Is there a good,inexpensive, car rack????
 

Planning WAY WAY WAY ahead, as we don't even have a bike for my wife, yet. But we're already planning some weekend trips that would include cycling. It seems that every rack I've researched has a problem at highway speeds - the bikes slide, or hit the car, or the rack itself works loose.
Maybe I'm just reading a few disgruntled reivews, or maybe they are all bad. I'm not willing to spend much more than $125 or so. Any suggestions?

The right way to do it is to install a hitch receiver on the vehicle, then get a bike rack that plugs into the receiver, which supports the bikes by the wheels. But you won't find that for $125.

Or you could get a Saris Bones which I've run with two bikes at 70mph on my Miata with zero problems.

+1

If you get a hitch receiver, you can install a rack like this, have your bikes on/off in less than a minute, and drive 100mph.

http://www.amazon.com/Swagman-Cross-.../dp/B0001VO1YY

My Jeep's hitch receiver is also handy because I can put other things on it, eg.
- Tow hook for pulling stuck vehicles.
- Hitch ball for pulling trailer.
- Cargo carrier for things too big to fit inside: http://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Cargo-...Tite/7507.html
I made a simple holder for the cargo carrier that carries snow skis in the winter.

I will echo the suggestion of the Saris Bones. I actually have a hitch receiver and a pretty good rack to go on it but I use the Saris even on that vehicle. It's just easier to deal with in some ways. Also the Saris can be put onto any car, even a friend's car. It'll fit on pretty much anything with no changes to the vehicle.

I occasionally use the hitch rack but it only works on the car that has the receiver installed, and it's big and clumsy and makes it harder to get into the back of the car even when the bikes are not loaded. The Saris you can ignore and still open the back when the bikes are not loaded, and you can still get in with the bikes loaded though you do have to lift the weight.

The downside to the Saris is that getting multiple bikes on and off takes some time, but I am generally not taking them on and off a lot so 5 minutes to get the bikes on or off isn't a big deal.

Thanks for the info; this is a great site. I have a few more questions on this, and would appreciate your input:
I have an Infiniti G35 Coupe. Saris website says to get the Sentinel (maybe because the trunk is relatively small with a spoiler?). Presuming I could use either, would you recommend one over the other? Also, we are buying a women's Comfort Bike; will I need to get a bar adapter to mount the bike on the rack?

I have this rack: http://www.amazon.com/Allen-103S-Pre...7350061&sr=1-5

It's less than $125 and I've used it to carry bikes 100s of miles with nary a problem.

I have a car that the Saris Bones is listed as NOT fitting, and it goes on just fine. I really don't know how the rack could ever not fit a car unless there were no seams wide enough to allow the strap clips to clip on. I have no experience other than with the Bones.

It's not because the Bones won't fit on the vehicle, it is because the vehicle can't handle the load. Usually, this means that a mount point would be plastic or glass. But it could also be because the trunk lid or bumper is not strong enough and mounting the rack with bikes could damage the vehicle.

In the fit guide, Saris will give you details on how to mount the rack. On some vehicles, the bumper is not strong enough for the clips, so they must be positioned around the bumper and onto the frame of the vehicle. Saris goes to great lengths to test their racks on as many vehicles as possible. If your vehicle says it won't fit, then either their engineers decided no alternate mounting is safe with the racks weight limits or they haven't had a chance to test your vehicle.

Check out your local craigslist, I scored a slightly used, like new saris bones two for $30, can you believe it? I still can't, never been take lucky before.

Must be the latter, because the car in question is a lot stronger in that area than some that I've seen approved. Also I've put the Bones on it and gotten into a dip position on the thing and bounced all my 185 pounds on it and nothing deformed.

Suggestion is to plan way ahead and dump the Infinity G35 and get the SUV like the RAV4 which allows you to put both bikes in the back. I like the Infinity Coupe but it may have outlived its usefulness.

I would take both wheels off and shove my bike in the back seat or trunk before I would install one of those trunk mounted devices.

Update, and a question just out of curiosity: Based on a G35 chat room, I bought the Yakima KingJoe Pro. It's great, solid, and stays put. I did exceed my planned $125 but it was worth it...and necessary for my car.
Here's my question: I originally bought the Pro 2, but returned it and bought the Pro 3. The spacing between the bikes on the Pro2 was so tight I could not see how the bikes would not hit each other. I'm happy with the Pro 3, but just curious how does anyone get 2 bikes on the Pro 2 safely?