killjoy

Thanks for your responses. In the last day or so, I actually learned the following... The factory crossbars (i.e., the flat aerodynamic ones) are NOT meant to be used with fork-mounted bike carriers, such as the Yakima Steelhead, Viper or Copperhead or the Thule V2 or Velo Vise). But they're OK for "upright" mounts, where you keep the front wheel on (e.g., Thule Super G or Crierium and Yakima Raptor and Cobra). So it looks like I'll be taking off the factory crossbars, buying the Lowrider towers, and using my existing Yakima crossbars and Steelhead mounts. Hope my experience proves helpful. I'll be picking the car up tonight!!!!

Not to be redundant here, but I have much the same question. (Greetings, by the way. This is my first post, as I plan to pick up a lightly used 2005 Outback XT Ltd. from a dealer tomorrow - my first Subaru) I also have a Yakima set-up (crossbars and bike mounts) from my old car and am wondering about buying their Lowrider towers to attach to the Outback's side rails, versus mounting what I have on the factory Subaru crossbars via some kind of funky Yakima attachment. I only plan on putting two bikes on the roof - no funky boxes, skis, canoes, etc. So width of the crossbars and weight-bearing ability aren't really a concern at this point. If I use the Yakima crossbars, I should probably remove the factory ones, yeah? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.