Which bike rack for a minivan?
 

I bought a bike rack from Performance Bike last weekend that supposedly works on minivans too. Problem is the bikes sit too low so there's a danger of them bottoming out around driveways, etc. You folks with minivans, what kind of rack do you use and how do you mount it?

Piece of plywood with a couple of fork mounts bolted to it. Goes inside the car.

Basically with a minivan you are the same as a car in terms of rack types. I'm not an expert, but can tell you my experiences.

You have the standard car rack that goes on back. This is what I currently have. I have the Saris Bones rack which I was told was the best rack of this type and I haven't ever seen a better quality one.

Antoher option are the roof mount racks. These are supposed to be good, but it seems to me it would be too much trouble loading bikes that high up.

Third option (and best quality) are the hitch racks. You must get a hitch put on vehicle and then racks use the hitches. This is what I'm currently in the market for (just bought a new SUV) and started my own thread about. These are also the most expensive.

So.....I'd say if you want to spend more for the quality, get a hitch and a hitch rack (price of hitch + $150-300). If you want normal (like most people), get a Saris Bones car rack that will work on your van ($80-120).

I use that setup too, except I used a 2x4. A single road bike fits behind the third row of seats in mine with the front wheel off and one end of the handlebar draped over the rear seat cushion.

Do these "tracks" work well for a fork mount?

http://www.dero.com/tracks.html

They're probably not your first choice for inside a minivan. I don't bolt my 2x4 mounted fork mounts to the floor of the van, they just sit on the carpet. They're wide enough to be stable without being bolted down. These track things, especially the single track version, look like they'd fall over easily and this'll make it hard to mount the bike onto them. Plus they probably cost more than a piece of scrap wood ;). When I got my fork mounts I saw something similar to these track things made by Yakima. When I added up the cost of the Yakima tracks plus the matching mounts they came out triple the cost of a pair of Delta brand fork mounts.

We use a roof rack on our van. It's out of the way and safe (as long as you remember not to drive into the garage!), but it's a pain in the neck to get them up there. I wouldn't mind trying transport them inside, but that's usually not feasible if I'm carting around the twins and all their accoutrement.

If we hadn't had the twins, I'd still be driving my Audi station wagon. God, I miss that car!

I take it inside the minivan. The rear wheel fits between the two rear seats and the front fork is secured to a homemade mount that sits on the floor near the rear door. The mount is simply a 3/4" X 4" piece of pine that I cut to fit between the sides of the van and has a fork mount screwed into it:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...e.cfm?SKU=3702

Works well and very portable and only takes seconds to load an unload.