On the roof a good idea?

[madsciencenow]

Looking for some situation-specific advice here...

Ok, here's my situation. I own a car (avalon) and a minivan (honda) and I'm trying to figure out the best way to haul my bikes around.

I previously stuck my bikes in the van with the fam but my wife really dislikes this and it can be a pita with three kids (ages 5-13) and all our bags. For my car, I'm easily able to take the front wheel off my road bike and put it onto the floor of the backseat or take both wheels off and stash it in the trunk. The downside to this is that it's not great for the interior of the car and taking both wheels off gets old. For my MTB (it's important to know it has a lefty fork) it's not trivial to remove the front wheel and while I've found workarounds for previous cars (required removing the seat post and seat) hauling inside is not really an option so I'm back to using my wife's van which isn't always appreciated.

It would be nice to be able to haul the bike(s) in/on both vehicles since we travel to visit family. I've considered putting hitches on both vehicles but apparently you aren't supposed to do this for the car (toyota specifically says so but who knows) and it's about $800 for the factory hitch from Honda. I've considered other hitches on the van but imho they end up looking bad either out of the gate or over time as they rust.

Currently, I'm thinking maybe a roof rack might be the way to go. I've read through some of the threads on here about the pros and cons of roof racks and it looks like the key is to be super vigilant? I have a buddy who lost a bike from not properly securing his rack and another who forgot about the parking garage so this option does cause me concern. However, if I could find a rack that would work on both vehicles maybe it's the best path forward? Looking for input/advice here.

Alternatively, I could sell the car for a wagon, SUV, pickup truck and continue to deal with my wife's disdain (it's always present but tolerable) when I have to throw my bikes in the van with the family.

What do people recommend? Looking for advice on if there is a rack that will work on both and if the better option scraping the car for a vehicle with interior hauling capacity. I should mention that I have other reasons for wanting a vehicle that can pull something (recently moved to new house with property that may require me to be able to procure/remove landscaping materials etc.).

Ok, I'm ramblin. Thoughts? Advice? All are welcome.

[Ken Robb]

I have had good luck with racks like the "Hollywood" brand. They attach to sedan trunks and also to van/hatchback rear ends by adjusting the support arms.

[azrider]

I had a roof rack on my car for 10 years and never had one issue with hitting anything, and I loved it. I have nothing against roof racks but now that i have a Thule hitch rack, I'll never own anything else.

The idea of swapping the roof rack from one car to another sounds maddening. Plus I doubt you'd find one that's compatible for both.

I think your best route is hitch. Have you looked at eTrailer? I found hitch for both my cars and spent a Saturday turning wrenches and installed them myself instead of going to U-hual.

Another + for the trialer hitch is accessibility. My wife is only 5'2 and she would never even attempt to get bikes off the car roof rack.

[semdoug]

Seems like a four door pick up might be a viable alternative.

[CDollarsign]

I have the whispbar system for my A4 wagon and really like it. I wish that I would have gone with hitch though... Installation for a hitch on the A4 looked pretty nightmarish with cutting of plastic bumper panels and such.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

I have had good luck with racks like the "Hollywood" brand. They attach to sedan trunks and also to van/hatchback rear ends by adjusting the support arms.

Appreciate this thought but I’ve had nothing but scratched up vehicles from trunk racks and probably will avoid this option.


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[Bentley]

So I think a roof option is ok on a car, but unless you are really tall I think not for a van/mini-van.

I can recommend the Sea-Sucker. They make a single, double and triple model. Best thing is that you can take the thing off completely when you are not transporting bikes and its a cinch.

Ray

[bart998]

I love my Kuat hitch rack. I can switch it between cars easily and my daughter can borrow it when she needs to. Hitch racks are easy to put your bike on and work on any vehicle with a hitch. Check with your local Uhaul for less costly hitches or if you're handy, pick one up at Harbor Freight.

