I plan to start parking a little further away from work and biking in the remaining distance, so i need a bike rack for my hatchback.

The only thing i worry about is the gear cable that runs along the bottom/side of the bike frame. I dont think it would be good to continuously smash these cables against the rack. Is this something I should worry about? Are there solutions to this?




Also, since this is my first time buying a rack, suggestions on specific racks or brands would be great.

A few details so you know what Im looking for: My bike is an old, very heavy road bike. i drive a hatchback. the commute involves a few miles on the freeway (high speeds). because this is for daily use, ease of loading/unloading bike is important, however, i will probably leave the rack on so installation doesnt have to be too simple. a locking mechanism would be great so that i dont have to remove it at my home, but not necessary.

thanks in advance for any help you can throw my way

Is the bike too heavy to lift up to a roof rack? Because I like those. Especially if you ever open the hatch back.

Why not just put your bike in the car?

Or go to U-Haul and put a hitch on there, then get a tray type rack that the bike rests on it's wheels.

I presume you're thinking in terms of a hatchback type rack because cost is an issue? if not, see above comments. I use a Saris bones rack on a nearly daily basis, and like it well enough. I drive about 10 miles, and bike another 12. The ten miles includes about 8 on the freeway. The rack is stable and secure (in terms of holding the bike on the car), and seems to cause relatively little injury to the bike, relative to my old rack. I have to say, I have no issues with the cables -- sure, it squeezes them, but they aren't rigid, or designed to be immoveable. The bigger issue is snagging them when loading and unloading. The one downside relative to my old rack is that the straps buzz in the wind sometimes, though that's usually a sign that I need to tighten them.

I think, however, that it is higher impact (in terms of wear and tear on the bike) than a good hitch rack (I have a cheap one, and it is not much better than the Saris), and much higher impact than either a roof rack or a hitch rack that holds the bike by the wheels.

As to loading: this will depend a little on your car, but you should be able to dead lift your bike possibly above your head, and maneuver it into place. No, the rack might not NEED to be that high, but you may find (depending on your vehicle) that it needs to ride up pretty high on the car, depending on the design of your rear hatch. Or that you prefer it, because you have more clearance when backing into parking spaces (to make it harder for a would be thief to get to the bike... see below).

The significant down side(s): (to my knowledge, these apply to all hatchback type racks).

1) the rack can be removed from the car without tools, and without opening the car. I could probably bend the hooks a little, and make them a little tough to remove, but the straps are easy to remove from the hooks, and readily replaceable, I think.
2) there is no solid way to secure a bike to the rack itself -- I use a U-lock which I use to lock the front wheel to the frame (really to keep it from shaking its head) or occasionally to secure it to the rack, but it is for show/deterrence only, as the rack is removable from the car, and with a little work, the lock can be removed from the rack by disassembling the rack. simplest for a would be thief would be taking the whole rack and bike, and throwing it in the bed of a pick up. This is most important if you expect to need to stop on your way home or such.
3) significant degradation to rear vision: This will vary somewhat by car, but having a bike behind your rear window is going to cause a reduction in what you see behind you. (obviously a top rack doesn't have this issue, and a hitch rack will tend to hold the bikes lower, causing less of an obstruction, in my experience).

Minor annoyances: If you have a rear wiper, it is likely to be obstructed. Your fuel economy will suffer with it in place (this goes for ALL racks!!!), with or without a bike, so plan to remove it when you're driving significant distances without the bike. Also, weather/UV will take a toll, so you may want to remove it to keep it in good shape. It will take up space when not in use -- if this is a concern, there are 'flatter' designs that may be preferable.

I think this hits the major points -- let me know if I've missed anything significant...

I add some security against slash and grab crimes of opportunity by looping a cable lock that has loops on its ends, rather than a built in lock, around some fixed interior part of my car (in my case my trunk's hinge) and stick my u lock through the other end. This probably won't work with high quality thick cables.

