www.yakima.com or www.thule.com or www.kuatracks.com

Go to their respective fit guides and input the cars you're looking to buy. All of them (at least those 3 brands and most others) are easy to install. Huge range of prices depending on what you want to carry and whether you want the quiet version of the racks or standard trays that make slightly more noise.

I used to think Yakima and Thule were pretty interchangeable as brands. I saw a new Thule recently that, to me, didn't look nearly as well built as previous years and certainly not as well built as the comparable Yakima. It was all an assemble yourself deal. It was the equivalent of the Yakima Holdup. It relied on user installed nuts & bolts vs. welding on the Yakima. The owner could never get it not to wobble where it should wobble. I guess if you can make sure you can see the rack in person or make sure there is a good return policy. I'm not sure if all the new Thules are like that but I wasn't impressed.

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Pete Githens
Reading, PA

also look at uhaul and see what it would cost to put a hitch receiver on the cars. a hitch receiver bike carrier is the easiest to install and remove and gives you added versatility to the vehicle in that you can tow stuff too.

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"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson

Thanks! Just checked out the Thule page.

If I'm looking at something like the Thule Sprint 528 bike rack, am I right to assume I still need the actual roof rack load bars and also the feet pieces the whole thing attaches to the car with? Seems like this could get expensive quickly.

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

You're correct that a roof rack system is typically purchased in components. The Thule and Yakima websites will help you build a system that fits your car.

I'm more familiar with Yakima, so this uses their parts. You'll need:
Q-Towers (fits cars with no factory rack)
Q-Clips (has bent metal clips and rubber pads to fit your car's specific rain gutter and door shape)
Load bars in an appropriate width
bike/ski/kayak mounts (I prefer the security of a locking fork mount)
SKS lock cores (optional, but allows you to lock the rack to the car and the bike to the mount to the rack)
Wind fairing (optional but advisable)

The aero cross bars are much quieter but more expensive and not all accessory mounts will fit.

Also, check eBay and Craigslist once you know which components you need. People sell these parts often as they change vehicles and they can be found for well below the price of new.

Depending on the type of car you choose, I would also go with a hitch option because it is easy to install and remove. I have a Saris Thelma 3. Others recommend Kuat and 1up

My friends Cervelo fell off my Yakima trunk bike rack last weekend on I-85. Thankfully it was not run over and was able to be repaired. Regardless, I am now looking at having a hitch put on my sedan so that the bikes can rest on the rack instead of hang from it.

I've always preferred to have my bike in the back seat (ease & security) of my car which I've been able to carefully do for many years without marking up anything. My husband hates that. Before that had roof rack which I hated. Hassle for me to get it up there.We are getting a new car soon & this issue is a major consideration.
I've been looking into various rack & hands down everyone repeatedly recommends the 1upusa hitch mounted racks. That is what we are going to get. Some links below

Barb

http://ridingprivateidaho.wordpress.com/...a-bicycle-quik-rack/

http://www.mtbr.com/...rd_441196_98crx.aspx

http://www.1upusa.com/

https://www.facebook.com/...pUSA/156216491119384

Anyone have a ball park idea of the cost for installing a hitch to a sedan?

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

I've got a friend rolling a 1up that loves it.

I've got a hitch mounted kuat rack that is awesome. It's a lot better designed and built than some friend's thule racks, but also significantly pricier.

I'd mount a hitch and put a hitch mounted bike rack on your setup.

I'm kind of suspect of roof racks on cars that aren't designed with them in mind. I know there are literally thousands out there working successfully. But I would probably push the envelope until I took the limits of said rack too far. (I.e. mounting a canoe w/ ratchet straps and pulling too hard on the rack or something.)

But, if you're smart and use things appropriately, there's no reason to believe anything you buy won't hold up.

Good luck!

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-Stephen in Arkansas

probably a couple hundred bucks?

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-Stephen in Arkansas

What kind of car? Check out etrailer.com. I installed the hitch on both my Scion xB and Ford Fusion myself. The xB was really easy. it had 4 holes pre-tapped for the hitch. I really just needed someone to help me hold it in place and then run the bolts in. The Fusion was slightly more complicated but still really easy. The directions that came with the hitch were flawless. Again, I had my wife help me hold it in place but it was really simple to do. I'm not the super-duper mechanical type either. But if you can things like change a flat on a car you would be able to do this.

Otherwise as mentioned check out U-haul. Likely the best deal around.

