General Cycling Discussion - Yakima Trunk Rack / Bike Lock questions

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affeking
08-05-05, 08:25 AM
Hi -

I recently purchased a bike, and now I'm looking into some of the vital accessories.

First off, I'm looking for a trunk bike rack. Generally speaking, are trunk racks easy (quick) to deploy and remove from the trunk? Specfically, how about the Yakima MightyJoe 2 Trunk Rack? I have an 04 grand prix, and I'll ultimately want to put my Diamondback hybrid and my wifes future bike on there. Probably mainly for short drives (<30 mins) but also for some longer camping trips and such. Anything I need to know before picking this rack up?

Next, locks. I figured I'd go with a U-lock, because they seem to be the most secure. I'm a little worried after reading the thread about the kryptonite lock, and I'm also overwhelmed with the amount of locks out there. I'm not in a real high crime place, and my bike isn't super expensive, so I'm looking for a moderately priced lock. Maybe $40 if I can get something decent. Any suggestions / thoughts?

Thanks for the help,
Jeff

Stubacca
08-05-05, 08:42 AM
No experience with trunk racks here, but the Saris Bones rack seems to get a lot of good reviews on this site. Trunk racks in general seem to be great for shorter trips. Biggest downside as I see it is how close the bike can sit to the exhaust of the car. My preference is for roof racks on a sedan.

Don't be scared of the Kryptonite locks - Kryptonite replaced all the defective locks (with the round keys). Any new locks sold in stores will have a flat key and are great locks. Also check out Onguard locks (my personal preference). Buy the smallest lock that will allow you to lock your rear wheel (between the seat and chain stays) to an unmovable object. I use a mini U-lock for one bike, and a slightly bigger U-lock for two bikes.
hubs
08-05-05, 03:17 PM
I used a Saris bones for a while on our Saturn SL2 ... It worked great and it went on and off pretty easily. It's not something you'd want to do to get into the trunk on a trip tho'. It is something a theif could pull off the car pretty quickly.

I got spoiled by a hitch rack on our now deceased Nissan Quest ... so I just put a hitch on our new Saturn VUE ... and it is great. Hitches for bikes don't need to be industrial strength and are made for most car models at a price around $100. You can check out your options at etrailer.com or other sites ... They are surprisingly easy to install yourself as long as they don't require any drilling (it'll say in the description).

I wholeheartedly recommend putting a hitch on the car and getting a hitch rack. They are much more stable in my opinion and much easier to manipulate around on trips.
The hitch is BOLTED to the car and the rack is BOLTED (and can be LOCKED) to the hitch and the bikes LOCKED to the rack ... much more secure. I don't know of a trunk rack you can lock to the car.

There have been a few threads in these forums on the subject of racks. Just do a search on racks if you want to read a bunch.

Good luck!