Tips for Buying Bike Racks

June 7, 2016

Today’s guest post is from Alex at Bike Racks SUV.

Bike racks are some of the most use­ful addi­tions to your vehi­cle, as well as your garage, as they offer a safe and con­ve­nient way to car­ry and store bikes. Bike racks are spe­cial­ly designed sys­tems attached to the vehi­cle to help trans­port your bikes from one loca­tion to anoth­er. There are also bike racks, which are sta­tion­ary and used for stor­age or dis­play. Keen moun­tain bik­ers and rid­ers that fre­quent­ly take part in cycling events and races, or enjoy rid­ing bikes dur­ing a fam­i­ly hol­i­day; require a nice, light­weight, qual­i­ty rack. After all, trans­port­ing your bike in your car, remov­ing the wheels and get­ting the inte­ri­or of your vehi­cle dirty after every ride, just cre­ates more work for you.

Bicy­cle car­ri­ers come in a wide vari­ety and can be attached to your roof, hitch, and trunk.

Roof racks offer you the advan­tage to car­ry equip­ment such as skies, car­go box­es and surf­boards, and hitch mount bike racks can car­ry sev­er­al bikes at a time and might be a lit­tle eas­i­er to load. Truck mount bike racks can be moved between numer­ous sim­i­lar types of com­pat­i­ble vehi­cle mod­els. There are sev­er­al things to con­sid­er including:

1. Stability 

Sta­bil­i­ty is the most impor­tant fac­tor to be con­sid­ered when pur­chas­ing a bike rack. There are many types of bike racks that offer sat­is­fac­to­ry safe­ty, but when it comes to heav­ier mod­els, then you should look for racks that are able durable,  stur­dy and can hold up to harsh weath­er.   Read online reviews and notice if the racks you’re inter­est­ed in are prone to rust,   cracks,   loose bolts or any oth­er fre­quent wear and tear that could cost you mon­ey in the long run. 

2. Efficiency

A few type of bike racks, par­tic­u­lar­ly the roof-mount­ed ones can affect the over­all aero­dy­nam­ics of your vehi­cle, thus effi­cien­cy becomes an impor­tant fac­tor to think about when pur­chas­ing a bike rack.   Also, think about the ease of load­ing and unload­ing the bikes. If you’re   short­er, you may have trou­ble load­ing bike onto a  roof mount and might want to opt for a hitch rack for ease of access. 

3. Safety

Make sure your bike rack is not hid­ing your license plate or obscur­ing the rearview mir­ror of your vehicle. 

4. Compatibility

Most vehi­cles are com­pat­i­ble with bike racks, but while pur­chas­ing a roof-mount­ed bike rack it is impor­tant to check the height of the vehi­cle. Anoth­er thing that you must con­sid­er is the com­pat­i­bil­i­ty of your bike rack with the bike frame. 

5. Security

Secu­ri­ty is a very impor­tant con­sid­er­a­tion when pur­chas­ing a bike rack. Many bike racks will include a lock for the bikes, as well as a lock to attach the rack to the car.   Make sure your bike is protected.