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Pete Githens
Reading, PA

Yes, it can get expensive, but when you input your vehicle make/model/yr/etc, it should tell you the whole list from the towers that actually connect it to the car, to the bars, to the attachments (bike tray, ski rack, etc). Whichever brand you get, don't forget to buy locks. I like them all to match, so if I had it to do all over again, I'd buy a big box so I'd have a few extra when I decide to buy more stuff. The way I have it now with my Yakima roof rack, I have one key for the base, another for bike trays, and a third for ski equipment. You can order specific lock numbers later so they all match, but I've never had that much patience. When I need more locks, I go to the REI that's unfortunately only 1.2 miles from my house. Don't get me wrong; I like REI, but living that close makes us spend more there than we should.

Can't believe no one has suggested a SeaSucker. I love mine - mount it anywhere on the car, literally...

(not my photo/car)

I was JUST going to ask about those. I saw someone at IMLP '12 with either 1 or 2 bikes suctioned to their var with those. You can do two bikes with them, no?

PM me for details about them if you can (or feel free to write back in this thread). I remember reading they had a guarantee, seemed easy to use, and man look fucking crazy. All things I like.

Next up, gotta buy a nice metal m-dot for whatever car I buy lol.

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

So the one in the pic is the two bike version (again, just a random photo I grabbed from google). Obviously the main advantage of this rack is that if for some reason you change vehicles often - it's super portable. If you have multiple cars in the household or want to be able to use a rack on your next vehicle without buying new adapters - this is it. I've really enjoyed mine so far - but the one drawback is security...you would need to buy the cable and small metal 'wedge' that serves as the anchor for the cable if you want to feel comfortable walking away from it on the car.

I've never actually left my bike on a rack once I've stopped at whatever race or place I'm going. When I've used my friends cars with racks, just took them off, even if they had locks.

I remember vaguely hearing that at Rev 3 Quassy in maybe 2011 or something, a pick up drove to the parking lot and just grabbed a few bikes off racks while people were checking in. No confirmation if this ACTUALLY happened but I remember there was a lot of talk about it at the venue among other races so I assume it did. That. Would. Suck!

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

How far do you travel with your bike? I lose 5-6mpg when bikes on roof. Have a 1up hitch rack as well. Long trips I use the 1up. Plus bikes stay cleaner when they are out of the wind. When I went to IMFL from NJ in 2010, my bike was on roof. It was a mess with bugs after that drive thru the swamps of FL. Just for reference, I drive a 2013 subaru WRX hatch.

Things I considered before I bought the Thule Helium 2:

1. Can the car have a trailer hitch installed? Check this first, some require significant chopping to the bumper before this is done, and it can ruin the sonar sensors. I went to Rack and Road, it's about $200. Note that the small hitch (1.25 inches vs 2" receivers) can only hold two bikes.
2. What kind of trunk clearance do you need (for example, with an Acura MDX, the Thule Heilium pivots down instead of swinging across).
3. Are there locks (plural), one on the hitch mechanism, one locking the bike to the rack. This is important just for piece of mind when you stop at the store for a 10 minute break.
4. How much does it weigh?
5. How many bikes can you theoretically need to carry?

If you go the trunk carrier way, make sure you have enough clearance between the trunk and the car body, my Infiniti is too tight. Also understand you will eventually scratch your car.

Re: roof racks. I have two friends that said goodbye to their bikes because of low clearance. One guy did it himself, another had his wife driving while he slept. I think it's not a question of if, but when your bike will be ruined. Another point, unless it's a short car, it's a pain to disassemble the bike, lift it high on the roof, cinch it down, put the wheel in the trunk...so much easier to put it on the back rack, three rubber fasteners, bike lock, and safety strap.

Best of luck.

So you guys are saying a good trunk mounted rack is safe enough for two high-end bikes? Okay that's good to know, I thought it was something you'd only put a $200 bike on.

I'm looking at sedans so I'm not too concerned about height clearance, or the ability to get it on top of the car, but I do see how simply putting it on the back of the car could be easier.

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

I think you can do a trunk rack, but it's better to have the hitch-mounted, especially for security.

Not advising this, but I have been WELL over 100mph with my bike on my 1up. Traveled 6x to LP, 2x to Wilm NC (B2B), and once to IMFL. Never an issue

Even three.

https://www.seasucker.com/shop/bomber/

If you are at all handy, you can probably do it yourself. Go to a site like http://www.etrailer.com/ and look for your vehicle. It will give you your options and give you an estimate of the difficulty. I ordered a hitch for about ~$100. It took less than an hour to install and only a few basic tools (wrenches/sockets). I paired it with a Thule T2 tray style rack. I couldn't be happier.

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IMWI 2011 - check - 11:54
IMMT 2012 - check - 10:49
Michigan Titanium 2013 - 11:50
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