heathermomster

Hi there,

Does anyone here own a Honda CRV and use a bike rack with it? Is the spare tire a problem? My Honda is an '03 model and I need a rack that will accomodate a 20" childs bike and two adult, three-speed Schwinns. My CRV has a 1.25" draw bar receiver.

The racks are confusing. We are looking at the Swagman brand; however, there is some concern that my girlie cruiser style bike will not work.

Any thoughts or feedback would be very much appreciated.

Thank you,
Heather

supcom

There are adapters that can be used with bikes that have highly sloped top tubes or mixtie frames. the adapter clamps around the seatpost and stem and has a bar between that you clamp into a bike rack. Saris makes one as do others. Perhaps this will help with your girlie cruiser?

khuon

I had a similar problem when I went to buy a rack that would work with my MTB which doesn't really have a top-tube that will fit on a hanging rack. I decided to go with a tray rack instead. Tray racks tend to be more versatile in that respect. They can accomodate bikes of many different frame geometries and they tend to be more secure.

kk4df

I have a '98 Honda CRV with a 1.25 inch receiver. I use a Thule 4-bike carrier rack. I bought mine at my LBS, because when I asked about fit, they told me to bring my CRV and the bikes by their shop and they would mount the rack and bikes and let me see if it worked for me. So we loaded all the bikes in the back of the van, and took everything over to let them fit the carrier and all the bikes. One bike required one of those special hanger bars that clips around the seatpost and headset because of weird frame geometry. We were able to mount all the others directly.

The spare tire is not a problem, and I think this would be true of almost any carrier mounted to your 1.25" receiver.

georgiaboy

If you like Swagman I would give them a phone call and ask their advice on the best rack for your particular car and bicycle. Hopefully, they have the information needed to make an informed decision. I use a Thule system. On their website you can enter the make and model of your car to narrow down the rack choice and attachements.

Swagman looks like a nice rack.

heathermomster

Thank you all for the input.

Located the Swagman adapters for an excellent price at overstock.com (2 pack for $25). Called Swagman today and was advised to attach a 4"-7" hitch extension to my CRV. Otherwise, none of their bike rack hitch receiver products will work on my CRV. A 6" hitch extender reduces the hitch tongue weight by 50%.

Will check out the Thules, Trek, and the LBS.

Thank you again,
Heather

khuon

Since you already need an extender (presumably to clear the spare tyre), you might want to consider getting one that's also an adapter to for a 2" hitch rack. This way, if you ever get another vehicle with increased towing capacity, it will most likely come with a 2" receiver and you can use the same rack. Also, note that many hitch racks for 1-1/4" receivers are note rated or recommended for more than two full-sized bikes. You're probably fine with two full sized and a kid's bike but you might be pushing it if you go to three full sized bikes... especially if they're not ultralight roadbikes and especially since you've just increased the leverage arm on that hitch. Granted a 2" hitch rack with an adapter mounted on a 1-1/4" hitch won't buy you anything right now in terms of load carrying capacity but if you ever upgrade to a vehicle with a 2" hitch receiver then you won't need to replace the rack.