Yakima - Chain Straps for Bike Racks

Down here in lower, slower Florida the sun and salt air conspire to destroy any compound exposed to the elements. My original chain straps, in continuous use and exposed 24/7 to the elements for the past four years, are nearing their useful existence, evidenced by minute cracks when pulled to attach my bikes to my Yakima hitch rack.These straps are essential to maintaining safe transportation of my beloved two-wheel carbon fiber, titanium and steel babies.They are OEM replacements and inexpensive. Do yourself a favor, keep a spare set on hand or replace your rack's aging straps today!

Replacement straps fit perfectly

Made my 25+ year old bike rack usable again! This was a bike rack that I discarded some years ago in favor of a more heavy duty one that I had for a car that I no longer own which had the wider opening heavy duty trailer hitch. I got rid of that rack s the straps failed on it (wish I still had it too!) but was going to buy another one then thought "maybe I can get straps for this one" when I had it with me at Schuling Hitch at the suggestion of the guy there - found these, they work GREAT!

These seem sturdy and well made by yakima. I lost my original 9nes and these work great

These are exact replacements for the QicBack III and similar racks. 2 of 3 original straps failed after 2 seasons of moderate (~75) uses. Rack was stored indoors, away from sun, heat & moisture between uses. These replacements are showing some fatigue after 1 season.These seem a bit pricey and seem about as durable as the originals. To my knowledge there are no knock offs available. I discovered plastic cable ties from the dollar store are acceptable (and secure) substitutes for securing bikes if you don't mind cutting them off.7/16/12 - UpdateAm upping my rating from 3 to 4 stars. I was not fastening the straps correctly, causing undue stress on the strap eyelets. 1) It helps to stretch the strap evenly around the bike crossbar. I was laying the strap loosely over the crossbar then pulling down hard, making the last 2 inches of the strap (including the eyelet) absorb all the tension. 2) The frame pegs the eyelets slip over resemble a half moon with a bump facing the opposite side of the arc. I was hooking the eyelets over the smooth semicircle first then snapping them over the bump. The relatively sharp bump was causing abrasion on the strap eyelets. (This is the point where all my failures occurred) A better way is to put the eyelet over the bump side first, then stretch it out and around the smooth semicircle side. (Requires a little more elbow grease, but its easier on the strap)Am told applying baby powder to the pegs will make the straps slip on more smoothly.Still minus one star because of the (rising) price.

I guess my Yakima rack is older, because my chain straps have holes of three-quarter inch. These new straps have half inch holes.

Still looking for replacement Yakima rubber chain straps. Need 3/4" opening. Nothing has worked so far. I'd hate to buy a whole new rack just because I can't find these replacement straps.

UPDATE: After I posted my review below, all straps have since broken. They fit on the rack, yet they all have snapped. The vendor does not do refunds or returns.I had purchased 4 packs of straps (12 total) with 3 straps per pack. Out of these 4 packs of 3, 3 straps from the same exact pack had busted after being put onto the bike rack. The bike rack IS a Yakima bike rack, so these straps SHOULD work for it. I tried returning the broken straps through Amazon considering that the package was clearly somehow defective, as all the other straps from other packs have been fine thus far. If this issue is resolved, I will update my rating. Until then, my rating will stay at 3 of 5 considering the majority of the straps worked as intended.