Frizlefrak

Oh crap, you're right. Still made me chuckle. Now I'm going to be obsessed with seeing a roof mounted bike on a German car.

Drew Eckhardt 

When I started driving 25 years ago the two options were roof racks or putting stuff inside your car. On the roof leaves more room for people and keeps dirt/slush out so those of us with friends opted for roof racks.

Mid-career I could comfortably afford a German sports sedan, spending time in the Colorado Rockies suggested all-wheel-drive, and BMW had yet to release the xi 3-series so that meant an Audi.

Without a good reason to replace roof rack + accessories (snowboard/bike/front wheel carriers date back to 1992) or Audi (2000) I haven't.

joeyduck

I fit that demographic. I have a hatch back VW Golf.

I can not put them in the car for two reasons. My sons car seat and all wheels are attached with pinheads and front pannier racks make it tight fits (so PITA).

I have no desire to put bikes on the trailer hitch, since I tow a trailer at times and those racks can be a hassle; plus I have roof racks. I have two bike racks on the roof. One rack for the roof of the trailer.

But prior to the VW the racks were on a 96 Toyata Corolla and an 84 Camaro. No bikes would easily fit in the back of either of those; necessitating the roof racks.

fietsbob

Demographic of people who Own Cars?

my cars had rain-gutters on the sides of the roof to hook the rack onto.

delcrossv

Are you kidding? They're all Colnagos.

91MF

germans do it better.

Sixty Fiver

Breaking the mold... now I am running 2 roof rails on the Jeep 1 shown here) while the car has the trunk mounted rack which I use for for transporting customer's bicycles more than I do my own.

Camping and fishing go hand in hand with mountain biking.

Frizlefrak

Don't have a pic handy, but we just bought a 2014 Ram 2500 Crew Cab. The cab is so big the bike fits in the back seat....just fold seat up and roll it in. The truck sits so high that if I used a roof rack, I might not clear overpasses

chaadster

Language is a fine battle line for class warfare, and to the point, it's Bimmer.

caloso

I am 47 and carry my Ridley on a Yakima rack attached to the roof of my Audi A4 wagon. Why? Because it's the most practical solution.

BlazingPedals

That is my thought. Roof racks are the most undesirable way to carry (to me, at least.) But, if that's all you're left to, then that's what you use.

mrodgers

VW Jetta here. My bike lives in the trunk with the seat folded down. Last year when I started out with a Walmart bike and didn't care about it being out in the weather or if it was stolen, I used a trunk rack. I have both a factory spoiler which everyone says you can't use a trunk mount and also can open the trunk just fine which everyone says you can't do.

I still use it if my daughter is going to the trail with me.

demoncyclist

I bought a Thule rack for the roof of my first car- a 1987 VW Fox. Since then, that rack has been on an 86 SAAB 9000S, 82 Honda Accord, 01 Mazda MPV and my current 10 Scion Xb. My wife had one on her 04 Elantra GT as well. The only car I have owned that wouldn't take a roof rack was a 93 VW EuroVan Weekender- I didn't want to drill the fiberglass camper roof for the pseudo raingutters to mount the rack to, and it was already very tall. It had a hitch, so I went that route. I still have a hitch mount rack too. With both racks mounted, I can carry 8 bikes. My wife has a FIAT 500 with the glass roof, so she can't mount a roof rack at all. She has a hitch mount rack on that car. We do worry about bikes on the rear of the cars- we got tapped by a Land Rover last summer and it pushed our bikes together, cracking the seatstay on her CF Trek Madone. We had to send it to Calfee for repair (Trek's crash replacement program is probably the worst of the big brands, btw). We try to take my car when we need to transport bikes, even though hers gets much better mileage and is more fun to flog on nice roads...

Sixty Fiver

I also have a hitch mounted rack for the Jeep... this means I can carry as many bicycles as I can passengers but it is not as practical for the day to day as the roof rails.

It does serve me pretty well as a mobile repair stand too.

I-Like-To-Bike

Photographed at the Hockenheim Formula 1 race track.

delcrossv

Stretching that E-series makes it look like the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile.

fietsbob

Roof racks are Expensive now ..

I got Yakima warehouse Blems and such to leave Arcata .. my Old car had rain-gutters back then, to clamp them onto ..

60's Jeep Wagoneer, panel delivery, And a '68 SAAB 96 ..

gecho

Hitch racks obscure brake lights and turn signals. Maybe they don't want to get rear ended.

andr0id

Roof racks are just better.

First, there is only one idiot that can destroy your bikes on the roof. When they're hanging off the back, everyone on the road that is behind you can smash them.

Secondly, *most* rear racks require hanging the bike from the frame and multiple bikes bang against each other. With a fork mount roof rack, the only contact point is a place that's already designed to be a contact point.

Roof racks don't block access to trunks and rear hatches.

Roof racks don't require separate cable locks.

I can fit a tandem on a roof rack.

I can put travel boxes, canoes, kayaks, and skis on a roof rack.

I don't have to worry about exhaust screwing up a tire or a carbon fiber rim.

I can clearly see my bikes from the window of a restaurant when I stop for lunch.

I-Like-To-Bike

Not if you have back issues.

cafzali

I think it's mostly aesthetics. Some associate a hitch-mounted rack with a truck and if they have a car, or even a wagon like the Jetta Sportwagon, etc., they prefer a roofrack. Also, these cars aren't as tall as conventional SUVs, so removing the bike's not much of an issue. Hitch mounted racks became popular when more people started driving cars that are based off truck bodies. For those, a hitch rack is just plain easier due to vehicle height.