Bike rack & hitch quandry

[sha4990]

I just got a rear hitch mount placed on the car. The dealer tried to sell me the bike carrier also. I got a yakima 4 bike carrier at REI which fits into the receiver and it has its own tilt feature, this cost much less than the dealer stuff. Let me know and I can send pictures.

[hunterxc]

Let's see a pic. I got the Volvo system and it included a Thule rack.

[Sasquatch]

I have one of those shelf racks from camping, and it holds 3 bikes easily. I will probably have a tow hitch put in for the boat and for the rack. I might also go with the roof bike rack, so I can put "stuff" out back and bikes up top. What's a good roof rack for bikes? I don't mind cutting some plastic in the bumper for a hitch, and would gladly accept that if it means a better hitch (weight distributing).

Thanks.

[Artz]

Here are some pics of the volvo hitch - you cannot see the cutout unless you look from underneath.
http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4839

We are real happy with it. We use it with a thule hitch which we already had before buying the car. The receiver hitch has 2 layers of steel for extra strength.

[dtlayman]

We have the Volvo pet enclosure that fits in the rear of the Volvo. It is great for our large collie because it keeps him safe while luggage is loaded on the other side. We are looking at the different hitch mounted racks and we want to make sure the one we get allows us to open the hatch, the gate to the pet enclosure, and let our dog jump out. We are wondering if the Volvo unit that tilts is the way to go or should we go with the Thule or Yakima models that have the ability to swing to the side?

[rkestner]

There appears to be a lot of 'hot air' about two forms of bike carrier, with a little about a third option. There is no mention of a fourth option.

Option 1

This option has the bike(s) mounted on the roof of the car. There are two ways of doing this. One option is the air/pneumatic assisted cycle lift. Although relatively easy to use in the correct fashion there can be problems that have been described in this thread. The system is only easy to use if you know how to use it correctly, otherwise you can cause yourself and your car some degree of injury. The second method of roof mounting is the conventional way of having support racks attached to your cross bars, then you will have to manually lift the bikes onto and off the roof. Both these methods are fine if you are sure of your head clearance. Apart from damage to the object you hit, you will certainly write off the bikes and could cause servere damage to your roof structure of the car. This damage could result in you 'tearing' off the roof rails if your speed was fast enough.

Option 2

This option has the bike(s) mounted inside the car and works best with a long cargo area or an estate car (like our XC's). The problems with this set up are; you are limited to carrying two bikes and two people (as the bikes will take up the entire cargo area and therefore there will be no room for any other passengers and little room for securing animals in pens). You are more than likely going to find that you will have to remove both wheels to get the bike to sit 'under' the roof line, especially if you have a metal cargo gate/grill tucked into the roof area. There will also be problems loading and securing the bike(s) as you will have to make several visits to the front of the area via the back passenger doors to secure the bikes in place. A problem with this could be an insecure bike could break free from it restraints and tear some fabric or worse break a window in the event of an accident.

Option 3

This option has the bike(s) mounted on the tow hitch. There are several methods of attaching your carrier, either by inserting the carrier into the hitch rail and securing it by pins or mounting directly onto the ball. The carrier that mounts directly onto the ball is not unlike attaching a trailer. You place the carrier over the ball and snap the 'locking' handle in place. This takes seconds and will be in the locked position until you want to remove it in which case you will have to unlock it and remove. The beauty of this piece of equipment is the fact the when fully loaded you can 'tilt' the carrier to access the cargo area without obstruction from the bikes. The Thule model I have comes complete with a new lighting bar, licence plate and electrical lead for the lights. Because it is connected to the electrics it works like having a trailer attached and you will have the double action of the lights on the dash to inform you that the lights are working correctly. The bikes are held within the outside edge of the body and therefore, wheels sticking out, obscuring vision from the side mirrors is not a problem. Likewise your vision thru the bike frames from the center mirror does not restrict your rearward vision either. The only drawback is the fact that when going over bumps/ramps etc there is a possibility that you might ground the carrier, but this would only occur when travelling at speed.



Option 4

This option has not been discussed at all. This option is for people you do not have or intent on installing a tow hitch. The carrier is 'held' onto the back door by means of tie straps at all edges. This is the same as having the hitch mounted option but in my opinion this could lead to undue pressure/weight being placed against the rear door glass which could cause a breakage. The bike(s) should be held high enough on this carrier not to warrant the addition of a new licence plate or lights on the rear edge. There is also no real way of securing this as the straps can be removed when not in use by anyone and the opening of the door would also be prevented because of the amount of pressure/weight the bike(s) would have on the glass when the door is fully opened.

These are the only places that you can attach a bike to your car, short of putting a trailer behind. The brand that Volvo use is Thule and since they are made in the USA and most of the prices are between $100 - $200 I would have thought that a Thule product would be the way to go. Even if you are recieving a rebate, this comes nowhere near the price that Thule charge you in the first place. The model I have shows you the carrier mounted on the rear of a XC70 on the box. Sometimes saving money can pay, I object paying Volvo to put their prices up by X% just to have the VOLVO name enblazened over it.

I think a look over the Thule site would enlighten you as to the options I have described and you will also find prices there as well.
Thule US site
Thule rest of the World site

I have not found any problems with my unit, either using it, storing it in the car when not in use or storing it at home. It is rugged, light and very compact when not in use.

OPTION: buy some bikefridays. fold'em and throw 'em in the back end
OPTION: get the trailer hitch and pull a small trailer with the bikes.
OPTION: don't ride bikes.

sorry, but being an 'out of the box' creative thinker, i feel compelled to examine all the possibilities? there are probably a couple of more ideas too.

i have tried all the options, and the easiest, most convenient for me is the roof rack, fork mount (NOT with profile bars). next best is the bikefridays.

rich kestner

[Sasquatch]

I have one like this:

[dtlayman]

The Volvo tilt feature sounds great. I am unaware of Thule racks or Yakima racks that have the tilt feature that the Volvo unit has, but maybe the tilt feature is more luxury than we need.

Also, I am wondering if the Volvo unit comes with a lock system and the nice stabilizers that the upper end Thule and Yakima racks.

Thanks for the information and pictures that others have already provided.

We are hoping to make a decision before the rebate ends on Sept 30.

[kat]

I have a 3 bike hitch Thule unit and it tilts when needed. By the way the Volvo hitch units I have seen have been rebranded Thule units.

[dtlayman]

We didn't purchase the bike rack a couple of years ago because we decided that we wouldn't need it enough until our little guy started riding himself.

Now that a couple of years have passed, I thought I should ask to see if there is any new advice related to hitch mounted bike racks. We would be looking at a 4 bike carrier - probably Thule, Yakima, or Volvo model. I noticed that REI has a sale on their carriers. I think the Thule model that swings out of the way purchased at REI right now would be almost a couple hundred less than the Volvo model if I am looking at this correctly.

Also, we already have the hitch installed, although I didn't install any special wiring etc for lights? Is this needed when you install one of these hitch mounted carriers?

Thanks.