General Cycling Discussion - Bike racks for your car.. What do you have?

I bought a carrier that holds 2 bikes, I can't remember what its called but it is one of the folding ones that secures to the top, side and bottom of your trunk with straps... Anyways.... It has caused some major damage to my vehicle.. The metal fastening part that tightens the straps has scratched my car.. I bought it because it was cheap (I guess you get what you pay for) and recommended by the guys at the bike shop. Had I known it was going to scratch up my car I might hot have spent my money on it.. I am looking at other options, just wondering what is the majority here when it comes to carriers.

Hello Jenny

I wish I had some pics of mine. I have an old Allen 102A that I have used on almost every car I owned for the last 10 yrs. a '87 chevy suburban, 03 ford taurs, 93 Celerbity wagon, '00 and '03 windstar. this rack works well on almost anything. I have seen it cause rub marks when left on a very long time but it is very good.

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/allen/images/single.jpg

I've got the Saris RS and really like it. Holds 3 bikes, which is overkill for me. Attaches in seconds and seems very secure. The fasteners are heavily rubber-coated so no scratching.

I didn't want to risk damaging the paint on my car, so I purchased a 4 bike capacity, hitch style, bike rack. I had the dealership install a hitch without the wiring package ... much cheaper that way.

http://thule.com/en/CA/Products/BikeCarriers/Hitch/21726.aspx

Btw, unless you absolutely need it, I wouldn't recommend getting a 4 bike rack. In hindsight, I would have picked up the 2 bike rack. Other than that, I love the rack. Very stable, and easy to load up the bikes.

I didn't want to risk damaging the paint on my car, so I purchased a 4 bike capacity, hitch style, bike rack. I had the dealership install a hitch without the wiring package ... much cheaper that way.

http://thule.com/en/CA/Products/BikeCarriers/Hitch/21726.aspx

Btw, unless you absolutely need it, I wouldn't recommend getting a 4 bike rack. In hindsight, I would have picked up the 2 bike rack. Other than that, I love the rack. Very stable, and easy to load up the bikes.


I also have a hitch rack. A Saris Cycle-on Pro. Mine is set up for 4 bikes but I belong to a club and use it for 4 bikes a lot. I also like the fact that it locks the wheels in place and can't hit the vehicle at all. And it folds out of the way when not in use. It is only overkill in that the first two slots will take buke up to 65 pounds and the last two will take biles up to 35 pounds. I have no need right now for a 65 pound capacity because I don't ride down hill bikes but it is a sturdy rack.

Is that a Ratty on your shoulder or Jack?

I spent $120 to have a hitch installed on my car at U-Haul (the only hitch available for my car is a 1.25" receiver).

The 3-bike OSI rack for 1.25" hitch I bought off Amazon for $100. http://www.amazon.com/Surco-BR125-Standard-Receiver-Capacity/dp/B000CCDKGM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1279515300&sr=8-5

I love this system because:

1) the hitch rack holds the bike away from my car. Never got any scratches on my car from the bike.

2) the hitch rack still allows me to open the trunk even when carrying my bike.

3) the bike on the rack sits behind the car and the only part that sticks up into the slipstream is the seat, so there is almost no effect on my car's fuel economy.

4) the hitch rack is easy to load and unload. Its single carry plate works better IMHO than twin-arm racks that may have issues with smaller bikes (top tube not long enough to fit between the arms.)

This is the setup I've been using for the past 3 years, no problemo.

I have a Yakima Mo Joe. Goes over the spoiler of my car without damaging it or the paint. It holds three bikes, but so far have only put two on at the most. I have been very pleased with it.

