# Need advice on bike racks



## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I want to buy a bike rack for my car. The problem is that there are a lot of different options and our situation is somewhat fluid as well.

I have a Jeep Liberty (small SUV) and we usually put a travel bag on the roof when we go camping, so we need some sort of rear rack.

Right now we have 2 adult bikes and one small kids bike. My other child doesn't ride yet, but hopefully she will in the next year or two.

I was checking out Rack Attack http://www.rackattack.com/rack-attack-toronto.asp

And it looks like I can get a 4 bike rack which will meet our needs for the foreseeable future. The problem is that I think you need a trailer hitch which adds a lot to the cost.
The racks aren't cheap either (I think around $400). I'm trying to find out the total cost, but I would guess around $1,000.

We were thinking of renting a tent trailer at some point, so we could use the hitch for that as well, but I don't know when/if we will do this.

Another option is to get a 2 bike rack which attaches to the spare wheel on the back. This doesn't require a trailer hitch. This would be much cheaper (maybe $300?). The downside is that we would have to tie the kids bikes onto the roof which will be a pain. Once the kids get older, say in 5 years, I'm sure we would want to switch to a 4 bike rack at that point.

One problem is that the car is 8 years old. I'm committed to keeping it for a while - hopefully 4 years or longer, but you never know. I would assume that the rack can be transferred to a new car, but obviously the trailer hitch is a sunk cost.

So if anyone has any experience/suggestions, feel free to let me know.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

It might almost be worth costing out the option of leaving your bikes at home and renting them on site, assuming rentals are available somewhere nearby.

Bike rental prices vary widely from location to location and they tend not to be very cheap, but if you add up the cost of the trailer and the rear rack it might be worth considering as an option for the next few years until you replace your car (and at that point you could buy a trailer hitch). Another long-term option to consider is folding bikes for the adults, which can be tossed in the back; they don't take much room. But they're expensive. If you only use them when traveling, though, the folding bikes should last you at least 20 years.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Canadian Tire has a Thule 4-bike hitch rack for $270. Thule is a very well-regarded rack brand, so if you decide to go with the hitch then I think this would be a good option. 
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...D~0401000P/Thule+4-Bike+Carrier.jsp?locale=en

It looks like a hitch is $200 for your car (I put in 2004 Jeep Liberty and drilled through to trailer hitches): 
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...++4-148++2.4L+DOHC_Towing_0407321_ViewDetails

We have this rack: 
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...P/SportRack+Euro+Trio+Bike+Rack.jsp?locale=en
I have to say it's pretty half-assed and it won't hold 4 bikes for sure. It works decently well on a sedan but not sure if you could even use it on a Jeep.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

I have both hitch bike rack for my truck and and a trunk rack for my passenger car, I much prefer the hitch rack because it doesn't touch the car, and you can easily have access to the trunk if you need it.

I think you are overstimating the costs for the hitch, I am pretty sure you can have it installed for about $300, and if you install it yourself it can be even cheaper, decent hitch rack can be had for $150 http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cycli...oftride-element-4-bike-rack-dual-receiver.jsp

I have this one, has very decent reviews and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again.

Obviously if you go with top notch brands it will cost you much more.

$500 should get you a very decent set, unfortunately if you sell the car the hitch will go with it, but if you use it for 4 more years it won't be such a big deal.

BTW, I would read reviews on amazon, IMO the racks sold at canadian tire are overpriced for the quality, they are not considered a good product.


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

I installed a Class 1 trailer hitch to my Toyota Matrix (you should be able to install a Class 2 hitch on your Jeep). I saved a lot of money by getting the hitch installed, but not with the wiring package. With the Matrix I wouldn't be able to pull much of a trailer anyway. I use a 4 bike Thule hitch rack, which works great. They don't recommend carrying more than two bikes with a Class 1 hitch, but a Class 2 hitch will be just fine. Hint - get a bike rack system that comes with a locking cable to secure all of your bikes. It will come in handy once in a while.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

Make sure to confirm specs of the rack (if you go with hitch or tire/hatch-mounted ones). With 4 bikes, you might be pushing the limits of some of the cheaper ones.

I am about to buy one myself and probably going to go with the Yakima Quickback although it probably doesn't meet your needs of 4 bikes.

We have a pretty large cargo box, and i can always put 1-2 bikes up top if my family ever gets big enough. Roof rack mounts are not as difficult to use as you would think, especially if you are putting kids bikes up top.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Good thinking checking MEC, Homer. I don't know why that didn't occur to me.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

My only experience is with roof racks, but in that department I've had both Yakima and Thule and I have to say Yakima was by far the better-made product. I was actually surprised at how poorly the Thule rack compared with the Yakima: it didn't hold the bikes securely and used more a more primitive design.

