Texboy

I planning to purchase a bike rack. Are the bike racks easy to attach and detach behind a car? I’m concerned the bike racks are expensive and can be easily stolen once it sits behind my car.

chaadster

There are tons of options; various styles, some easy to install, some less so, some theft-proof, some not.

Picking a type well depends on defining your use case and price range.

Steve B.

First you need a hitch. U-Haul can sell and install, costs a few hundred. Or they can sell you the kit for self install or check with E-Trailer or similar, they can sell you the kit for self install (complexity varies by vehicle).

Then you add the bike rack, 1UP is a very popular brand, so is Kuat and Yakima, Thule, Rocky Mounts. These also run a few hundred depending on how many bikes you need to carry. You can buy an accessory rack lock.

Iride01 

What ever you get, consider whether your bikes will be held high enough to not have the wheels drag the ground if you are backing down a steep driveway.

Thankfully we thought to get out and check the first time we tried this. It could have been an expensive learning experience.

kahn

There are locking cotter pins. How easily they can be defeated probably mirrors bike locks in general.

AdkMtnMonster

Unless it's welded down, encased in concrete, and guarded by rabid wolves, it can be easily stolen, and even the aforementioned welded, concrete reinforced strongholds (complete with ill-tempered canids) can be breeched, entered, looted and left as empty husks once a determined thief has set their sights on your goods. Nothing is theft proof. (Except a US election. What? I'm just giving an example.)

Anatolia

They are expensive and they can be easily stolen. Having had 2 that were stolen and 2 that were a PITA to install, we bucked up and bought I bike rack that is really, really hard to steel. For this reason alone I would stay away from Thule. Plenty of YouTube vids out there showing you how to do it. I'll tell you what I bought if you want to know. Sadly, while Thule makes some really nice products, their anti-theft approach would never pull me to buying one of their racks again until the fix this security flaw. Yes, one of my racks stolen was a Thule.

BCAC

I have a Yakima Dr Tray hitch mounted rack. It stays on my Jeep more than it is off. It has a knob that causes the insert in the hitch to expand, holding it secure and when you lock it, the knob spins freely.

It also has built in cable locks for the bikes, all using the same key.

We often have well over $10k in bikes on the carrier and so far so good.

We didn’t buy it for security, though. It’s really easy, because of its light weight, to put on and off the vehicle. And it folds up conveniently. And it doesn’t mar the bikes, but holds them securely.

DeadGrandpa

I used to have a hitch mounted rack, and had no problem with bike theft while the bike was on the rack. That didn't prevent the bike from being crushed when I was rear ended on my way home from a bike ride.

Now my bike goes inside the truck bed under the bed cap, or else it goes inside the compact SUV (Rav4). Tinted windows. More security. Why give thieves a chance?

jack pot 

I recommend a "1 Up" ... it is the best rack bargain out there

veganbikes

Get a good quality hitch from someone like Curt and then get a hitch rack that works well for you, Thule, Küat, Yakima sells some great racks. Thule is quite nice as a lot of the newer XT stuff is keyed alike and easy to use. No pins to deal with just a simple knob you tighten and can lock the rack to the hitch. It is not super secure but nothing is just take it off when not using it.

Ayrton980

Look for the Mikels Bicycle Rack for all types of vehicles trunk

indyfabz

Huh? Never heard of it.

phughes

Get a tray type rack, and that won't be an issue.

veganbikes

I also haven't heard of it. Apparently it is the Allen racks of Mexico at least looking at it. So lower quality and not a great design but if using it very rarely and not going far it is a bargain bin option. It looks like they also do a bad ABUS Bordo clone and some other random stuff. Maybe they are the Canuckistan Tire of Mexico they seem to be sort of a catch all for random tools and odd bike and automotive parts and such.

Texboy

What do you think of this Trunk Rack Lock?

kahn

Looks very nice but cables are apparently one of the easier "locking devices" to cut.

And being the overly concerned type!! I can see some vindictive bike thief with their angle grinder find a lock that can't be sawed/broken/whatever, taking the angle grinder or sledge to the bike itself. If they can't have it, neither can you!!!

dmanthree

I'm using a Thule Apex and it installs easily, has a locking bolt for both the rack and the bikes. There's a cable that extends over the bikes that prevents them from being stolen off the rack. I prefer hitch racks since I can move them from car to car easily. But no good rack is cheap. Wrong place to save on a cheapie.

Ed Wiser

https://www.seasucker.com/
Racks are great. Easy to install and remove.

chaadster

Depending on what one needs, they’re probably the best!

I absolutely love my Seasucker Talon for the versatility and ease of use. Best of all, it’s not on the car when I’m not using it, so it’s not an eyesore, it’s not getting weathered and worn, doesn’t make washing the car a pain, doesn’t reduce fuel efficiency, and doesn’t make wind noise.

Riveting

"What ever you get, consider whether your bikes will be held high enough to not have the wheels drag the ground if you are backing down a steep driveway."

This is not totally true. Even with a tray rack mounted to a hitch, the tray rack "itself" can still bottom out while going in reverse down a steep ramp, where the ramp meets the flat road, and it could possibly damage the rack and hitch, especially when using a car, where the hitch is lower than a truck or SUV. Ask me how I know?!

I currently do a roof mounted rack, which comes with its own risks.

phughes

The person said the rack should be high enough for the wheels to not drag the ground. With a tray rack, the wheels will not be what drags. That is what I said. The statement by the person I quoted was talking about damaging the bike wheels. That won't happen with a tray rack. Sure, you could possibly drag the rack, but the frame that runs under the trays will hit, and not the tray. For it to even hit the square tube that the bike tray itself sits on, you would first have to drag the main tube that comes out off the receiver. If you hit something with it hard enough to damage the bike, you worked hard at it, and you deserve your prize.

Also, if you don't know how to drive, and actually pay attention to what you are doing, totally oblivious to the fact you have a rack on your bike, you may want to turn in your license. I'm sorry if you had trouble. I have not, in all the years I have used a tray type rack. Once again, look at the first sentence in this paragraph.

Riveting

Your info was spot on, I'm not denying that. I just wanted to interject that the tray rack method is not without its own risks of damage when backing up. And it doesn't take being "oblivious" to the fact you have a rack on, to make a simple mistake. There's gray area between being totally oblivious and not knowing how to drive, and being at the elite level of driving such as yourself.

There's "plenty" of roof rack owners who have driven into their garage with the bikes on top; should their driving licenses be revoked as you suggested?

phughes

Show me where I said their license should be revoked. I said, "if you don't know how to drive, and actually pay attention to what you are doing, totally oblivious to the fact you have a rack on your bike, you may want to turn in your license." In other words, if you don't pay attention to your driving, you really need to either stop driving, or possibly start paying attention. That goes for all types of inattention while driving, including playing with your phone.

And yes, people have driven into their garage with the rack attached, that probably happens more often than dragging a tray type rack hard enough to do damage to the bicycle, which would actually take a lot to do. If you do drive into your garage, or parking garage with a rack on the top, thereby damaging your bikes, then it is most definitely your own fault. That is also much easier to do than it is to drag a tray type rack hard enough to do damage to the bike.

coffeesnob

you cant beat a van. lock up the bikes while traveling and when going into town etc...