Stephen Porter

Hi,

I've recently gotten into mountain biking (well, light trail riding ;-)) and the only way I can take my bike to a trail is to take off both wheels and stow it in the rear hatch area.

Pelican used to carry a roof-mounted rack that could be adapted for skis or bikes or whatever, but it seems to be NLA.

Does anyone have a rack they don't use and would be willing to sell? Or can anyone point me to a resource where I could find a suitable rack?

It doesn't have to be roof-mounted, in fact I'd prefer it not to be, but I don't want to install a hitch and I'm not sure if a hatch-mounted unit would be smart as I can't imagine having to replace anything worse than hatch glass.

TIA for any input.

arthropraxis

I mountain bike regulary. I haven't tried to put my bike in the car but, I had in the past seen pictures with the seats down and the bikes in the back. It might get messy. I have a Saris bones rack that can fit over the spoiler.

Mr.Rodgers

My mind is pretty set on one of these:

http://www.seasucker.tv/

Mostly the Talon+

The OEM rack is waaayy to hard to find, and I'm sure that if one turned up, it would command a pretty penny. And even the Thule rack I looked at was pricey compared to these

Plus, these seem easy to install and store.

76 911s

I had Thule racks on my old '85. The look on peoples faces when we rolled into the Whistler parking lot with three DH bikes on top was priceless.


I still have the Thule towers/pads, and crossbars if you're interested.

mtbkr1030

Take a look at this one. I have used mine on several cars over the years. The only thing that touches the car is the clamp on the edge of the top rear window. Take a close look at the pics.

http://www.bdi-bike-rack.com/index_files/Page461.htm

mhr

Search there is an extensive thread on this topic from last summer.

I use a Saris Bones on the trunk of my cab and it would work for a coupe as well.

mtbkr1030

The BDI rack doesn't touch the pain on the car at all.

fortysixandtwo

With the seat folded down I've fit 3 BMX bikes without removing any tires. They all had front and rear pegs too.
With the rear seat removed and a Rennline harness bar, I can get my road bike in with no problems by removing just the front tire. I can probably fit two road bikes, but am not as keen of stacking carbon frames as I was of the chro-moly bikes that can take a beating.

thirdgenbird

i would be hesitant to do this with a muddy cross bike, but a 60cm road bike fits with no problem.

hamlin

I have the factory roof rack still in the box. Might consider selling it.

catfish

In my experience, trunk mounted racks mess up paint and don't attach the rack to the car very securely. In MHR's picture i'd be pretty worried about melting my tire while idling at a stoplight. They also often don't work very well for holding mountain bikes, especially full suspension. Go to the thule or yakima websites which will tell you everything you need. If you want to save some cash, you can probably find a rack on craigslist that will only need new clips and some adjusting to fit your car. Once the rack is set up, it can be taken off the car and stored pretty easily.

mhr

The angle of the picture is deceiving. There is allot of distance between the tailpipe and the bike no chance of melting anything.

Re the paint I have wrapped the rubber feet in Microfiber cloth because I have experienced issues with the rubber leaving residue on the paint. This has solved the issue and everything is solid as can be.

There are some cheap trunk mounted racks that are not very solid you get what you pay for. This one in particular is very sturdy and mounts with 3 straps not 2 and articulates to limitless angles so it is easy to adapt to many different cars. Definitely more costly but well worth it.

The great thing about the trunk mounted rack is it is very easy to take the bike on and off and mounting the rack takes 30 seconds. I have had 3 bikes on it including my kids cheap mountain bikes (Read HEAVY) and never had any issues.

ThirdPedal

I run a Yakima roof rack on my car and it works great. All you need are 48" crossbars, four Q Towers, the right clips, a bike mount, and you're ready to go. Pick those up used (maybe not the clips, but those are the cheapest) on ebay or craigslist to save some money.

I get more looks and comments when loading or unloading my bike at the trail. It's awesome.

mtbkr1030

Attachment 521213


It fits under your license plate and stays there. Easy on, easy off.............

Arominus

I stuff my santa cruz in the hatch with just the front wheel taken off. No problems. if i take both wheels off i can put 2 bikes in.