Bike rack and hitch success/joy/elation

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,
 
Todd said:
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.

I'll second all this. I ordered a hitch last year from them (for a
Hyundai Sante Fe) and it bolted on pretty easily as well.

Rich
 
I looked at Draw-Tite's hitches and I like that the hitch went above the
exhaust to hide the hitch even more. Did the Hidden_Hitch drop below the
exhaust?

Ken.
 
Ken & Rese Szeplaki said:
I looked at Draw-Tite's hitches and I like that the hitch went above the
exhaust to hide the hitch even more. Did the Hidden_Hitch drop below the
exhaust?


The Hidden Hitch is not terribly noticeable on the Outback. The
bracket does drop below the exhaust, but it's thin and flat where it
does. The hitch is recessed enough under the overhang of the bumper
that it doesn't appear terribly noticeable unless you're looking for
it.

And visually the black bracket that surves under teh exhaust isn't
that noticeable either, since it's only ... oh, I'm guessing a 1/2"
tall there.
 
Ken said:
I looked at Draw-Tite's hitches and I like that the hitch went above the
exhaust to hide the hitch even more. Did the Hidden_Hitch drop below the
exhaust?

Installing the hitch above the exhaust might require lowering the
exhaust temporarily (it did in our case). In the case of our SanteFe,
that required some big rubber grommet-type things to be pushed out of
the brackets attached to the exhaust. It was more work to remove them
then reinstall them, but neither was terribly difficult.
 
Yes the hidden hitch drops below but is not obtrusive. Plus hidden
hitch includes drawbar while draw-tite did not. Draw tites drawbar
sells for $20 while the hidden hitch was the same $$ as the drawtite.
 
Thanks all,

I have just purchased a pre owned 01 outback and was trying to figure the
best way to get my bike on it. I was thinking hitch and then I was think
roof. I still don't know, but I am looking. Does anyone know who makes a
rack that just mounts right to the load bars?

Thanks,

Ken.
 
Try www.1stsubaru.com. Yakima makes the oem roof rack and sells on
their own. Thule also makes them. Avoid hitch racks. Bikes sway, paint
gets rubbed. If you can lift bike to the roof go with a roof rack.
 
I've used Yakima setups on both my 01 and 03 OBWs (and many other
vehicles). I've always been very pleased with them. I use the Yakima
towers that clamp to the stock Subaru side rails (not the cross rails)
with Yakima crossbars. We regularly carry our tandem bike up top, and
I've also used it with my kayak and canoe. No problems.
 
BrianW wrote in message
I've used Yakima setups on both my 01 and 03 OBWs (and many other
vehicles). I've always been very pleased with them. I use the Yakima
towers that clamp to the stock Subaru side rails (not the cross rails)
with Yakima crossbars. We regularly carry our tandem bike up top, and
I've also used it with my kayak and canoe. No problems.

We have two Thule tandem racks on our 98 Outback, and it works the same way
as the Yakima. I just need help hoisting the damn bike up there. I can get a
single up no problem, but the tandem is too big/heavy/awkward for someone
with spindly arms and of my height.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referr­al/Cpetersky
 
Ken & Rese Szeplaki said:
Thanks all,

I have just purchased a pre owned 01 outback and was trying to figure the
best way to get my bike on it. I was thinking hitch and then I was think
roof. I still don't know, but I am looking. Does anyone know who makes a
rack that just mounts right to the load bars?

Yakima sells a few models that will essentially mount right on the
factory crossbars. The Raptors I have with MightyMounts 24H (one box
per bike) work that way and they're pretty cool. The MightyMounts
are just little plastic thingees that encircle the factory crossbar
and give a base for the raptor's bolts to fasten onto.

The Raptor is not the only one of their mounts that can direct mount
with a 24H MightMount.

Try Yakima's vehicle configurator, choose rooftop as your preferred
style and go from there. They might try to get you to buy their
crossbars and towers though, so stick to the options that only require
MightyMounts.

Best Regards,
 
I have a Reece something or other on my 98 Legacy wagon, 1-1/4", and
use a Sportrack 4 bike rack.....it works fine.
 
Try www.1stsubaru.com. Yakima makes the oem roof rack and sells on
their own. Thule also makes them. Avoid hitch racks. Bikes sway, paint
gets rubbed. If you can lift bike to the roof go with a roof rack.

