How do YOU carry bicycles

[CMPR1966]

I drive a mini van when I go camping. The cargo capacity and ease of loading is great, however as with many late model vans and suvs, there is a fiberglass spoiler above the rear glass. This prevents the use of strap on bike racks. I had one that worked well on a previous vehicle that I modified to go over the spoiler and rest on the roof. It works great and holds tight to the van without wiggling or loosening up while traveling. I feel comfortable with two bikes on it(maybe three lightweight ones). Needing to carry four bikes that leaves two strapped down inside the van. Needless to say, loading two inside, loading camping gear(can't open the rear hatch with rack on), then attaching straps for bike rack, and loading other two bikes takes quite a while.
I recently installed a receiver hitch on the van to use an outback brand hitch mounted bike rack I got from a neighbor. This made loading easier and I feel pretty good about putting all four bikes on this rack.
Here is the thing I do not like. The rack and bikes really sway around back there. I don't think they are going to fall off, but wonder what that is doing the metal and welds over time. I notice other peoples stuff while I ride around and it seems like most if not all that I have seen do the same.

Does anyone have experience with this type of rack and a way to get the wiggle out. I tried some straps from the top of the rack to the hitch with little help.

[CMPR1966]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

Bringing this back up since we have some new folks on here now, and I never got a response before. The sway of the bike rack still bothers me. It seems like all that movement is going to make the welds brake.

[SBinTN]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

I have a trailer hitch mounted rack on my jeep and it holds four bikes. The only time I've seen them sway is when I didn't have the bolt mounted into the hitch tight enough. I've had to pull over before and ratchet it down tighter, but that was only the one time. Does the rack have any play in the hitch? Is it possible you have a 2" trailer hitch and the rack is 1 1/2"? That would certainly make the rack sway back and forth. I've driven 11 hours with the bikes loaded and they barely moved.

[coloradowalt]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

I have the same setup. Haven't been worried about metal fatigue, thanks... :-)

[madstat]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

we have a hitch mounted bike rack that clamps on to the top tube of your bike



the clamps have a rubber lining that grip the bikes in a way that prevents them from rotating in the clamp. This does a decent job of keeping the bikes from "swaying" to and from the car near the bottom. The rack has a locking piece in the tongue that prevents any movement in the receiver so there is no jiggling of the entire apparatus. I use some left over toe straps to secure the front wheel to the down tube of the bikes, this keeps the front wheels from turning all about while on the rack. Sometimes I do some extra securing with old pieces of bike tire inner tube which can be tied to the cranks to keep them from spinning around and hold the bottom of the bikes even more securely. We are driving down to Portland with the bikes on the rack tomorrow, I'll try to take some photos to show you the setup.

[gmann]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

My wife drives a 2014 Honda Odyssey. We have a receiver hitch and I purchased a Thule bike carrier. Very sturdy. I have never had an issue with the bikes moving. They are snug. There is a latch to lower the rack (with or without bikes) to be able to open the rear hatch. Lowering the bikes to open the hatch works well but if you have three or more bikes it takes some "muscle" to pull them back to secure. Bottom line, the Thule is awesome and I recommend. I think we purchased the Thule 5 Apex. They also sell a carrier that has a swing arm. Thule can be on the spendy side but they are top quality. I will try and load a pic.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

Interesting thread and something for me to ruminate on in the nearing future. I don't have any kind of hitch or rack....heck I don't even have a permanent vehicle,LOL. That being said I hope I've resolved my future cycle hauling issues by purchasing folding bikes. Carried 2 of em (plus a Barbie bike) earlier this season w/i a rented Honda Odyssey with 60/40 pulled back rear seats and one middle seat loaded w/ soft gear (bedding) as well as:

1- 48 qt cooler
1- 100 qt cooler
a storage bin holding 3 pretty large tent structures and 1 standard sack chair, sack table plus ottoman
1- 24 gallon Rubbermaid Action Packer "toy chest"
1 rectangular shaped mini grill
a folding firepit/grill
large folding camp kitchen
small generic storage bin holding misc. stuff
a small wicker picnic suitcase for kitchen gear and tableware
2 folding director's style chairs
3 weekend bags with toiletry and first aid bags distributed amongst em. We packed for a 1 week trip but visited a laundromat one time since the trip lasted 2 + weeks.