I use a Graber trunk-mounted 2-bike rack (bought for $15 used) with the 6 straps on the trunk. I read a comment to use tape at every contact point where the hooks latch on to prevent scratching, so I did so with shipping tape and it seems to be working well! Also put a small square of 3M double sided adhesive (only peeled off one side and placed it on tape) to put underneath the top hooks as additional padding to protect my 1 year old car.

this on the van
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41P8A56H7GL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

this on my mini
http://images.buzzillions.com/images_products/06/62/bell-double-back-2-bike-trunk-mount-rack_635368_175.jpg

I also have a hitch rack. A Saris Cycle-on Pro. Mine is set up for 4 bikes but I belong to a club and use it for 4 bikes a lot. I also like the fact that it locks the wheels in place and can't hit the vehicle at all. And it folds out of the way when not in use. It is only overkill in that the first two slots will take buke up to 65 pounds and the last two will take biles up to 35 pounds. I have no need right now for a 65 pound capacity because I don't ride down hill bikes but it is a sturdy rack.

Is that a Ratty on your shoulder or Jack?

There's a rat on my shoulder :eek:

Actually that's Siren, one of two Jacks in our house ... who's currently doing her best to try and screw up my post. :lol:

There's a rat on my shoulder :eek:

Actually that's Siren, one of two Jacks in our house ... who's currently doing her best to try and screw up my post. :lol:

I have a Rat Terrier that often gets mixed up with a Jack. Fun Fur people.

I use an Allen two bike carrier that I bought at Walmart for $40. I've only been using it for a couple of days now but it seems to handle the task with ease. I am worried about it causing damage to the trunk but I try to be careful. I haven't noticed anything yet, but time will tell. I did have it on my car, with one road bike, going down the interstate at about 75 MPH. It seemed secure enough. I brought the speed down as a precaution, though.

I needed something that could be moved from car to car without any trouble, which this thing is capable of. I want to get some small pads to put on the hooks and for the edges of my pedals. I'm worried about them swinging around and gashing my paint.

I would much prefer the hitch racks but my cars don't have hitches. Until I can convince myself to have one installed, the Allen trunk rack will have to do. It isn't a bad rack, though. It feels secure, is easy to put on and take off, and was affordable.

I have a roof mount Yakima system on both cars.

I use a Saris Bones 2

+1 on roof racks.

There are two major problems with roof racks - the taller the car, the more difficult they are to get bikes on and driving into garages and places with low overheads like fast food restaurants.

I have a thule 4 bike hitch rack. It has a locking hitch and cable that goes around the bikes. My only complaint is I can not get 4 mountain bikes on it. Due to my wifes and young sons frame size we put three on the rack and one in the back of the SUV.

I had tried a trunk rack and did not like it, so put a receiver hitch on and get a Performance Flatbed rack. Holds 2 bikes with wheels on, and with an anti-rattle device for the hitch, is as stable as you could want.

I think I would find a new bike shop. I am in it for the long haul, have a nice vehicle, and good bikes, and I feel the cost of a hitch and a hitch mount Yakima is worth it. But for a beater bike and a beater car, who cares how you haul it around.

i use a saris on my 91 honda civic, because my turner has a through front axle. if i ride my other bikes, i take the front wheel off and put it in the back seat. i don't worry about scratching up my car, it's a car, i don't care about scratches or dents, i cover them up with stickers. i'm not a fan of roof racks, because 1) i'm short and b) they give you crappy gas mileage.

Yakima roof rack. Both our cars have factory rails so it's a snap to switch from car to car.

The key to preventing the strap hooks (even if heavily rubber teflon whatever coated) is to ensure your car is CLEAN. If your car has dust on it, the resulting surface contact of the hooks will just scratch up the paint no matter how good the hooks are.

With that said, I have a Stealth 2-bike carrier. I can now install it within 5 minutes.

I use a Saris Bones 2

This^

I have an F150 with a fiberglass tonneau cover on it, so with my crappy Target bike that I had, I'd just take the front wheel off and throw it in the bed. With a decent bike, I'd probably lay down a moving pad so it doesn't get scratched up or smacked by the 35" spare tire. I'm actually thinking about getting a roof rack system with the bars and towers and either screwing it onto the tonneau cover on my F150 or using 3M VHB tape. That way the bike is protected behind the cab and I can still use the bed for other stuff.

For my car, I'd probably opt for a roof rack since I wouldn't want to put a hitch on any unit-body car that didn't have one as a factory option.