my friend may want to sell me a yakima bike rack (the kind that clamp onto the roof/door and i was wondering if there is a way to make it fit with the screwholes in the roof? anyone have insight into this?

 

I dont think it would work without reducing the capacity of the rack. I'm guessing you dont have the factory rack? You might be better off buying the factory rack, there's probably someone on this board willing to sell. I've got a Yakima bike carrier on the factory rack, it works great.

 

my car (2003.5) didn't come with the factory rack.
the mazda dealer said they stopped making them for some reason (structural reasons)

soooo, i donno what to do.

 

You can still use Yakima racks, just clamp them to the roof like they're designed to do. But I think your dealer's BSing you. The rack is still pictured all over the Mazda website, and I'm sure I saw a few P5s with racks at my local dealer yesterday.

But if you want to add the factory rack, your car should still have the mounting holes under that black strip on the roofline. Just ask in the parts section of the board, or check with Mazdastuff.com.

 

So is that a rack you bought from the Mazda dealer, or one from a Yakima dealer? I have the roof racks, and called Mazda about their factory racks and they said $200 per bike, so I was wondering if that's what you have there?

 

I have the factory roof rack, came standard with the car. But I bought the Yakima bike carrier separately. I think it was about $100. In the picture it's mounted to the rack with Yakima Mighty-mounts, but I've since switched to the Mazda bike attachment brackets. They hold the carrier to the rack more securely. Get them from Mazdastuff.com, it's much cheaper than from a dealer.

For the Yakima carrier try sportsrack.com or GIJoes sometimes has them on sale. Lots of places sell them. I dont think the fork-mounted carriers will fit, only the upright carriers. Thule makes a fork carrier, but it's more expensive.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

I actually purchased the Yakima bike rack at the Mazda Dealership when I purchased my car. I paid a little more for the Yakima itself but I figured with 0% financing it was probably a wash. The best part about it is that it came with these black aluminum clamps that fit the factory rails exactly and provide a rock solid base for bolting the Yakima onto. Much superior to the plastic clamps that come with the Yakima itself. I did have to swap the front a rear rack rails (due to the rubber wind noise thingy on the front bar) to get this to work properly. I only wish I had bought 2 of these racks when I bought the car! I will definately return to the Mazda dealership to get those clamps if I buy a second Yakima for the passenger side.

 

Thule Velo-Vise #889 also fits... however you have to make sure they include all the parts. They forgot to include a parts back when i purchased mine. It was about $150 w/ tax

 

I bought those Mazda brackets too. Much better than the Yakima Mighty-Mounts, doesnt flex at all. Mighty mounts work great for attaching kayak-saddles though.