Recreational & Family - Bike Rack for Toyota Corolla Sedan

Hi all!
I have a 2004 Toyota Corolla sedan and a new Jamis Citizen bike. I was wondering if anyone had any good bike rack suggestions. I want something that goes on the back of the trunk that I can easily put on and take off for weekend rides at the beach or nearby bike trails. I am pretty new to riding and I was wondering if bike racks are safe to leave on your car when you are off riding somewhere? Are there locks or something on them? Can people just come by and steal them off your car? :eek: Also are they pretty good at NOT scratching up your car? ANY advice/info. is appreciated. Thanks alot and Happy Trails.

Pretty much any trunk rack will work with a car as common as a Corolla.

I haven't used them, but Supergo makes some decent looking trunk racks. The two-bike model will run you $50.

I use a junky Graber rack, recently purchased at Target, but I'm thinking about upgrading it, fairly soon. It has a lifetime warranty, but unlike the Supergo racks, mine does not have any stabilizers or bike separators. So far, that hasn't caused me very much grief, but I'd like to have a little more security than this rack provides.

As far as locking goes ... I haven't ever seen a trunk rack with a lock on it. I'm not sure how that would be accomplished. The lower hooks on my rack won't come off without opening the trunk, so it would be somewhat problematic to just take it off my car, but straps are cheap, so someone could just cut them. If your car has a hitch, you can get locking racks for that. Or you could put a roof rack on.

If I'm worried about it getting stolen, it's pretty simple to remove the trunk rack and toss it in the trunk. I'm not too concerned with someone stealing my $40 bike rack, but leaving the bike on it means people can steal that pretty easily, too.

Thanks for the reply. Do you know where I can get the Supergo bike racks?


Pretty much any trunk rack will work with a car as common as a Corolla.

I haven't used them, but Supergo makes some decent looking trunk racks. The two-bike model will run you $50.

I use a junky Graber rack, recently purchased at Target, but I'm thinking about upgrading it, fairly soon. It has a lifetime warranty, but unlike the Supergo racks, mine does not have any stabilizers or bike separators. So far, that hasn't caused me very much grief, but I'd like to have a little more security than this rack provides.

As far as locking goes ... I haven't ever seen a trunk rack with a lock on it. I'm not sure how that would be accomplished. The lower hooks on my rack won't come off without opening the trunk, so it would be somewhat problematic to just take it off my car, but straps are cheap, so someone could just cut them. If your car has a hitch, you can get locking racks for that. Or you could put a roof rack on.

If I'm worried about it getting stolen, it's pretty simple to remove the trunk rack and toss it in the trunk. I'm not too concerned with someone stealing my $40 bike rack, but leaving the bike on it means people can steal that pretty easily, too.

Sears has a $50 Allen 2 bike rack on their web site. I have one, and it works for 1 bike really well. I would recommend it for a cheap, easy to use rack. You can go to the Allen rack web site to check for fit applications. It list your Corolla as a fit. I ran a security cable inside the trunk of my car, and closed the back trunk down on the cable. and padlocked it to my rack (and bike). If you keep the surface under the foam pads relatively clean, it will not scratch your finish. I just clean the area that it touches with Windex every week, or so.

http://www.allenracks.com/products/trunk/102d.html

Sears site-

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/prod...cat=Accessories

Thanks for the input. That sounds like a good rack. However, now I am even more confused as I have been reading around the site and find that a lot of people seem to have had trouble with trunk racks scratching up their car or bike and that the bikes tend to wobble alot with them. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=121690&highlight=trunk+rack+scratch
I don't want to put a roof rack on - I won't be riding that much to necessitate paying all that for installation. But I am now considering the hitch. Does anyone know anything about that? Are they expensive to install? Cumbersome?

Saris Bones rack. Works well. You can get it in a 2-bike size or a three-bike size. As far as scratches, well, your Corolla will eventually get scratched. Might as well be proactive about it.

The Supergo racks are online at www.supergo.com, if you still want to take a look. Lion Steve is correct about keeping the surface clean. It looks like his Allen rack might keep the bike away from the back of your car (and help prevent scratches to both, in the process), but I think the Supergo stabilizers would work better.

On the more expensive side, I like Yakima's products. Their SuperJoe (2 bike model MSRP is $80) and MightyJoe (2 bike model MSRP is $120) models have stabilizers built in, as well as a handful of features to protect your vehicle.

The Saris Bones rack MSRP is the same price as the SuperJoe, and it also seems to be a nice rack.

