Installed the hitch today, it suppose a simple installation no more then 30 mins it turn out take me more then 3 hours to completed the job, all because one hole on the hitch was tiny mismatch from the bumper braces that I have to file a bigger hole on the hitch to make it fit. The Torklift hitch is about $100 more compare to other, the only reason I pick this because my bike rack is 2" mount and they are the only one on the market have 2" receiver and I don't like use adapter, overall the product look strong with solid material but they need better quality control. Will post update to see how it go and gas mileage different with the rack on.
Honestly pretty much any of those strap/rear mounted type racks will work on the Prius C. I have a generic rear mounted rack that holds up my Road Bike and my Buddy's Road Bike as well (2 max, I wouldn't try 3 bikes), however when I'm going 60+ mph on the freeway, it can get alittle bouncy back there, but never had any issues with anything falling off or coming undone. And yes, people are assholes any they will steal your rack and your bike if it's attached to it. So whenever I remove the bike to ride it, I also remove the rack and store it inside the prius, and I never leave the bike attached to the rack unless I'm making a quick stop and I can keep an eye on it. Honestly I'm contemplating a roof rack (as long as it doesn't effect my gas mileage) because it would make my bike more secure from theft, and I have the additional option to goto the beach with a couple surf boards which I can't really do right now.
I am able to fit my road bike inside the C without removed the wheels, I only use the hitch when I need to carry two bike's
2" hitch on a Prius? Boy they were on crack when they decided to design that. I've been to the Torklift HQ in Sumner, WA. I have a Torklift's Superhitch on my dually, plus the Torklift camper mount system. I wanna go get one of these just so I can hook my 36 foot travel trailer on the back, pull it down to thier office, and see what happens. Do you think the ICE will kick on hauling a 12,000lb trailer? Might need the load leveling equalizer bars....
Any outside rack will affect your gas mileage. The hitch rack on my Prius does, the roof racks on my older gas guzzling nonhybrids did too.
A simple deterrent to theft, although a dedicated thief will get what he wants no matter, is to put a cable lock thru the eye on the hitch to the rack. The Torklift has eyes on it, and the rack I have, a Saris 2-hanger, has a hole at the base of the rack which I lock to. If on longer trips, I run a lock and cable thru the bike parts to the rack also.
And THAT's why it fits inside. My 57cm fixies BARELY fit into my (longer cargo area behind front seats) xB and DEF don't fit in my PC.