Telling you all this to let ya know alotta space might be still w/i the Honda.

I pack by shape with similarly sized items being the base that I build on. Odd shaped items like the bikes go a top the whole thing and I'm planning to make some bike carrier bags this winter to simplify the system.

Also thinking of RVing in a small trailer and using the D/R table as a bike rack. When space is limited thinking outside the box is useful.

HTH and keep on searching for the perfect solution:cool:.

[Bigdog57]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

My current hitch-mount bike rack takes two bikes, and has the adjustable steel loops that the bike wheels fit into. I use bungies to strap the bikes down so they don't move in the carrier. If I am towing my 5X10 open cargo trailer they go into it. A steel cable (plastic coated) with a stout disc lock secures them in both cases.

[CMPR1966]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

Thanks for the response. No doubt the Odyssey can swallow up a all the camping gear and still leave room for the family to travel in comfort.
My issue was more of bounce and sway of the entire apparatus not really the bikes moving on the rack itself. Sorry if I was unclear on that.
It may be that this Outback rack is only as good as the weeks worth of dog sitting trade it cost me. Maybe that is why my neighbor was willing to part with it. They have since invested in three other systems for carrying their bikes. (They are REALLY into bikes) They now use a rack system that attaches to the bed of their pickup and can carry bikes and kayaks and maybe various forms of spacecraft and such. This thing is impressive, but nothing I can use.
If you all can share specific racks like the Thule you are using that could be helpful. Or if you have one or had one that wasn't really that good. These things are not cheep, so I only want to buy once.

[CMPR1966]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

Madstat I'm looking closer at that drawbar in your pic. It looks like it has a wedge like piece at the back. What brand is it.
gmann pics would be great.
Bigdog will your carrier hold 4 bikes?
NYCgrrl I had two non folding bikes and all my gear and three adults and a 11 year old in my Odyssey before. We traveled well, but it was a pain to load.

[Bigdog57]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

"Bigdog will your carrier hold 4 bikes?"

No, just two. I generally ride alone. Occasionally one buddy tags along. My alternate (older) carrier will hold three, but hangs on my minivan's rear door, and I would not be comfortable with that much weight on the door.

[astrowolf67]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

Roadmaster Quiet Hitch. We've got one we use with our hitch haul, and it works wonders.

David

[Mike]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

We use a rear bicycle carrier that straps to the car. It carries up to four bicycle and I have carried four bicycles MANY times for hundreds of miles at a time. The bicycles would sway and it always made makes me nervous when we have a full load of bikes. I am constantly looking in the rear view mirrow to see if anything is going amiss - and nothing has ever gone wrong.

I think the bumper mounted racks work well too, but they sure do sway around a lot. Probably the worst type of carrier is the roof mounted carrier. They subject the bicycles to a lot of road spray damage from stones, dust, etcetera. Also, many accidents happen where the returning and tired owners drive their cars into their garage with the bicycles still on top of their cars.

[jjk454ss]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

We use a rear bicycle carrier that straps to the car. It carries up to four bicycle and I have carried four bicycles MANY times for hundreds of miles at a time. The bicycles would sway and it always made makes me nervous when we have a full load of bikes. I am constantly looking in the rear view mirrow to see if anything is going amiss - and nothing has ever gone wrong.

I think the bumper mounted racks work well too, but they sure do sway around a lot. Probably the worst type of carrier is the roof mounted carrier. They subject the bicycles to a lot of road spray damage from stones, dust, etcetera. Also, many accidents happen where the returning and tired owners drive their cars into their garage with the bicycles still on top of their cars.

I always take my garage door remote and leave it in the garage because I'm worried about doing this.

[madstat]

Re: How do YOU carry bicycles

Madstat I'm looking closer at that drawbar in your pic. It looks like it has a wedge like piece at the back. What brand is it.

The rack is called a Yakima "GetAway". I don't believe they make them anymore. The wedge on the drawbar is forced against the inside of the receiver as you turn a crank at the other end of the bar. This crank can be locked with the same lock on the clamps preventing theft.

The rack tilts downward and rearward to allow access to the trunk. This is how the rack looks with one bike on it in the "up" position:


And with two bikes in the "down" position



Finally here is a closeup of how I secure the front wheel to the down tube with spare toe straps to prevent the wheels from turning.