My upgrade is hovering somewhere between the Yakima SuperJoe and the Supergo TR.

I have the quick release for the front and rear wheel so I just take both of them off and put the bike in my back seat with the wheels in the trunk...I havent had problems yet.

I dont do this too often though, wherever I need to drive to I can just ride my bike and then ride home. The only problem is worrying about flats and what not.

I wont put a rack because it will definately scratch my car and I am not about to do that. Plus I have a spoiler and I havent seen racks go over spoilers?

2004 Sentra Spec V...Anyone know what fits this car?

" Plus I have a spoiler and I havent seen racks go over spoilers?"

Check out the picture in the Allen rack site.


http://www.allenracks.com/products/trunk/103a.html

I'll second the Yakima. I have one on my Protege5 (I've used it on other cars, too), and it's about as solid as a trunk rack can be. It is important to wipe the pads and the places on the car where they touch, or you'll get scratches for sure.
I also have a Yakima top rack on a Honda, and it feels a lot solider, as you'd expect. But the trunk-mount one cost $80 at REI, and the top rack, with all the accessories you have to buy, came to more than $500. Costs a lot in gas, too--at 75mph, I get about 34 without a rack, 26 with two bikes on top.

I own a Matrix and after using a trunk rack on my previous car (Grand Am) I would not recommend any trunk mount rack. IMO they do the job but scratch the car.

If you can try a roof or hitch rack. I like the roof racks better because if you get rear ended your bike can be damaged, on the other side it's easier to mount your bike on the hitch.

Saris Bones rack. Works well. You can get it in a 2-bike size or a three-bike size. As far as scratches, well, your Corolla will eventually get scratched. Might as well be proactive about it.
I'll second this suggestion.....I think the Saris Bones is probably the best trunk rack out there. It was my rack until I just got a SUV and bought a hitch rack.

It's all smooth plastic and rubber so is also probably the best rack for not scratching your car....though the real problem is not the rack, but keeping the bikes from scratching the car.

No....they don't come with locks. I don't know of any trunk racks that do.

I'll second the Yakima. I have one on my Protege5 (I've used it on other cars, too), and it's about as solid as a trunk rack can be. It is important to wipe the pads and the places on the car where they touch, or you'll get scratches for sure.
I also have a Yakima top rack on a Honda, and it feels a lot solider, as you'd expect. But the trunk-mount one cost $80 at REI, and the top rack, with all the accessories you have to buy, came to more than $500. Costs a lot in gas, too--at 75mph, I get about 34 without a rack, 26 with two bikes on top.

You 34MPG aT 75Mph??? I drive like a little old lady and my P5 will only get about 31-32MPG. What's the secret? :eek:

I bought a Saris roof rack and put on my car for a couple of days. When I took it off, it left two dent up along the roof line. I did not tighten it down too much. I dunno what the hell happened. Just be careful. :(

The Saris Bones rack MSRP is the same price as the SuperJoe, and it also seems to be a nice rack.
My upgrade is hovering somewhere between the Yakima SuperJoe and the Supergo TR.btw, I took the cruiser to a shop yesterday and was told that it probably wouldn't be compatible (cruiser style fork, and quick release system) and that it'd be unsafe to convert my standard bike into quick release and use it on my yakima racks. Has anyone converted a beach crusier and used it with a top of car rack system?

You get what you pay for, pretty much. I still have a Graber rack that bolted to my Corolla's bumper back when cars had real bumpers that was perfect. It held two bikes securely, was hard to steal and cost about $15 in 1979. Can't use those anymore...
Yakima makes several trunk-mount racks in the $100 range, I think (bought mine several years ago). Generally they hook to the trunk lid at the top, with stabilizer straps to the sides or bottom, and the weight rests on pads on either the lower part of the trunk lid or the license plate. They're adjustable to fit a wide range of vehicles--I've used mine on a Civic, Tercel, Mazda sedan and Mazda station wagon.
Will they scratch the car? Probably eventually, especially if you don't keep the pads clean and they squirm around on the paint. And locking the bike to the rack is a fool's errand--anybody can unhook the thing and walk away in about 45 seconds. When I have to leave the car where I can't see it, I weave a long cable lock through the bike and rack and down through a tow loop under the frame, but not all cars have those. Look around and work something out.
Haven't checked in awhile, but www.yakima.com used to have a good selection guide. You just plug in your car and what you want to do and it tells you what you need. If you don't want a rooftopper (mine cost more than $600 five years ago), you might also consider a trailer hitch rack...but then you have to install a hitch, and that runs into money, too.