I couldn't resist weighing in on this one as:

1. I'm short (5' 1" on a good day)
2. I have a carbon fiber bike (Trek 5200 WSD, in case anyone's curious)
3. I put a hitch rack on my car, which is a sedan (again, if anyone's curious, it's an Acura TSX)

Where to start?

I didn't want a roof rack. Just my personal preference -- I'm short, and that kind of lifting motion tends to aggravate my lower back issues. Plus I've heard too many stories about bikes coming off the roof racks and/or people forgetting to take off the bikes before going into a carport/garage. Not to mention the fact that I didn't want to leave the roof rack on my car at all times.

No one made a hitch receiver for my car, so I finally bit the bullet and had a custom hitch receiver put on it. It's very, very stealth, which I like. It was very expensive, which I didn't like.

I got a BVG hitch rack from Rack & Road (used to be called the Sports Rack). It allows the hitch to be locked to the car and the bikes to be locked to the hitch rack. It also allows for folding of the rack to get to the trunk, but with my TSX, it's not necessary, as the trunk door conveniently clears the rack.

Incidentally, I think BikerZ has the same rack on her Audi TT, and if I remember correctly, her trunk clears the rack too.

So what's not to like? Well, the mechanism to secure the top tube to the rack has screwed up my decals. At first I thought I'd peel the decals off to make my bike more stealth, but er, no, that voids the warranty on the frame. I now use a piece of cloth between the top tube and the rack.

You also have to be careful with the amount of force used to secure the carbon bike to the rack. Too much, and you risk damaging the frame. Too little, and you risk having the bike flop around -- maybe it will fall off ... and damage the frame.

Would I do it again? You betcha! I still don't like the idea of hoisting my bike up on the roof. Having the hitch rack has allowed me to take my bike out & about so I can go on beautiful rides and meeting new & interesting people.

Good luck!

-- Melissa