I personally won't buy another roof rack, though, because they have a huge impact on fuel economy compared with back-mounted racks.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Thanks a lot for everyone's great responses. This is definitely the place to ask for help on things you know nothing about.

We decided to go with the 2-bike rear rack which fits onto the spare wheel. The cost is only $229 plus tax ($260 total) for a Yakima which is quite reasonable.

The 4-bike racks with trailer hitch start at $300 (at the Rack Attack place) and the installed hitch is $308 for our car (at the same place). So I did overestimate the hitch - I suspect we'd be looking at about $800 total for this option.

I don't think either choice is really a bad one, but some of the other factors which influenced the decision were:

1 Kid bikes don't work on the rack and probably need an adapter.
2 We want to use the rack this weekend and the 2-bike option was quicker.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

brad said:


> It might almost be worth costing out the option of leaving your bikes at home and renting them on site, assuming rentals are available somewhere nearby.


Bike rentals are an interesting idea for a vacation, but I don't think it's that common. More of a big city kind of thing. I'm talking about going to a provincial park and being able to ride our bikes around.

That said - if I'm visiting a big city, renting a bike might be a great way to get around. In Germany I remember seeing a few tourist bike tours which I thought was a great idea. Last weekend I was talking to a guy on the Leslie Spit here in T.O. - he was showing some friends around town on some rented e-bikes at $10/hr which I thought was pretty neat, even if I don't like sharing the bike paths with e-bikes.



brad said:


> Another long-term option to consider is folding bikes for the adults, which can be tossed in the back; they don't take much room. But they're expensive. If you only use them when traveling, though, the folding bikes should last you at least 20 years.


Problem is that we don't have enough space in the car for bikes - folding or otherwise. The Jeep is a small SUV and there are four of us already. The trunk is not all that big.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Spudd said:


> Canadian Tire


I have to be honest - I just can't see buying a bike rack from CT.



Spudd said:


> It looks like a hitch is $200 for your car (I put in 2004 Jeep Liberty and drilled through to trailer hitches):


The installed quote was $300, so that makes sense - good to know what the hitch costs.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Homerhomer said:


> I think you are over-estimating the costs for the hitch


Yes indeed.



Homerhomer said:


> I am pretty sure you can have it installed for about $300


Dead on.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

mind_business said:


> I installed a Class 1 trailer hitch to my Toyota Matrix (you should be able to install a Class 2 hitch on your Jeep). I saved a lot of money by getting the hitch installed, but not with the wiring package. With the Matrix I wouldn't be able to pull much of a trailer anyway. I use a 4 bike Thule hitch rack, which works great. They don't recommend carrying more than two bikes with a Class 1 hitch, but a Class 2 hitch will be just fine. Hint - get a bike rack system that comes with a locking cable to secure all of your bikes. It will come in handy once in a while.


If we decide to rent a tent trailer at some point, we'll have to get a hitch. Good to know this stuff.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Sampson said:


> Roof rack mounts are not as difficult to use as you would think, especially if you are putting kids bikes up top.


The Jeep roof is pretty high, so it's not that easy, although I agree that kids bikes would be pretty easy. 

However, if we go camping, we always need a roof travel bag which means no room for a roof rack.


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

Strongly recommend you stay away from the spare tire racks. Especially if you've three bikes. The weight can throw out your hinges...at least it did on our jeep. If it's a $200 difference (or so) a hitch is the way to go IMO.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

Anyone have issues with rear bike racks (whether hatch or hitch-mount) covering license plates and then getting tickets.

I think there are probably laws everywhere about obscuring license plates, but how to reconcile when you have bikes back there?


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## caricole (Mar 12, 2012)

Sampson said:


> Anyone have issues with rear bike racks (whether hatch or hitch-mount) covering license plates and then getting tickets.
> 
> I think there are probably laws everywhere about obscuring license plates, but how to reconcile when you have bikes back there?


One day the police is going to wake-up and start to give tickets

That day the sale of inadmissible bicke-racks will end

You can not alter or cover your licence plate, fully or partially (Highway code)

A good method of avoiding PHOTO-RADAR, AUTOMATED TOLL-BOOTS, plus very convenient for a HIT AND RUN

Start to include the ticket in the price of the rack:stupid:


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

caricole said:


> One day the police is going to wake-up and start to give tickets
> 
> That day the sale of inadmissible bicke-racks will end
> 
> ...


You are joking, right?


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## caricole (Mar 12, 2012)

Homerhomer said:


> You are joking, right?


