Car Racks ?!?!
 

So is this a tough decision, or what? lol

What are the best (read: most secure) car racks out there?
Should I go roof mount, or hitch? (I own a Ford Explorer, and am looking to mount a Trek 3900 and a Raleigh Passage 3.0)

Thanks in advance!

I use a hollywood hitch rack and love it for loading and unloading with the least possible amount of time and messing around, but the roof mount just may be more stable - even if you do have to pay attention to vertical clearances. No choice for me, anyway. I've got an artifical shoulder, and until I learn to get a bike onto the roof one handed, I'm stuck with the receiver hitch.

I had a friend who had a roof rack on top of a Durango. He took his and his wife's bikes on a family vacation to a lkae about a four hour drive from home. Coming home, after the long drive and being in the car with the kids for 4 hours, he pulled the car into the garage. Oooops!! Out of sight, out of mind. :eek: Result = Damaged house, destroyed the bikes, and damaged the roof of the Durango. Fortunately the bikes were entry-level comfort bikes (I think they were low-end Treks) and his homeowners insurance covered most of the damage to the house and car, and paid replacement cost for the bikes.

I have a hitch-mount rack and it works great (can't think of the model). It is the kind that the bikes hang from, versus one that has a platform the bikes sit on (which is probably preferred).

I have both a roof rack and a garage. My solution to this problem is that when I put bikes on top, the door opener goes somewhere that can't be reached without getting out of the car (usually all the way in back so I have to open the hatch).

Roof racks are very convenient if you carry bikes frequently and don't want to block access to the back of your car (some rear racks don't block the back). Mine is also much more solid than any rear rack I've tried. You just have to be aware of the standard mistake that people make and make it harder to forget they're there.

What kind of person are you? The kind likely to rear ended or the type to forget your bikes are on the roof and smash them in to the garage?

I just carry my bike short distances to avoid some bad city traffic; so I bought a Thule hitch rack. It's cheaper than a roof rack and for me, easier and quicker to load. Plus, I can take it off with one bolt and fold it and put it in my trunk while I ride. I thought that this would be more secure than a roof rack since I was worried that the roof rack would be unbolted and stolen while I was riding or while the car was parked for the night.

Look at the Rockymounts Noose. It's a roof 'rack'. I have one. It's a high quality item. Why spend several hundred dollars or more buying a Thule or Yakima system? You've got most of what you need factory installed on your Explorer. Just add the Noose tray and you're good to go. You can get the Noose from REI or order it from other online retailers. The best part, it's around $85.00 per tray.

Here's my car rack:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...-AR15-rack.jpg

got a hollywood hitch rack and love it, quick and easy