Date:         Wed, 8 Mar 2000 15:15:10 -0600
Reply-To:     Ryan Heidcamp <ryan.heidcamp@SPANLINK.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ryan Heidcamp <ryan.heidcamp@SPANLINK.COM>
Subject:      Re: vanagon bike rack (sort of long)
In-Reply-To:  <20000308203536.1886.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Before I throw my opinion in on this let me just start this out by saying
that for years I worked at a bike shop selling every variety of rack
including Thule but not Yakima and may still be able to get the list a deal.

My roommate just bought a Yakima for his Jetta (96), so I am fairly sure
that they are still in business. (In fact the store that he moonlights at
sells them so he was able to proform it from Yakima).  However I helped him
set it up and I was not all that impressed with the design.  I currently
have a Thule on my Jetta (94)and maybe I am biased but I believe that the
mounting of the Thule to the roof and the design seems a lot stronger.
Thule uses the mounts that are built into the roof by VW and Yakima just
clips onto the door jambs.  I have thought about putting a roof rack on my
Westy, and after seeing a Yakima rack up close, I would put a Thule on the
Westy before a Yakima. But like I said maybe I am just biased or maybe it is
just poor design of the model that Yakima sells for the Jetta.

One other thing to keep in mind.  My Westy just clears the garage door as it
sits without a rack.  There is no way it would fit with a rack on the roof.

Since I used to work at a shop that sold Thule and am still keep in contact
with my old boss.  I am sure that if there was some interest that he would
be willing to put a deal together from Thule for the Vanagon list.   Not
real sure how that would work, because we always installed the racks for the
customer the first time.  Since this takes the most time and we always
wanted to make sure that it was done right.  You sure don't want a customer
paying a lot of money for a rack and then the items they are carrying on the
rack leaving the vehicle when they are traveling down the road.  Let me know
if there is some interest and I will talk to him and see what he thinks.  My
guess is he would knock some of the price and then send the items to your
address with directions from Thule on how to install the rack and then the
shop would be available via phone or email if you had more questions.

Ryan Heidcamp
ryan.heidcamp@spanlink.com