Good Cars for Bikes

[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!)