bike rack recommendations

[luckydragon]

what do you guys recommend for a car rack. i have a suv with a stock factory rack and i was planning on holding 2 bikes probably maybe more occasionally.

 

[drewdogg808]

yakima, thule, and saris are the big brands. i would go with yakima myself.

 

[Entity]

Yakima, all the way.

Rob

 

[jst0ney]

Yakima racks are by far the best. You may pay a little more but it is worth it. Many racks (like thule) are square so they have to be prefectly parallel to the roof of your car. Yakima uses a round rod and tower system. Its much better.

 

[luckydragon]

would you guys recommend tow hitch attachment or a roof rack option? and particular models you are happy with?

 

[Fausto]

Another vote for Yakima. Definitely the best stuff out there in terms of design and quality. Mine is 12 years old and doing just fine.

EDIT- roof racks are the way to go IMO. They're more expensive, but once they're mounted you never have to screw around with them and they don't get in the way of the rear hatch or anything. You can cram four bikes on most of them as well. I would definitely recommend getting the fairing to go on the front tho since they do generate a fair amount of wind noise without one.

 

[Anubis]

go with Yakima. all roof racks cost about the same. but Yakima is better. and worth teh lil extra it costs. do teh smart thing and buy all the parts you can off of ebay itll save you 100's of $$$.

roof racks are infinitly better then trunk/hitch racks

 

[Scarpozzi]

I recommend the tow hitch over the roof rack if you have an SUV. There's no need in worrying about parking garages and drive thru overhangs when you have a tow-hitch rack. I would only get the roof rack if you want to have worse gas milage.

EDIT: I have to say that a roof-rack is meant for a car. If you had a car, you would need one of those, but getting one for an SUV isn't very wise. They make hitch racks that fold down for access to your rear cargo door and the only caveat is about when you're not using the rack, you'll have to store it somewhere. To me, I like that idea better though because then you can get a new SUV and not have to worry about compatibility...or you could sell it to anyone with whatever class tow-hitch you have on your current ride.

 

[elGatoXL]

I'm a proud owner of a Saris roof system (upright bikes and snowboards) for the past 12 years. Same rack, just a bit faded. Rock solid and I've never had any problems with it. I'd definitely go with Saris again (which I might - need new load bars for a new vehicle purchase). Definitely user friendly and a breeze to install, use, and remove.

As for hitch vs roof... I don't know much about hitch racks, but they have to be easier to load and create less drag on your vehicle. I'd also venture Maybe also more protected from road debris (stones and such)and insects, especially at highway speeds. I've also heard that excessive highway driving may prematurely dry out your components (headset, sprokets, pedal bearings), but I question that...

 

[Anubis]

thr prob with hitch racks is that not all suvs have hitches. my roomae has a older 4 runner it dosent have one so he has a roof yakima rack. solid as a rock. Hitch rcks scare me cause they bobble around way to much back there. and even for newer SUVs that have roof bard you can still attach a rack to them. we have done over 100 with 3 bikes on a yakima rack with no problims. the drying out (headset, sprokets, pedal bearings) ... can be avoided by simply takeing care of your bike like your supposed to.

 

[Sundog]

Yakima.....I have adapted mine to also fit the factory rack. I now have a rack the entire lengthf the vehicle.