Good Cars for Bikes

[skinimini]

I love my Mini!!! And, you have the option of a bike rack that fits conveniently on the rear bumper. Costs the same whether you order custom (when you order the car) or retrofitted. Whenever other Mini owners around Atl. see my bike rack, they drool! I'll post pictures in a bit.

[channlluv]

+1 on the Rav4. I love mine, too. I can load my Ruby Comp with the wheels on, plus my daughter's Trek mtb, and all our gear, toolbox, picnic basket, and all the stuff we normally carry in the wayback.

Normal gas mileage is in the neighborhood of 24mpg, but when we drove cross-country, fully loaded, we were getting 400 miles to a tankful, or 28mpg.

Roxy

[Pedal Wench]

I should have added to my initial Rav4 comment. Yeah, I use the bike mount (and could have easily bought just the mounts and used a piece of wood, but I like the adjustability that I get with the bar - I can slide the mounts around depending on how many bikes and which bikes I'm using.

And, yes, I can also get the bike in with the wheels on, even a bike with aerobars. There's one in there right now like that! But, it's less secure and can slide around. I worry about the on my Colnagos - they're all handpainted, and the paint is notorious for chipping, so I'm a little more careful with those guys.

[Cataboo]

subaru outback - hitch rack on the back - very easy to get the bikes on, and I have the yakima lock/cable to lock the bikes to the car, the lock to lock the rack into the hitch, and if I'm going to be leaving the bikes on the car - I start adding more cables/U locks/whatever to make sure all the wheels & bikes and such are locked to the car.

I've got the roof rack and have a couple bike mounts for up there - which I use if I want easy access to the trunk for whatever reason, or if I need to carry a ton of bikes. I can lift the light road bikes onto the roof rack by myself without having to stand on anything.

I can also just lay down the back seat and fit the bike in the car, I can stack a few on top of each other if I want - I haven't tried removing the wheels and seeing if a bike would fit in the trunk area,but I think it probably would. I can also just put a cloth or someting to protect the back seat and put the bike in the car in the back seat area (but I have a small bike).

Regarding kayaks - the outback's a little high for my 5'1ness to put the kayaks up on the roof just lifting. If I've got a person helping me, I can lift one end, as the other lifts the other end... Okay, maybe what I really want to say is, I can't lift a 60 lb 17 feet kayak straight onto the roof by myself, I could probably manage a shorter kayak. So what I do is - I've got rollers on my rear roof bar and a kayak loader extension that comes out of it... so I pull out the extension, I put the front end of the boat on that extension, resting the back end onto the ground - and then just pick the back end up and push it forward onto the rack. Then I can stand on the back bumper and on the wheel wells to tie the kayak down.

I think a similar system might work for some of the shorter people with a honda element, to put the kayak up. Although, if it's a short kayak, it should fit in the back of the element (my friend carries her sit on top like that)

[tangentgirl]

Tangentgirl's boyfriend: You know what kind of car works great with bikes?

Tangentgirl: What?

TGBF: A minivan! Remember how great they all fit in Randy's minivan?

TG: Yeah...

TGBF: And you can fit surfboards in there too! Minivans are awesome!

TG: Cool! Let's get a minivan! You can drive it, and I'll drive your WRX!

[Onix]

I have PT Cruiser (which I wouldn't recommend buying due to all of the problems I have had with it...)

But, I merely post to say that I think a lot of small hatchback cars can probably support your bike just fine.

In my PT, I took out the small back seat.

Mounted a fork holder on a piece of ply that fits snuggly wedged in the trunk area. Then, I just slide my bike (back wheel towards the driver's seat), lock the fork in place...good to go.

With both back seats out, I can even fit my roomate's taller man-bike next to mine!

I'm not sure how link posting works..but maybe this link works!

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs158...._3366705_n.jpg


I imagine a lot of hatchbacks could be configured in this way! (Some probably without taking seats out at all---depending on roof height!)

[ClockworkOrange]

I love my Mini!!! And, you have the option of a bike rack that fits conveniently on the rear bumper. Costs the same whether you order custom (when you order the car) or retrofitted. Whenever other Mini owners around Atl. see my bike rack, they drool! I'll post pictures in a bit.

Hmmm, I have a rag top and as much as love having the roof down, I cannot get a bike rack for it, unless I am willing to shell out something in the region of £650 ($980)!!! I have had my car 5 years and had it been an option then, I would have probably paid it.

As usual and not available in the UK, there is a Swagman XTC-2 for around $179 but I suspect that needs a tow bar?

At the moment I am thinking of buying a second hand Strida folding bike...........they look fun.

Look forward to you posting some pics skinimini.

Clock

[skinimini]

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/attac...8&d=1240525726

If I did this right, above is a link to a picture of my mini with the bike rack. When I ordered my car, the rack was about $500 (Aug 2008). Maybe it's more expensive now?

[SLash]

I have a Honda Pilot and DH and I are able to load both of our bikes inside using a homemade rack (a 1x8) and 2 fork mounts screwed into board. It works great and still have room for luggage, etc. Plus, bikes are inside not out in the elements or at risk (as much risk anyway) for thievery.