T
Todd H.
Many moons ago, I was shopping for alternatives for carrying bikes on
my 01 Outback Wagon and posted in these groups for advice.
I'm thrilled to post success based on info gleaned from the
newsgroups. I have a few happy joy joy dances to toss out into the
net.knowledgebase:
1) eTrailer.com is way cool. I ordered a Hidden Hitch Class 2, 1
1/4" receiver hitch from them my Outback wagon. A big honkin box
with the fully assembled hitch receiver arrived at my house. As
promised, it went on remarkably easily. Now, I don't fancy myself
a terribly gifted mechanical sort, and I have to say it was a
low-risk, very high-satisfaction couple of hours I spent putting
that hitch on. The only rough spot in that installation was
loosening up the bracket for the carbon canister enough to let the
hitch bracket slide between it and gas tank (the cannister
bracket's bolts were getting a bit rusty after 3 Chicago winters),
but other than that it was remarkably easy. Having done it once
now, I could probably put another on a similar Outback in under 30
min. I had no idea putting a hitch on a car would be this friggin
easy. All this fun for a whopping $125 plus $17 shipping.
http://www.etrailer.com/productdetail.asp?partno=90755&vehicleid=3886&yearfrom=2001&h=e
2) Sportworks (now owned by Thule) hitch mounted bike racks are a
joy. Literally, I can mount my bike on one of these in all of 30
seconds. One pressure bar, and one strap, and off ya go. I
managed to find a used Mod series 2-bike system for sale locally
and it was in great shape. It was a 2" receiver model, but a $60
part from Thule later (which my bike shop had in stock locally)
and voila--it now fits my 1.25" receiver and gives me "flip up"
functionality to boot. It's easily removable from the hitch as
well, and the bikes are quite stable on it. It's remarkably
satisfying to watching them in the rear view mirror.
Cost was $175 (used, like-new condition), $60 for the replacement
folding receiver. The new equivalent is the Thule Sportworks
Transport T2 which runs about $300, but stock is non-existent on
these things locally right now. You can get them here apparently:
http://rackoutfitters.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=916
Note the 1 1/4" receiver model is limited to 2 bikes. The 2" lets
you expand up to 4, but... you can't get a 2" receiver on your
Outback installing a hitch yourself, and Sportworks poo poos the
use of adapter sleeves.
3) Early in my rack hunt, I picked up a used Yakima Raptor roof mount
bike system for $15 at a garage sale. I threw $60 for 2 packs of
24H Yakima MightyMounts, and presto, I now have a pair of Yakima
Raptor bike rails on the factory crossbars of the Outback. The
system is quiet and sturdy. My Outback now can carry 4 full size
bikes, and none of the mounting is a pain at all, and no
disassembly is required for any bike. Note: 24H is the right size
for my vehicle. Use Yakima's configurator to roll your own.
Raptor
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?memberId=12500226&productId=31228025
MightyMount 24H (attaches Raptor to Subaru factory roof rails)
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?memberId=12500226&productId=31226991
Of course, even with the bargains I managed to find, I've got more
money tied up in bike transport than in my actual bike (also bought
used for a song), but having good transport gear makes it _so_ much
easier to get to a safe place to have an enjoyable ride. And I can
also carry myself and 3 riders to our big annual ride which adds to
the fun.
It was remarkable how much crap I had to wade through to get a bike
transport system I'd be happy with, so maybe this'll save someone some
time.
Best Regards,
my 01 Outback Wagon and posted in these groups for advice.
I'm thrilled to post success based on info gleaned from the
newsgroups. I have a few happy joy joy dances to toss out into the
net.knowledgebase:
1) eTrailer.com is way cool. I ordered a Hidden Hitch Class 2, 1
1/4" receiver hitch from them my Outback wagon. A big honkin box
with the fully assembled hitch receiver arrived at my house. As
promised, it went on remarkably easily. Now, I don't fancy myself
a terribly gifted mechanical sort, and I have to say it was a
low-risk, very high-satisfaction couple of hours I spent putting
that hitch on. The only rough spot in that installation was
loosening up the bracket for the carbon canister enough to let the
hitch bracket slide between it and gas tank (the cannister
bracket's bolts were getting a bit rusty after 3 Chicago winters),
but other than that it was remarkably easy. Having done it once
now, I could probably put another on a similar Outback in under 30
min. I had no idea putting a hitch on a car would be this friggin
easy. All this fun for a whopping $125 plus $17 shipping.
http://www.etrailer.com/productdetail.asp?partno=90755&vehicleid=3886&yearfrom=2001&h=e
2) Sportworks (now owned by Thule) hitch mounted bike racks are a
joy. Literally, I can mount my bike on one of these in all of 30
seconds. One pressure bar, and one strap, and off ya go. I
managed to find a used Mod series 2-bike system for sale locally
and it was in great shape. It was a 2" receiver model, but a $60
part from Thule later (which my bike shop had in stock locally)
and voila--it now fits my 1.25" receiver and gives me "flip up"
functionality to boot. It's easily removable from the hitch as
well, and the bikes are quite stable on it. It's remarkably
satisfying to watching them in the rear view mirror.
Cost was $175 (used, like-new condition), $60 for the replacement
folding receiver. The new equivalent is the Thule Sportworks
Transport T2 which runs about $300, but stock is non-existent on
these things locally right now. You can get them here apparently:
http://rackoutfitters.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=916
Note the 1 1/4" receiver model is limited to 2 bikes. The 2" lets
you expand up to 4, but... you can't get a 2" receiver on your
Outback installing a hitch yourself, and Sportworks poo poos the
use of adapter sleeves.
3) Early in my rack hunt, I picked up a used Yakima Raptor roof mount
bike system for $15 at a garage sale. I threw $60 for 2 packs of
24H Yakima MightyMounts, and presto, I now have a pair of Yakima
Raptor bike rails on the factory crossbars of the Outback. The
system is quiet and sturdy. My Outback now can carry 4 full size
bikes, and none of the mounting is a pain at all, and no
disassembly is required for any bike. Note: 24H is the right size
for my vehicle. Use Yakima's configurator to roll your own.
Raptor
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?memberId=12500226&productId=31228025
MightyMount 24H (attaches Raptor to Subaru factory roof rails)
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?memberId=12500226&productId=31226991
Of course, even with the bargains I managed to find, I've got more
money tied up in bike transport than in my actual bike (also bought
used for a song), but having good transport gear makes it _so_ much
easier to get to a safe place to have an enjoyable ride. And I can
also carry myself and 3 riders to our big annual ride which adds to
the fun.
It was remarkable how much crap I had to wade through to get a bike
transport system I'd be happy with, so maybe this'll save someone some
time.
Best Regards,