recommend a good car bike rack

[OBLAMA2009]

nothing permanently affixed that would require drilling holes, just one of those cheapo racks with the foam contacts. do the clips scratch the paint of your car? i noticed on one of the boxes it said "clips will ruin paint"--????? anyone recommend bones, that is what the lbs has. how about one that uses a hitch? can you install a hitch on any car yourself and are those racks more secure, as in, could you go in to the grocery store and expect your bike to still be there?

if youre in the market for a bike bell i recommend the schwinn alert electronic bell from walmart for $6. ive been hit by cars twice in the last year so i decided i needed a bell so i got this one, it sounds like a smoke detector alarm, impossible to ignore and irritating as flluck. i was testing it out on people in downtown sf tonight and wow it really shocks people and scares the crap outta them and then pixes dem off, imma prolly gonna give someone a heart attack eventually!

 

[Meghan54]

I'm guessing when you say the bones, you're talking about the Saris Bones, right? If that's what it is, the Bones are probably one of the best trunk mount bike carriers out there...vastly better than the Allen/whatever metal contraptions that are their competition. The rubber feet won't damage paint if you put it on correctly, which entails ensuring where you're putting it is clean and the rack is tightened down so it won't shift. Nice thing is the Bones system is very adjustable and adaptable to darned near any vehicle, so you're not investing in something that won't work on your next car/truck.

Hitch mounts are good, but if that's the only reason to install a hitch on your car, don't waste the money unless you're using it at least monthly. Given that, a hitch mounted bike rack does move the bike lower behind the car, reducing the hit to your gas mileage from drag, and hides the bike more from road debris. A tray mount type, one that the wheels of the bike sit in a tray vs. hanging the bike from arms, works much better. Less stress on the top tube of the bike, won't sway, easier to get the bike on and off the rack. One big advantage is most of the good ones, like the Saris hitch mount system, fold down so you can access your trunk even when on the hitch, something a "temp" trunk mount rack won't let you do. Upside is there's nothing to touch your paint.

Forget a roof mount system. Lots of work lifting the bike above your shoulder height to get it onto the rack, huge gas mileage hit from drag, completely exposed to debris/etc., and very expensive. But it's "cool" and you're just not "in" if you don't have a roof mount system. LOL! But again, the pads do touch the roof and can damage the paint. Remember, even put on tightly, dust/dirt/crap can and will get between the pads and the car, esp. after a rain. Of course, the way to mitigate that is remove it when not being used, but that's a major pain in the ass, which is why everyone puts the rack on the roof and leaves it there....that and it looks "cool" and shows you're part of the clique.

Temp use....get the trunk mount Bones, that is if you're using one less than once a month. Once a month....get a hitch mounted and a receiver mount, tray carrier system. Saris, Yak, and others make them. Don't bother with the ones that suspend the bike on arms..too much movement/sway. The tray systems don't have that problem. And the bike can be secured to it, unlike the trunk mount systems.

 

[luv2liv]

i had this on my lexus gs
http://www.amazon.com/Saris-Bones-3-...sr_1_2?ie=UTF8
strap free. easily mount and dismount within minutes. it didnt scratch my paint. works great but not cheap

 

[JulesMaximus]

For a hitch rack 1upUSA is generally regarded as one of the best but it ain't cheap. I wouldn't get anything that clamps to your trunk. It will scratch your paint and it makes the trunk unusable when the rack is on there. Think about it, you are clamping a heavy rack plus the weight of your bicycles to a trunk lid. This is a part of the car that normally supports no weight at all and has 3 mounting points, the hinges and the latch. I had a Thule trunk rack but returned it because it was so freaking heavy plus the weight of the bike and you're hanging 60 lbs on your trunk easily.

I have a Hollywood 3 bike hitch rack that cost around $175. Works well enough but it is pretty heavy. The 1upUSA rack would be better for bikes with carbon fiber frames because it doesn't clamp down on the carbon tubes.



http://www.1upusa.com/bicycleracks.html

 

[thedarkwolf]

If this is something you are going to use every now and again then yes the Saris Bones is good enough. If you want to be extra safe use some painters tape after cleaning the mounting spots to keep it from scratching the car.

None of them are particularly secure to leave your bike on while unsupervised. There are a couple different options for locks that you shut into your trunk/hatch to secure the bikes too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HF80PX7x5g kind of like that.

 

[Lounatik]

If you dont do the trunk mount, 1Up and Kuat are your best bets.

Edit: i dont know how this rack works, but a company called SeaSucker makes a rack that suctions to your back window.


Peace


Lounatik

 

[KlokWyze]

I cannot recommend one that we purchased a couple years ago. "Super Joe 3" Doesn't fit my GTI hatchback or my wife's Civic well at all.

 

[spacejamz]

I have had those bike mounts with the foam rollers that clip on the top and bottom of the trunk and then you pull the straps to tighten them down...when I got to my ride spot, one or two of them would pop off...not very reassuring when you have an expensive bike back there....

I previously had a Yakima roof mount...I had no problem getting my bike loaded/unloaded (bike probably weighed about 18 or 19 lbs) and there is no noticeable increase in gas mileage. However, if you have sun roof, the valance made a huge difference with wind noise...I was always worried about driving into the garage with the bike on the roof. I would move my garbage bin in front of the garage when I left so it would make me get out of the car to move it when I got back...

On my last car, I got a class 1 hitch installed and this is by far my favorite solution...
Uhaul installed the hitch for $190 and I got a 2 bike rack for about $80 on Amazon...