Car Rack Question

I feel that this is probably a silly question and the answer should be apparent from looking at them but....

I'm looking at racks for carrying bikes on the back of cars and I don't understand how my bike would be attached. I understand how it works for bikes with a cross bar but my bike is a women's bike with no crossbar -it's the same shape as the one in this picture: http://www.breezerbikes.com/im/bikes/uptown-u.jpg

Do you need to get a specific type of rack to ensure women's bikes fit on them or how do they attach?

You need one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...t-20/ref=nosim

It attaches from the handlebars to the seat and takes the place of a top tube. It works great.

A woman's bike will mount on a rack with the arms below/outside the large V of the frame. One arm will be under the downtube behind the front wheel and the other behind the seat tube or at the junction of the seat tube and seat stay. If possible, try your bike on the rack before you buy. Or get the rack dimensions (distance apart of the two arms) to see if it will work. This is actually a better way to mount the bike than using the top tube. If the rack doesn't come with rubber straps to secure the bike, use bungy cords just to be sure it can't come loose even on bumpy roads.

A simple low-cost car rack like this should mount your bike as is. The hitch-mount racks might require the adapter that divingbiker mentioned. Some fancy hitch-mounts support the wheels and should work without modification as well.

Thank you! That really helped. I think I'll look for one locally when I buy so I can make sure it works with my bike.