Topic: Bike Racks

[munk]

Hitch with no bike mounted (the only good pic I have of it)

[empty]

nice pic munk.  i thought a hitch might look dumb on the back of an el, but that doesn't look bad at all...  thx

[random006]

Count me in the hitch group.  I had a class III "Hidden Hitch" brand  unit installed with a 2" square receiver.

I mount a 3 bike "Sportrack" tubular rack on the hitch.  The bike rack's bike mounts can be swiveled on the tube, allowing for different bike frames or even skis.  The rack itself can pivot while in the hitch, allowing access to the rear of the vehicle.

To solve the problem of the rack wobbling in the hitch even with the strap, I use a rack tightener.  It is a screw-on clamp which fits over the rack at the mount point and then tightens to the side of the hitch.  A piece of felt used to protect floors from chair legs is used to protect the hitch surface from the clamp.  Now the hitch does not wobble at all, even at high speeds or bumpy roads.

Both the rack and tightener were bought at Crappy Tire.  The hitch was installed at the Kia dealership where I bought my car.

Hope this helps!

(Message edited by random006 on June 14, 2005)

[sparky]

Even after considering the fine advice on this site, I went to Crapola Tire yesterday and bought a trunk-mount Sportrack on sale. It's not the greatest for a long trip or rough roads, but it'll get my bikes out to the cottage or over to the Greenbelt just fine. It was cheap (about $80 including tax), very easy to install, and looks adequate if you don't ask it to do too much. And I put it on my old wagon, not on the pristine paint of the nearly-new X-Trail.

[mrthompson]

I purchased a 3 bike rack similar to the one Random006 describes, however mine uses a threaded hitch pin to eliminate movement of the rack inside the receiver.  First impression is that it works fairly well, and having to use a 3/4" wrench is somewhat of a theft deterrent.