Bicycle Carrier -- Rear/Trunk mount

[ottaire]

Hey,
I am going to buy a bicycle carrier for my 1996 Toyota Corolla. I would like to use a rack that is easy to access (not on the roof of my car). Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!

[miffy'sFuji]

Yakima and Thule are reliable, well-made brands. I have a thule roof rack for my kayaks and haven't ever had a problem. My friends and I share a yakima trunk mounted 3-bike rack. I think it in part depends on what you want to spend. For something around $100, you do get a bike rack that lifts your bikes sufficiently away from the ground (depending on your bike's geometry, you may still have to remove a tire in order to keep it clear of the exhaust pipe) and will hold 2 or more bikes and is sturdy. We chose ours because my friend has a wagon and I have a sedan and we can use this type of rack on either car.

Sierra trading has a rack for a good price. This must be an older model, so I can't directly compare it to mine. If you will just be carrying one bike, there is a 2 bike model on sierra as well.
yakima rhode gear

[shasta]

Can someone tell me if a vehicle needs a hitch for a trunk bike rack? I don't see anything on the one in the link. I'd like one of these too so I don't have to try and get my bike in the trunk.

Shasta

[SadieKate]

Yakima has a little configurator to show what racks will work with your car. Other companies may have the same. We've had tremendous successful with Yakima and Thule. I'm always a fan of roof racks or hitchracks because they don't move around or loosen. Bikes with slanted top tubes are also much more stable when put into a fork or tray mount. I also like fork or tray mounts because nothing touches the frame/paint of the bike or the car.

http://www.yakima.com/Consumer/Step1.aspx

[miffy'sFuji]

Yup, I can see the advantages to having a more stable system than a trunk mounted bike rack (for which you don't need a hitch). My car has a few scratches from the bikes because of the way the rack fits onto the trunk. But I consider my car to be strictly utilitarian.

The roof mount racks are pricey though. You can get a trunk mount rack for 3 bikes for the price of one roof mounted rack (plus you have to get all of the other paraphernalia, some of which you could get used from craigslist).

The trunk mount setup works very well on a hatchback and the bikes don't come into contact at all with the car body of my friend's wagon.

p.s. We've used the trunk rack on trips of over 300 mi. RT with no mishaps.

[shasta]

Hmmm. Scratches on the car are no issue, on the bike though... . I don't know if I could get my bike up on the roof of the car without help. I'm thinking so I can take the bike to the trails about 40 minutes from here.

I just hate having to disassemble the bike or cramming it into the trunk every time I want to haul it.

Shasta

[sydney_b]

I recently got a 4-bike hitch Thule with stabilizer bar. Love it. Kind of expensive, but rock solid. There are straps that go over the top tube and more straps that connect the stabilizer bar to the frame and front tire to prevent sway. Feel like my bikes are totally safe from harm, less someone really smacks us.

/s

[sprout]

I had a Saris Bones rack on my old car and it scratched the hades out of the trunk lid where the rubber feet where. I'm now using it on my new car and went to the pain of wrapping the feet in padded cloth and sticking material between the clips and the trunk. The thing hasn't fallen off yet, although I take it off when I'm not carting a bike around. My old car was a dark green, so of course it would show the scratches more than my current light colored car, but I'm still being overly cautious about scratches.