I disagree on the avoid hitch advice. I have both. Bikes don't sway
or come close to rubbing on my Sportworks rack, though it's supporting
them by the tires rather than the frames like most other hitch racks.

Roof racks are the best bang for the buck--you can get a good secure
fit for a reasonable price. But...you have to get them up there which
can be traumatic for some. And dear god don't forget about em when ya
pull into the garage. :)

The main problem with the hitch racks is price--A good
wheel-supporting hitch rack (Saris or Thule/Sportworks) will run in
the $300's new plus $140 for the hitch.

Best Regards,
 
Todd said:
I disagree on the avoid hitch advice. I have both. Bikes don't sway
or come close to rubbing on my Sportworks rack, though it's supporting
them by the tires rather than the frames like most other hitch racks.

I disagree as well. I have the rack below (supports bike by wheels) and
it works very well. The bikes don't move at all. Plus, it holds bikes
of all frame configurations equally well.

http://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/m..._Code=E&Product_Code=40121&Category_Code=BR2B
 
Todd said:
or come close to rubbing on my Sportworks rack, though it's supporting
them by the tires rather than the frames like most other hitch racks.

Roof racks are the best bang for the buck--you can get a good secure
fit for a reasonable price. But...you have to get them up there which
can be traumatic for some. And dear god don't forget about em when ya
pull into the garage. :)

The main problem with the hitch racks is price--A good
wheel-supporting hitch rack (Saris or Thule/Sportworks) will run in
the $300's new plus $140 for the hitch.
I agree that good hitch racks work great and many of them load and
unload much faster and easier than roof racks.
As to price, The last roof system I bought was about ten years ago and
it cost me ~$300 for the whole thing (Thule) Recently I bought a
Sportworks hitch rack for just a bit more, so I figure iwth ten years
inflation it may even be cheaper.
These things (good racks) last a long time. Ten years is not
unreasonable so even at $300+ you are looking at less than a buck a
month. Not much to my mind.
 
NONE of the hitch racks that clamp the top tube load/unload faster than
an upright roo rack when you take into account the locking and numerous
bungee cords that go along with them.
Correct.

The sportworks may be different

It is.
but at $300 plus hitch theyre quite steep compared to a $177 roof rack
.

Very true.
If you can lift your bike to the roof a roof rack is the best by
far!!!!!

So long as you include cost as part of your definition of "best," tis
true. Can't go too wrong either way really.

The interesting test for me is to find out how often I opt to put on
the Sportworks rack in lieu of hoisting the bikes up to my
"permanently installed for the summer "upright roof rack. That'll be
the convenience test.... And for highway travel of any distance, I
know I'll be gravitating to the sportworks as it's more solid.

More good news on the Sportworks rack on the Hidden Hitch: the hatch
of the Outback does still clear even if both bikes are mounted on it.
 
NONE of the hitch racks that clamp the top tube load/unload faster than
an upright roo rack when you take into account the locking and numerous
bungee cords that go along with them. The sportworks may be different
but at $300 plus hitch theyre quite steep compared to a $177 roof rack
.. If you can lift your bike to the roof a roof rack is the best by
far!!!!! I couldnt drive through the drive through at McD's on Sat
with mine and my gf's bike on top. I had to go inside (which was
quicker anyway).
 
NONE of the hitch racks that clamp the top tube load/unload faster than
an upright roo rack when you take into account the locking and numerous
bungee cords that go along with them. The sportworks may be different
but at $300 plus hitch theyre quite steep coreach a different conclusionmpared to a $177 roof rack
. If you can lift your bike to the roof a roof rack is the best by
far!!!!! I couldnt drive through the drive through at McD's on Sat
with mine and my gf's bike on top. I had to go inside (which was
quicker anyway).

OK. but I specifically referenced the Sportworks which you admit is
much faster than any roof rack. (at least any that I know of)
It all comes down to what you prefer. There is no one answer for
everyone.But for myself- and using the figures that youprovide and my
estimate of ten years for a rack's life- the $133 comes out to a
difference of $0.37 per month. So, for each of us we just need to
decide if that difference is worth it to us.
I have nothing against roof racks and used one happily for a decade.
But now having tried the Sportworks hitch rack-I like it better and
find it worth the price. The nice thing about this is that you can
reach the opposite conclusion and we can both be right. I love win/wins!
 

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