# XPORT Frame Adapter vs Yakima Tube Top vs Thule Frame Adapter



## 123ski (Jun 16, 2008)

Ok, so I have a brand new 2009 Santa Cruz Heckler, and I am having problems fitting it onto my hitch rack. I would just buy a top of the car rack, but I drive an SUV and I don't want to go climbing every time I need to get my bike on and off of my car. I am going to buy a top tube adapter for my bike. I have read in some forum posts about how good the Xport one is, others love the other brands. Money is no object here as they are all somewhat similarly priced. Does anyone here have any good or bad experiences with any of them, I don't want to drop my bike on the freeway!

Thanks


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*I have an X-Port one*

works fine. Not sure what else to tell you. Watch your load height with those things. My wheels dragged on the ground over speed bumps with some cars. Once, it resulted in a mildly tweaked wheel.


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## JohnJ80 (Oct 10, 2008)

I basically hate those things and I hate the rear hanging racks after one really messed up the decals on my custom frame. Actually, what I'd recommend you do is get rid of the hanging hitch rack and get something like the 1upUSA, Raxter or Thule T2.

J.


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## 96m2comp (Oct 12, 2007)

123,

Which model adapter did you end up buying? I am currently in the market for one myself, and am trying to find out which is the better of the available models. Though from the sounds of things, they all work good from what I have found so far.

Any feedback on the Saris model?

I would prefer to use my hitch mounted tray rack, but the truck sux the gas!


Chris


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## Berkley (May 21, 2007)

I have a Saris Bones 3 with the Saris frame adapter. The Saris model is the beefiest adapter I've seen. I had previously bought a no-name brand adapter which broke. There's no chance of that happening with this one.

EDIT: Should add that the adapter has plenty of room for the stem and seatpost to fit, which was an issue with my previous one. The connectors close very securely too (the other one had open sides).


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## 123ski (Jun 16, 2008)

I ended up with the Yakima Tube Top. It works fairly well. One complaint is that when you attach the front to the stem the gap between your top tube and the "tube top" is very small (towards your handlebars). My rack started scratching my frame there so I put some clear bra on my bike, it didn't help so I put some tube insulator around my bike frame and it worked great. I am pretty sure you would have that problem with any of the top tubes if you had my rack or my bike..so it isn't really a design flaw of the Tube Top. Other than that, I am pretty sure they all work fine.


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## Eric Z (Sep 28, 2008)

i have the xport and works perfectly! there's no reason to get the thule or yakima imo. i agree with how the bike hangs a little lower with it- just be aware and check it out. 

one thing i noticed is the handle bars would turn when the adaptor was attached because the opening on the one end of the adaptor was big. i just flipped it around and now it fits perfectly around my stem and no movement at all. this won't work with all stems, but worth a shot.

no complaints here at all with the xport variety!


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## 96m2comp (Oct 12, 2007)

Thank you guys for the feedback! What stinks is my B-I-L JUST placed an order with Performance, could have split s/h! Oh well.

Chris


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## Leonard Powell (Feb 23, 2010)

*failed product*

My xport frame adaptor opened up and I lost my bike. Performance has a recall on them. Check their site. I'm going with the Yakima brand.


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## hybridzeg8 (Aug 27, 2012)

Also looking into this... Any updates I'm leaning towards the Yakima tube top... Also what bikes have people hauled around I'm looking to use it on my trek session weighs 39lbs


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## hybridzeg8 (Aug 27, 2012)

Well with no feed back I figured I'd try the tube top, was the beefiest and strongest looking out of the ones that where were I bought it. Tested on my 2012 hard rock and my 2010 session 8. Holds both up really well, only had to adjust the seat height to fit the tube top across my session 8. Once fitted it was really easy to mount to my Yakima 4 bike hitch mount rack, and it doubles as a carrier when taking out of my basement. Only had it for a day but I would recommend it so far to any one that needs it. Also the session is the heaviest of the 2 at 39lbs


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