your bike.

It comes with a wheel-on mount that will hold your bike in an upright position.

You will not have to worry about your bike falling off because it will hold tightly to the wheel of your bike.

The roof rack that you are going to require for this mount is the one that have a cross spread of 16 inches to 48 inches.

Other than that, you will not have to worry about any assembly or anything of that sort because it will ship to you being fully assembled. You will also not require any tools for the installation process.

If your bike is of carbon fiber or it has custom paint jobs on it, you will not have to worry about it getting scratched during transportation.

The mount utilizes a no-frame contact loading mechanism that will make sure that it does not cause any visual imperfection to the bikes.

You will also have the option to attach 2 SKS locks on the mount. These locks will provide further protection against the bike falling off the roof.

With those on, you will be able to tread through bumpy roads without having to worry that much.

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Yakima Highroad Bike Rack

The problem with most of the bike racks is that the hatch tends to interfere a bit while loading the bike to the mount.

However, Yakima finally got to resolve that problem by implementing a unique design in this mount that we are going to look at.

To begin with, it comes featured with a low-profile tray. This tray will be able to minimize the hatch interference that occurs during loading in most of the mounts that are out there.

You will not have to remove the wheel of your bike anymore for securing it with the mount properly.

Apart from that, the mount can carry almost all types of road and mountain bikes available in the market.

It is compatible with the ones that have a wheel diameter of 26 inches to 29 inches.

And the tires that are compatible are the ones that are between 23 millimeters and four inches. You will not have to make any sort of adjustments.

This mount also utilizes no contact mechanism for holding the bike. With that, you will not have to worry about it scratching your bike.

That means even if your bike is of carbon fiber or if it has any custom paint job on the exterior, you will not have to worry about any visual imperfections done by the mount.

The roof racks that you will require for installing this on top of your vehicle should be around 18 inches and 35 inches.

And as the unit comes in preassembled, you will not have to worry about assembling it as well.

Other than that, the mount is t-slot compatible too. There is a TorqueRight knob for quick tightening as well.

You will be able to make your bike securely stay on the top of your car easily.

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Yakima Frontloader or Highroad Bike Rack?

Even though both the mounts are from the same manufacturer and do basically the same job, they do have some differences between them.

The most major ones that are a bit different when the front loader and the high road is compared are:

Compatible sizes

First of all, the FrontLoader can accommodate almost all of the bikes that are out there.

The wheels that it can hold are the ones that are between 20 inches and 29 inches. And for the tires, it can hold tires that are up to 3 inches.

On the other hand, for the HighRoad, it can fit wheels that are between 26 inches and 29 inches.

It is not compatible with the ones that are from 20 inches to 25 inches. That means the compatible bikes are not that much in the case of HighRoad.

Apart from that, the tires that the HighRoad can accommodate are from 23 millimeters to four inches.

In this case, the FrontLoader can not hold the ones that are from three inches to four inches.

Ease of Use

If we compare the ease of use for both mounts, it can be seen that the HighRoad is a bit easier than the FrontLoader. The HighRoad comes with an integrated tightening knob.

With that, you will be able to mount the bikes on top of the car in seconds. You will also be able to make different adjustments using that knob.

Compatible Roof Racks

In comparison, the FrontLoader is compatible with most of the roof racks that are out there.

It can be installed on the ones whose crossbar is between 16 inches and 48 inches.

In contrast, the HighRoad is only compatible with roof racks that are between 18 inches to 35 inches.

So if you have a relatively large-sized vehicle, you would be better off with the FrontLaoder.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

We hope that the choosing process got much easier for you after going through the entire article.

Highroad by wishing you good luck and hoping that your bike stays securely mounted on top of your vehicle while you are traveling.