[BikeNY]

I've always (25+ years) carried my bikes either inside the car or on a roof rack. For my personal car I always opt for a hatchback or small wagon, they're just so much more practical than a sedan with no downsides. If it's just one bike, the front wheel comes off and it goes in the back. If I need to carry 2 or more, they go on the roof. I don't do it often, but when taking a bike on a family trip, it goes on the roof, but I'm not crazy about that option. I have a couple of bike attachments and various feet setups for the roof racks, so when getting a new vehicle, it usually pretty cheap to get it setup. I'm seriously considering a hitch setup, but the cost of admission is really high between the actual hitch and then the hitch rack itself. Also, the family car is leased, which complicates the whole thing.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by BikeNY

I've always (25+ years) carried my bikes either inside the car or on a roof rack. For my personal car I always opt for a hatchback or small wagon, they're just so much more practical than a sedan with no downsides. If it's just one bike, the front wheel comes off and it goes in the back. If I need to carry 2 or more, they go on the roof. I don't do it often, but when taking a bike on a family trip, it goes on the roof, but I'm not crazy about that option. I have a couple of bike attachments and various feet setups for the roof racks, so when getting a new vehicle, it usually pretty cheap to get it setup. I'm seriously considering a hitch setup, but the cost of admission is really high between the actual hitch and then the hitch rack itself. Also, the family car is leased, which complicates the whole thing.

Have you found a set-up for the roof that allows you to move between vehicles or do you have a different set-up for each vehicle?


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[kookmyers]

For the hitch option, remember that you don't need to consider hooking up the trailer wiring if you only plan to use it for a bike rack. I put one on my van and i think it was less than $100 for a Curt hitch after rebate. $800 sounds to me like the wiring is being considered.

[Nooch]

I've got a hitch on my Odyssey -- took 30 minutes to install, 10 minutes to remove, 20 minutes to put onto my new one when we turned in the lease. No muss, no fuss.

That said, my MIL backed over a few curbs, scratched it up, and now there's some surface rust. My plan was to pull it off for a day (and just tighten the bolts up without removing them so I don't lose em) sand it down, hit it with some bright neon rustoleum paint, and put it back on.

For what I spent on it, it's worth it. etrailer.com.

[BikeNY]

Originally Posted by madsciencenow

Have you found a set-up for the roof that allows you to move between vehicles or do you have a different set-up for each vehicle?


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It really depends on the vehicles in question. I'm a big fan of vehicles that have rails running front to back on the roof. My current VW Golf Sportwagon and the wife's VW Tiguan both have them. My son's Subaru Crosstrek also has them, so it's easy to swap the rack between all of them. I also have a Thule cargo box that I use for skis in the winter and extra cargo space other times of the year, and that mounts on all of them easily as well.

Sedans obviously will not have those bars, so a separate rack will be required there.

I just did some digging around at Etrailer, and the pricing is actually not as much as I thought. The hitch setup for my car is $113 plus about 2 hours of work, and for the Tiguan it's about $150 and only 30 minutes. But then you still need to buy the hitch rack, and those can get very pricey. But they should last a long time and transfer easily between cars.

[Ralph]

Don't see why you can't put a hitch on either one or both. Some car companies don't want you to tow much, so discourage a hitch. But you aren't towing.

I see plenty of Odyssey's with 2" receiver hitches and bikes on back. Haven't looked at Avalon, but imagine their unit body not much different than other Toyota's.

https://www.bing.com/shop?q=Hitch+fo...A5AA2391340015

[cmbicycles]

I would do the hitch rack if you have even minimal mechanical skill. E-trailers has videos on installation for each vehicle so you can see what it entails (usually not much).

I have one of each type of rack to choose from and the hitch is the easiest by far. Should be less than $150 per car for the hitch, plus an hour to install yourself... not sure what years your cars are, but most are just 4-6 bolts to hold the hitch receiver. Add $30-50 for wiring if you might want to tow something with the odyssey.

I had a roof rack for decades on a honda accord (several actually) and moved the rack between them. It worked, but was kind of a pain to take on and off with any frequency. I wouldn't want to move it back and forth between cars.

I drive an Outback now and installed a hitch from e-trailer, about 45 minutes with a wire harness, then moved it to another when the first outback was totaled. No rust on mine after several years, but I'm in Virginia so would be different in the northeast where almost everything rusts due to the brine and salt on the roads in winter. I have factory roof rails on my Outback and a Thule Sidearm carrier that fits the factory rails so that could work if your Honda has factory rails. I still prefer the hitch rack for most stuff. We also have a Toyota Highlander and I sometimes put the roof carrier on that when we go on vacation as it doesn't have a hitch... yet. I'm 6'5" and its still a good reach to get it up there and secure it, I would imagine the same with a mini van although the sliding door may give a better place to step up than the doors on my Highlander.

The Saris Bones rack I also have is just a loaner and I haven't used it personally since I got it ($10 at goodwill, I couldn't pass it up), but have let friends use it and no issues with damage that I've seen, but isn't the easiest to use with kids bikes.