The Yakima company makes many different types of vehicle mounts. They’re also the maker of frontloading bicycle racks, such as the Highroller and the Frontloader. These particular racks mount onto vehicle roof bars. Some vehicles come pre-built with bars, while others do not. In order to get these bicycle racks onto your roof, you may need to purchase some bars.
We have created this Yakima Highroller vs Frontloader comparison in order to let you in on the real differences between these racks. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the differences, we will be giving you the lowdown on what these racks are both known for.
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Yakima Highroller vs Frontloader
What Are The Highroller and Frontloader?
These bicycle racks are specifically designed in order to allow you to keep your bike completely intact when you are mounting it. This means that you do not have to remove the front wheel in order to mount it up.
Here are just a few more features that are provided by both of these racks:
- Tool-free installation: In order to get these racks onto the roof of your vehicle, you will have everything you need inside of the product box for both of these models. You will not require any tools to mounted onto the vehicle. However, one of these racks are much easier to match your vehicle than the other. There will be more on this later on in this review.
- Zero contact with bike frame: In order to keep your bicycle in good condition, these bike racks do not require any contact with the actual bicycle frame. The bike rack holds onto the wheels of your bicycle. These racks accommodate disc brakes, and a full suspension, as well as a thru axle.
- Built-in locks: You can lock your bicycle to these racks so that they will not get stolen. Furthermore, you can also lock your racks to your vehicle so that the racks themselves do not get stolen.
- Love it ‘Till You Leave It: Both of these racks come with a Love it ‘Till You Leave It lifetime warranty.
Comparing The Highroller vs The Frontloader
In comparing the highroller and the frontloader, we see some major differences in the ease-of-use. We also see a couple of differences in the aesthetics and design. Below, we have made a list of the features in which they differ:
- Aerodynamics: The Highroller actually looks more aerodynamic than the Frontloader. However, the Frontloader’s tray is thinner and more skeleton-like.
- Wheel stabilization mechanism: When you are stabilizing your bicycle onto the racks, it is actually easier to do so with the Highroller. The reason why is that all there requires the push button, while the Frontloader stabilizes the bicycle with a bolt that you must screw tight. However, we feel that this is not necessarily a major benefit.
- Adaptability: The Frontloader can easily be attached to round, square, or arrow bars. The Highloader can as well, but for arrow bars, you must purchase a separate attachment in order to accommodate.
- Ease of mounting: Here comes the most important part… It is the fact that the Highroller comes with 9 different parts that you need to use in order to attach it to your vehicle. In contrast, the Frontloader does not need any attachments or parts. You can simply get it onto your vehicle a lot easier than the Highroller. This is a huge win for the Frontloader!
- Locking mechanism: We have mentioned previously that you can lock your rack onto your vehicle. We will just mention here that the locking mechanism is more convenient in the Frontloader than with the Highroller.
Price Comparison
We feel that many people decide on which rack they are going to get based on how much money they can save. While we have already decided which of these racks is probably the best, price could still be an issue with some. Follow the links below if you would like to see some of the best prices for the Highroller and the Frontloader.
The Verdict
If you have read the comparison above, you can see that the Frontloader is much more easy to use than the Highroller. If you’re going to be removing the racks from your vehicle frequently, using the Highroller might be a little too much of a hassle. It requires 9 parts to attach it to your vehicle, while the Frontloader requires none. Moreover, the Frontloader can attach to round, square, and arrow bars right out of the box. But the Highroller requires a special attachment for arrow bars.
We feel that the clear winner is the Frontloader. It offers all of the same features as the Highroller, in addition to its ease-of-use.