If you have a drivers licence and poses this question

You better start to read the highwaycode of your province

You can not «ALTER OR OBSTRUCT» any part of a licenceplate

Just ask your friendly policeman of your nabourhood:hopelessness::hopelessness:


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

caricole said:


> If you have a drivers licence and poses this question
> 
> You better start to read the highwaycode of your province
> 
> ...


I understand there are useless and not practical laws, and poeple who's livelyhood depends on it, I wonder however why wouldn't there be more effort put on eliminating stupid and useless laws instead of punishing perfectly normal way of doing things? Advocating penalties for bike racks is just not reasonable. I for one, when putting a bike rack on in the back of my car, don't think about killing anyone and running away, doubt anyone does, the sole purpose of the bike rack is to safely transport the bike from one place to another in a practical way, nothing else.


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## caricole (Mar 12, 2012)

> Advocating penalties for bike racks


Nobody is advocating penalties for bike racks

They can be installed in several ways and not obstruct the view of the complete licenceplate as required by the higwaycode

1) You could install the licenceplate behind the rack instead in front of it (visible complete)

2) You could install the licenceplate behind the bicycles when fixed to the rack (visible complete)

3) Install on top of the car

4) Or you could install it partially invisible and risk an infraction of the higwaycode and try to play the innocent:tongue-new:

anybodys choice


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

I personally have never heard any friends getting tickets despite many using either hitch or hatch racks - but it is clearly obstruction of viewing the plate - and here in Alberta, only a rear plate is required so obstructing that would mean inability to identify a vehicle by license.

It obviously depends on the car and where the plate is, most external spare tire-mounted vehicles already have license plates that are offset. If I went with the nice Yakima hatch-mount rack I was looking at before, the plate would probably be 100% covered. I just don't want to get tickets, but maybe they would not add up to the loss of fuel economy by going with roof-mounted options.

Is there an extra ticket for knowingly breaking a law?


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## caricole (Mar 12, 2012)

When the PHOTO-RADAR will become more popular, the unreadable licenceplates will become an issue

In Montreal we now have a TOLL-BRIDGE without tollboots....PHOTO READING...so..


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

summertime
an the livin is easy
summer is time
to change a straw hat


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## rookie (Mar 19, 2010)

FP, looks like we are in the same boat on several things.

1) I just got back from Lake Placid. i wanted to throw in my 2cents in the other thread you started. however, i saw better suggestions from other posters. i just went there without doing any research, in an old fashioned way as I was very busy going into the long weekend. And boy, theres ton of stuff to do there. Definitely going back not once, but several times over. Cannot believe I hadn't gone there until now.

2) We were in the same dilemma on the bike rack thing. I did checkout rackattack as well. their prices are very competitive. I have a Caravan and i do not want to invest in a hitch for that. so when i was there, i ended up buying a thule archway 3 bike carrier at EMS (they have a 20% sale going on, cost me 180USD tax in). i preferred the trunk mount as i can switch it between my cars. I would have preferred the raceway but they did not have it in stock. We were also on a dilemma on whether to buy a bike trailer or just child carriers, also which one to go with. There was so much to do there that we ended up not having time to bike at all. as soon as i got back, i went to craigslist and bought the first chariot bike trailer i could get. I hope to use it this and the next summer as well.

anyways, if you do not have time, do not bother buying anything hastily. there are two stores at lake placid - high peaks cyclery and placid planet bicycles where you can rent bikes and also trailer for very reasonable prices. also, if you want to do downhill biking, you may end up renting even if you carried yours.


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## GoldStone (Mar 6, 2011)

I bought a rack and a hitch on etrailer.com. Got them shipped for free to the UPS store near the border. Picked them up from there... the savings were well worth an hour drive. Hitch installation was about $50 at a local garage.

This is the rack I bought... I'm very happy with it:

http://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Bike-Racks/Swagman/S64650.html

You can buy a 4-bike model of the same kind ("a platform rack"):

http://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Hitch_Bike_Racks-sf-Platform_Rack-pt-4_Bikes.aspx

An anti-rattle locking pin is a must for a hitch-mount rack:

http://www.etrailer.com/p-S64029.html


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Update

We ended up buying the Yakima SpareTime which is a spare tire mounted rack from Rack Attack for $229.

I'm pretty happy with it. My only complaint was that we didn't know we needed an adapter for my wife's bike and it would have been nice if the salesperson had mentioned it.

Regarding Charlie's comment - the loaded rack definitely puts a stress on the back door. What we have been doing is just not opening the door while the bikes are on the rack.

The back of the Jeep has a sideways door (like the back of a pickup truck) and a window which opens upward. We can still get easy trunk access with just the window.

http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages/yakima-sparetime.asp


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