General Cycling Discussion - Best hitch rack?

I am in need of a new 2 inch hitch rack. 2 bikes would be OK. What kind/brand is best out there? Thanks.

Yakima, Thule, Saris. You pick the one that you like.

I am in need of a new 2 inch hitch rack. 2 bikes would be OK. What kind/brand is best out there? Thanks.

What kind of vehicle are you hooking it up to?

Hooked up to a Yukon XL.

Don't forget KUAT. They make a couple of pretty nice racks.

I have a SARIS Cycle-on pro on a Tahoe. If you are only talking about 2 bikes it will take two 65 pound bikes plus you can add an extension for two more bikes. Folds out of the way when not is use.

I picked up a 4 bike rack at Academy Sports for $99 about a month ago and it works great! It's pretty well built and it's a fraction of the price of the name brands. Hooks up to my 2" receiver hitch perfectly.

I much prefer the ones that hold the bike on it's wheels over the ones that hang the bike by the top tube.

Nothing touches the paint on either your car or your bike so no scratches. They hold bikes with sloping top tubes more neatly. You have no concern about your bike's wheels rubbing the ground on steep driveway entrances. The bikes don't swing into one another every time you start or stop.

Retro,

What kind do you have? I found the same thing with my old hitch regarding paint scratches and I didn't like the way the front wheels swung free on the top tube racks. I ended up using elastic cords to stabilize the wheels, which was a added time to load and unload.

I don't own a receiver hitch rack. I think that the Thule version used to be called Sportworks or something like that. Those have favorably impressed me.

We carry our bikes inside of the cars. I have a bike workshop that occupies the front of my garage so our cars, even without a hitch rack, barely fit. When I bought my Honda Element my prime requirement was for a car that would carry out tandem on the inside yet still fit into my garage. Our Screamer recumbent tandem barely fits inside of the Element but that's good enough. When we bought my wife's recumbent trike, we drove her Saturn to the bike shop and told them to sell us a trike that she could fit inside of the car.

Yakima makes the Hold-up and Stick-up hitch racks that support the bikes by the wheels.

http://www.amazon.com/Saris-Thelma-Bike-Universal-Hitch/dp/B0039SNZ16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295707591&sr=8-1

I love this rack. Easy on and off the car. Bikes easy on and off the rack.
No scratches on the bikes.

http://www.amazon.com/Saris-Thelma-Bike-Universal-Hitch/dp/B0039SNZ16/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295707591&sr=8-1

I love this rack. Easy on and off the car. Bikes easy on and off the rack.
No scratches on the bikes.

Another vote for this rack.

I have a Yakima roof rack on my car and this rack on my wifes Nissan Rogue. Works pretty well and doesn't damage the car.

I bought this to put on the back of my Nissan Cube.

http://www.kuatinnovations.com/index.php?page=sherpa

I have a SARIS Cycle-on pro on a Tahoe. If you are only talking about 2 bikes it will take two 65 pound bikes plus you can add an extension for two more bikes. Folds out of the way when not is use.

+1 We use a Saris Cycle-on, moving it between a Saab 94 and a Chrysler Town 'n' Country.

And Saris has great customer service. A part broke on one of the swing arms 4 years after the purchase date. A replacement arm was delivered by FEDEX the very next day at no charge.

Thanks for the insights. I will check them out.