As long as your cables aren't severely bent or suspending the bike I wouldn't be too worried about damage other than scratched paint. Also, you can probably avoid the issue by routing the rack's suports through a different part of your frame.

i have used a roof rack , 1 rail towards the back of the roof,
the other rail attached to the lid of trunk/hatchback, (bike trays connect the rails)

My car had raingutters [68, SAAB-96] so all the clips were the same,
those being styled away from cars of late,
Means a mix/match of mounting schemes

Thanks to everyone who replied. The responses were very helpful and I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with looking for a rack.

It is really heavy and I think because I will be loading/unloading twice daily the convenience will make it worth it to just have a rear rack. Additionally, I dont have a base roof rack so I'd be looking at spending a few hundred for the base rack and bike rack combined- if I was going to make that type of investment I would rather put it towards getting a better bike.

It doesn't really fit. I have a 3dr hyundai accent and the only way I can get it to fit is by folding down all the seats (including the passenger seat) and then the handle bars still hit me in the side of the head while driving if i dont lean to the left a bit. This whole process is a pain and is sure to start ripping the fabric of the seats if I do it too many times. Also, the front wheel does not have a quick release so it would be a pain to take it off twice daily.

This is a possibility but would also likely double or triple my cost. additionally, without having looked into them much I would be concerned about being able to open the hatchback with the rack on.

thanks for all the info and taking the time to write it out- very informative. after reading, I might look into hitch racks some more as another possibility. also, its good to hear that the cables might not be a problem.

most of these aren't to big of a problem for me. Im not too worried about the rack being stolen because during the day its light out and in a busy area and at my home, although I park outdoors it is a pretty secluded area. I could also look to possibly secure it to the interior of my car. additionally, I'm looking in the price range of 50-100$ so it would suck if stolen, but not be terrible and maybe worth the risk seeing the fairly low cost and pretty low risk.

not being able to secure the bike is unfortunate but minor- I dont plan on really leaving my car anywhere with the bike on the rack.

Im used to having a blocked view through my rear view mirror so im ok with this.

I dont have a rear wiper, i've accepted that fuel economy is going to take a hit (with any rack), and although weather/uv wear and tear is a problem, I will only be at this job for another 2 years so I really just want a cheap-ish rack the will at least get me through that time. Although, after reading the responses I am going to look into the possibility of making a larger investment on the hitch rack or even maybe the roof rack. im going to have to think about it.

cool thanks. its been hard for me to find info on whether or not resting the bike on the cables would be a problem or not. I thought about just going to a store but worried that i could find an employee who just wanted to sell me a rack and would tell me that its not a problem even if it was or if he didnt know.


thanks again to everyone for the help

I don't see resting the bike on the cables as a problem (I assume you mean your cable runs under the top tube). The cables are so close to the top tube anyway, that pushing them that little bit doesn't hurt. I worried about the same thing when I first loaded my LHT onto my Saris bones rack, but now that I've done it so many times without any problems, I don't give it a thought.

I use a Saris Bones rack. When I first got it, I used to take it off and toss it in the trunk every day at the Park-n-Ride. That only took a couple of minutes, but it was a hassle. I ended up getting a 10'x3/8" cable and looping it through the main tube of the rack and then locking it to the hitch thingy that's just under the bumper of my Hyundai. While I don't ordinarily advocate cable locks, this is certainly good enough to secure the rack (which I haven't had off my car in over a year now) and it gives me something to lock the bike to with a U-lock when running into a store or whatever for a few minutes. As was already mentioned, visual deterrence is the main idea here.

The one problem I've had with the Saris Bones rack is that it tends to scrape off a swath of paint where the seat tube rests against the rack and apparently gets rubbed a bit when loading and unloading. I've taken care of this (I think) by wrapping the rack with handlebar tape at the contact points.

Awesome idea! I'm so glad I read this thread!

Just bear in mind the straps would last longer in the trunk out of the sunlight .

Sun degrades nylon. [and polymers in general.. ]

Great. Now I have to get a cover for my bike rack.

Or at least I would if I lived in a state where the sun ever shines.

Thanks for that idea. I have the same rack. It seems to be one of few that will work on a 1999 Saab 9-3 (hatchback and spoiler). I've only mounted it to see that it would fit, and have yet to actually carry my bike on it, but the potential for rubbing concerned me.