Bike rack recommendations?
 

Does anyone have recommendations for a rack that can hold two long wheelbase recumbents? I'm looking at purchasing recumbents for myself and my girlfriend. The problem is that I drive a Toyota Corolla, and don't see how I can carry the bikes on the car. Did a search of the forums here, and some of the old recommendations for racks are from companies that are out of business. I did find a place that sells a trailer hitch mount for a Corolla, so that opens up more options for racks. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I drive both a Chevy S-10 and a '96 Toyota Camry. I equiped each of the vehicles with hitches from U-Haul at a very economical price. I then purchased a Hollywood Recumbent rack and have been using it on both vehicles with very satisfactory results.

Here's a link to Hollywood Bicycle Racks..... http://hollywoodracks.com/bike-racks...tch-rack-R.htm

Here's a few links to bike rack discusions on BROL...

http://www.bentrideronline.com/messa...ght=hitch+rack

http://www.bentrideronline.com/messa...ght=hitch+rack

http://www.bentrideronline.com/messa...hollywood+rack

You can find a wealth of information on BROL (bentrideronline) that covers roof rack, hitch rack, and small trailer solutions for transporting various sizes and styles of recumbent bikes and trikes.

As I recall, the vehicle width code for NYS states that the load needs to be less that 8.5 feet in width so your options are several including hitch racks, roof racks, trunk racks, and trailers. Codes do vary from state to state though, so some research would be suggested prior to any inter-state road trips.

Here's my Tour Easy on the back of my S-10. It barely extends out past my mirrors and you won't find too many bikes that are longer than a M/L Tour Easy. By the way, if you have not yet shopped at The Bicycleman in Alfred NY you should most definately check his shop out before you make your bicycle purchases. You won't be sorry. You can also research him on BROL.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...h/IMG_0010.jpg

Good Hunting !!

Thank you for the advice on the racks. I have visited the Bicycle Man in Alfred, and coincidentally the Tour Easy is the bike I want. They had a Tiawanese built one that was a little less expensive.

I use a roof rack on my RAV4. Not sure if you can get one installed on your Corolla or not. My RAV came with the stock roof rack, and the Yakima bike rack installs to it fine. It would be easy to add a second rack if I needed it.

Of course, this year, I'm moving the bike rack to the middle to accommodate the two kayak racks.... :D

We have used this hitch rack for the past 10 years on three different vehicles; an '04 and '10 Subaru Forester and a Roadtrek RV. (Chev 2500 Express Van) http://www.atoc.com/

The "Draftmaster" model has carried our Rans Screamer, which has a huge wheelbase, to Florida and back (from Canada) no problem for six years. It can be adapted to carry more than one long wheel-base recumbent or even three tandems and I have adapted it to haul my Catrike Expedition without issue. Expensive, perhaps, but the rack is often carrying some very expensive bikes (trike). Peace of mind. I have no problem justifying spending 10% of the cost of the bike(s) I'm carrying on a bullet-proof, made in USA product, which we use at least once every week in our 6 month cycling season. I am too old and now smart enough to know that I can not lift a big bike up onto the roof of our car. Doing so on the RV is out of the question! Hope this helps. Mike

mchell, I've often wondered about the Draftmaster. I have never ever read a bad review on the product so I'm confident that it is of high quality.

My question is...how much does it weigh and how easy or difficult is it to transfer it from one vehicle to another. My Hollywood is quite light and very portable and it folds down small enough to easily store it in the trunk of my wife's '96 Camry and still have plenty of room for grocieries. I was wondering if I might use the Hollywood for daytrip type transport and a Draftmaster for multi-day transport. I don't mind the bike extending out past the sides of the transport vehicle for short drives, but I might be more comfortable with the Draftmaster configuration for longer, multi-state and multi-city trips.

The Draftmaster is heavy! I would guess 35 lbs. It's very strong; Atoc has not skimped on design or construction. It is not difficult to move back and forth from one car to the next, nor is it hard to install. During our cycling season here in Canada, I just leave the Draftmaster on the car all the time. It's never in the way as it swings down to open the hatch of the Forester. I doubt you could put it in the trunk of a car. I have a weak back so I wouldn't even try. Certainly not the long beam which is needed for tandems and long wheel base recumbents. Axel to axel, the Screamer is 74", but the boom and captains' cranks extend way in front of that and then there's a 26" wheel in the rear, so add another 13" out past the rear axel and you've got a very long parcel. I would not be comfortable carrying the bike across the back of either car or RV. Hope this helps.
Mike

The Draftmaster works great behind an RV. Probably works well behind a large SUV or truck as well.
For a car? Not sure on that one. Below are a couple pics of the Draftmaster on my little Toyota Winnebage RV
holding a 2002 Sun Easy Sport AX and an Electra Townie.

For a car or station wagon ATOC makes the Tandem Topper which allows you to load a LWB recumbent or tandem onto your
car roof by yourself with a swiveling skewer. Neato!
http://www.atoc.com/tandemtopper.php

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=303805

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=303807

This is what two Easy Racer bikes look like, mounted on a standard hitch-mount rack. If the rack were on a Corolla the bikes would stick out more, but not so much to be a problem unless you were in a very tight spot. Just watch it when you go through the drive-through lane.

http://www.ohpv.org/events/albums/co...s/cstdn032.htm

http://www.ohpv.org/events/albums/co...s/cstdn032.jpg

raxter makes an awesome rack that works with SWB, LWB, and DF bikes...works great with my Musashi which is 78 inches long...

http://www.raxterracks.com/

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ps8886f823.jpg

The only problem with the Draftmaster is you have to hang a red flag somehow on the top of the seat to be legal. For roof racks, you can check out Rocky Mounts tandem rack. It handles up to a 78" wheel base.

Well, I mail ordered the Hollywood Rack and a trailer hitch for my Corolla. Last weekend, I went back to Bicycle Man and put down a deposit on my Tour Easy. They had one of the Taiwanese models in my size as a floor model in the store (I discovered the Tour Easy is no longer being made in Taiwan). It was too good of a deal for me to pass up. The bike shop is holding it for me until I get my bike rack set up. I'm eagerly awaiting delivery of my rack so I can pick up the new bike and take it for a spin!

Good point. On longer trips, or for inclement weather, we take both seats off our Screamer when it is on the Draftmaster. I still flag the back end, just in case. Mike