What bike rack?

rkdiddy

New member
I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good bike rack. I have two mountain bikes and I don't want to have to put them in the back of the Runner. I was looking for the hitch type rack.

Does anyone have a good brand or type they can recommend?

How about a good place to buy one from?

Thanks!:awais:
 
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I'm confused: you said, "I have two mountain bikes and I don't want to have to put them in the back of the Runner. I was looking for the hitch type rack. "

You "don't" want to have them on the back, BUT you want to use the hitch. You can't have it both ways dude. If you use the hitch they will be in the back. If you want them on the roof, then you won't be using the hitch. With that said I have the following, and it's aweseome (but heavy).

Thule 998 Trailblazer
 
The best hitch bike rack to get is the Sportworks rack. everyone has tried to copy it since but the Sportworks is still one of the best- especially for mountain bikes.

I'm a Yakhead myself but I always recommend Sportworks first to people looking for a hitch mount.
 
You "don't" want to have them on the back, BUT you want to use the hitch. You can't have it both ways dude.


I think you misunderstood. I meant I don't want them in the back (meaning inside) of the Runner. The last thing I want is grease from the gears on my carpet. That is why I'm looking for a hitch rack.

Thank you for your input!:D
 
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bulldog-yota, yeah that reminds me how much I hate the stock hitch:mad:
 
Saris, Hollywood

I like the Hollywood rack I used to have on my sedan. It was a hitch mount, held the bike by the tires in trays amd a slmap that holds the seatpost. There was usually a problem with two bikes when the handlebar of one would hit the other bikes seat. Annoying. I had to release a seatpost and move the seat on a bike.

But the SARIS rack I have now on the 4runner is sweet. I haven't had to mess with seatposts, and the clamp system, two trays and a front wheel clamp, is even easier to use than the Hollywood rack was.

SARIS aint cheap though. About $150 more than the hollywood. Both are very secure to the car, and don't rattle in the hitch. I did get rattles from time to time witht he Hollywood, and I can hear the SARIS when the rear window is open on rough roads.

I prefer a rack which doesn't require me to remove a wheel, or lift over my head. Been there, done that. To much work. PITA.
 
Sportworks is the absolute best. I love my rack and don't have one complaint on price, quality or performance.
 
I have a yakima hitch mount. It hold 4 bikes The Sportsworks is awesome because you don't need to remove a wheel or anything like that, but neither do I. Another cool thing about the Sportsworks is it doesn't hold the bike by the bars. It holds it by the wheels. Now that I've given you the pros of the highly recommended Sportsworks. Here is a con I found...It's heavy as bleep, and it doesn't fold away very easily. It does fold while on the car, but it's still quite large, and takes up alot of room. My Yak is light and fits in most places. It holds bikes well too. The most I've had on it is three, but it held well on the highway at 65-70 mphs. Oh another thing about the sportsworks is it will hold any time of frame, because it holds by the wheels. In other words if it doesn't have a cross bar your still okay. They make cross bar attachments for the Thules, and Yaks though. I had an irregular bike on mine though with no problem. It was an 03 Specialized Stumperjumper if your curious as to what type of frame it was. So to sum this up, the Sportsworks is cool, yet heavy, and big, and expensive. The Yak/Thules are far less expensive, do the a fine job, are cool enough, and a lighter. I got mine for about half price new on ebay. Just look around.
 
Off the truck the sportsworks is big and a little heavy, true, but those things didn't factor into my decision. I really like that you don't have to take a wheel off because with disc brakes I don't want to take the wheel off and worry about the caliper closing without the disc in between. Also with Cannondale's Lefty fork it works great because that fork does not have two sides to lock down.

I have my bike on my rack as quick as my buddy does throwing it into the back of his Tundra. Also the Sportsrack can be had in the modular version which allows you to have just a one bike rack (which is how I use it 99% of the time) or add to it to carry more bikes. The rack for 1 bike was like $160 and to add another bike to it I think was $80.
 
I did not go that route for a few reasons.
1. If you are on this forum I take it you own a 4 Runner, and know how tall the 4 Runner is. Well I am 6,2 and strong, and still see that to be a big pain in the ass.
2. Then you have to be concern with situations where having something on your roof that high will prevent you from getting in: mall parking lot, maybe a toll (doubt it though), over-hang parking spots, etc.
3. Again it looks like a pain in the ass.

With a hitch it's a simple lift a little, place, lower, done.
 
I have a roof mounted Thule bike rack that I am quite happy with. It is much more secure for transporting bicycles and eliminates the danger of someone totalling your bike by rear-ending you. When transporting a $4000+ triathlon bike, I'm only going to use the safest, most secure transport option available.

When standing on the running boards, I've never had any problem getting the bike up and down from the roof (I'm 5'10"). Now if I was trying to lift up a heavy mountain bike in place of a 18 lb racing bike, that might be a different story...
 
Roof mounted... In some cases

First, as said, MORE difficult to mount, especially if the front wheel remains on. You can hurt yourself AND the roof by having an accidental tip. A bike over head is unweildy. Try it. Then think about standing/balancing on the running board and positioning a bike in a rack. AND mud and sand and grit and dirt ON your roof.

Some Mountain Bikes weigh a LOT. Road bikes usually top out at 18-20 pounds. But a Full Suspension Wal-Mart cheaponese bike can weigh 40lbs easy. My $5000+ Downhill rig is 48.5 lbs. Although a drop to the ground probably would only scratch it, I don't want to lift it over my head.

If someone rear ends you, so be it. I have never been rear ended. If you have, let's say twice in your life, were you also carrying bikes? No? So it's a matter of statistics. And auto insurance would cover them when they're on the truck.

Roof mount, please do NOT have a garage. You are asking the Statistic God's to smite thee!! LOL!!! It will EVENTUALLY happen. Bam!!, into the garage with bike on top. Fudge.

I bet I can get TWO bikes on my hitch mount rack in less time than it takes someone to put their ONE bike on their roof rack. No contest.

The ONE real advantage a roof rack has, it frees up the hitch for acccess to the liftgate, and a trailer for towing or luggage rack, think along the lines of vacationing.

I say hitch rack 100% all the way. A good hitch pin lock and 10 foot cable lock (not combination) is as secure as you can get for theft. A determined and equipped thief will have your bike anyway, regardless of your precautions.
 
I ruined a Burger King drive thru sign with my bike on top of my Landcruiser. Thank god the bike, rack and truck were stronger than the sign. Also though a friend had his on top of his civic and had the bike and rack ripped off the car and caused damage to his civic's roof.

You may think you will remember them up there but it happens and it sucks. Far more statistically prevalent than getting rear ended with the bike on the back.

Also I really grew tired of throwing my bike on the roof. It is sooooo much easier and sooooo much quicker with the Sportswork rack.
 
Also, if you go with the Thule I suggested, the bolt is a screw bolt to reduce vibration and noise; then a lock covers that. One thing I find interesting though, the bolt is metric.
 
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Your choice of bikerack depends on what your priorities are. If security and rigidity is your primary concern, then you have to go with a fork-mounted roof rack. (I should have specified fork-mount in my earlier post. The types where you leave both wheels on and secure with a clamp aren't worth squat in my opinion.) I have yet to see a hitch-mounted rack on the market that offers the degree of grip and security you get by locking down a bike by its front fork.

As others correctly pointed out, if convenience (bike weight, height issues, speed of loading) are important to you then you'll probably want a hitch-mount.

As long as you get to your destination and ride, it's all good!
 

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