Eman

Any suggestions for a car rack? I own a Serotta Colorado and we just bought my wife a Specialized Allez. She is excited to start riding. I had typically transported my Serotta on its side (rapped in blankets) in the bed of my pick-up. I have a cap on the pick-up as well. We were looking at a Thule system for my '97 Honda Accord Wagon, but with adapters it will be over $600. That is about half what my wife's bike cost and that would be a hard hit for us. Also, we may be getting another car in the Fall and would rather put the expensive rack system on the new vehicle. I know rear systems can be less expensive. However, I had heard that the rear hatch racks can bang the bikes together a bit. I was also told about a rear hatch system that mounts the front forks, holding it better, but have never seen one. Lastly, I do not know if the pick-up bed racks will work with a cap on the truck. Any suggestions from any past experiences would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

ruirui

well, i just bought the Yakima MO JOE from REI. installed it last night.. and placed my heavy rockhopper on there.. and drove around. everything seems to be fine. this trunk rack is really beefy! plus it's very easy to setup! the one i have is the 3 bike. it's fitted on to my 2000 civic coupe.

Portis

I just got this new rack.

It is the MTB review best choice for a reason. I absolutely love it. It is a hitch rack which will cost you some money but if you are interested in purchasing a new car in the Fall, consider whether it will be a car with a hitch. Most SUV's come with a hitch and all you have to do is slide this rack into it and you are set.

With a car you have to add a hitch and that will run you anywhere from $75-$250 depending on if you do it yourself and where you shop. This rack is simply amazing. It is solid as a rock. You will find these racks on the front and rear of many metro busses in metro areas. I am a hard sell and don't brag things up that often but i love this rack.

Today i had a pretty good bike wreck and went over the handlebars. My derailler took a pretty good beating as did my left leg. I had some pretty good mechanical problems with the bike so i needed to take it to the "Doctor" aka LBS. I got home at 12 PM grabbed this rack off the garage wall, bolted it on, and was at the LBS before 12:15PM. My bike was repaired by 12:30PM. (that is service) (also they didn't charge me.)

I then went home and took the rack off and hung it back on the wall. I couldn't be more happy with my rack or my LBS. The leg is another story.

lsd87

Eman...I just bought a Saris Bones and like it...check it out!

madpogue 

I've evangelized about this before, but since since about the most common type of car collision is the rear-ender, I would strongly recommend a roof rack. Check eBay; it's jammed with Saris, Thule and Yakima racks for half of what you'd pay new (or less). You may need to buy new whatever adaptors are specific to your car (two pair of Saris roof rack clips, specific to your vehicle, run about $35, for example).

'Course, you have a mid-size station wagon. You could get some more blankets and just put your two bikes in back with the seat down, with blankets in between as well as on top. If I can fit a hybrid tandem in my Saturn wagon, you should have no problem fitting a coupla go-fast wedgies in an Accordion. I've been using my Saris rack lately, but only because we're hauling a tandem, two single bikes, and four people (and, yesterday, two feral cats, but I digress...).

MSD

If money is tight, I suggest searching Ebay (like madpogue suggests) for a used Thule or Yakima setup. Check their websites to find out all the parts you need, then hunt them down.

I use a Yakima rack on my WRX sedan. I leave it on all year for skiing and biking. Love it!

Mike

Portis

I've stated this before. Fear of getting rear ended is no reason to avoid a rear mounted rack any more than fear of rollover is a reason to avoid a roof rack. Rear mounted racks have much less drag and will not kill your gas mileage.

madpogue 

It's not "fear", it's statistics. You're much more likely to get rear-ended than in a roll-over. If you drive regularly in any city over about 100,000, it's not a matter of whether you'll eventually get rear-ended, but when (and will your bike be on the back).

I just did 230 miles in the Saturn wagon with a tandem, a hybrid and roadie on the roof rack, three humans, two feral cats and the day's worth of gear inside. Confess to having sped much of the way. Mileage went down from 31 to 28 MPG, about 10%. I never measured the effect of the rear rack on the mileage of my Nova (it was a '72 Nova, after all...), but I'm sure it's gonna be a few percent, anyway.

DEK

I also have a Saris Bones and love it. There's down tube straps to keep the bikes from banging together. I have a 2000 Intrepid and it sits completely on the trunk lid so I can still open the trunk with the rack on (sans bikes). Of course, if you are worried abuot rear-end collision, look for something else.

Retro Grouch 

This is a no-brainer.

Buy yourself a couple of bolt-on fork mounts. They typically sell for about $20.00 each. Bolt them down to a piece of scrap lumber and set the assembly in the back of your pick-up. If you want to get fancy, you can jig saw the ends of the board to fit the little nooks in the side of your pickup bed and it won't slide front-to-back when you peal-out. You don't have to worry about your back wheel in your pickup bed. It'll bounce from side-to-side a little, but the bike will stay upright and won't hurt anything.

I used to make my own fork mounts by welding a piece of scrap steel onto a flange and using a front axle and quick release to hold the fork, but they cost almost as much to make as a commercially purchased fork mount costs to buy. A friend made his own fork mounts with some angle brackets and bolts from the hrdware store, but it was UGLY and really not all that sturdy.

Eman

Thanks guys! All of this has given a lot of great options to look into and I am excited to start taking trips. I live off a dirt road so we can't just ride straight out the driveway. Thanks again.

Portis

That's wierd. I have to ride 2-3 miles on pavement to get out of town and start my trip on dirt roads.

Eman

Yeah. Eventually I am going to get a mountain bike. This area has a lot of great trails I am told and even around the block would be an adventure. However, as you know that is a whole new animal. I am sure I will be asking for advice when that time comes, maybe in the fall.