1. Rock solid but it took me a while to trust them/ I had two sets: one that clamped to rain gutter and I carried 3 70 lbs kayaks on them... another one is mounted now to my factory rock and is doing great. Find out if there is something you can put under it to prevent clamp marks from overtighting.

2. Again rock solid but you have to tie down front and rear of your canoe so vibrations don't loose up the screws of mounting brackets. Otherwise after every trip just go over your setup. Since I live in NYC my racks come off after every trip so I just go over them.

3. There is not really anything better out there. Thule make comparable system but it is all the same.

4. Unless you do foam blocks and straps I don't think you can do better. Another option is a trailer which I looked into and it was attractive but I had a storgae issue.