Bike rack mistake?

A friend of mine installed the roof rack on his Gen 2. He told me that the wind noise was so annoying that he returned it and went to a trunk rack.

 

i went with a hitch mounted 2 bike rack, Saris Thelma model. easy to take off and on. there are several bike rack threads most have pictures. check them out and make your own decision.

they all cause our cars to take a mpg hit.

 

Using a roof rack can be a little easier on your bike wrt road spray, the rear end bike racks do end up giving you more "gunk" on your bike and drivetrain in poor weather. The rear does protect from bug splats, but using a bike "bra" will help a top mounted bike. Roof racks tend to protect the bikes paint job better. So, if you bike is precious, perhaps the roof is a better place. When you carry your bike up there, you will pay a bigger mpg negative, especially on the interstate or at above 40 mph.

If you are not going to encounter rain or salt spray very often, then the rear rack idea is okay, but you need to be careful when loading to make sure you don't have your bike's frame paint in a vulnerable position with respect to some other bike's pedal, etc. It is almost inevitable that you will scratch something somewhere along the line. Mpg doesn't seem to take as big a hit with a rear mounted rack. If you are very short, then it might be considerably more convenient to use a rear rack.

I would think about how I drive, where I go, how fussy am I about my bike, and how convenient is the roof rack. I would also think about am I going to ever canoe or kayak, do I ski, and am I a fixer upper who might need to carry wood or pipes or ladders? A roof rack is pretty versatile.

I actually use both depending upon many things and have even carried 6 bicycles at once to some races. People stare a lot, ha-ha.

For up to two bikes on short trips, I put them inside the Prius with the seat down and a large pillow with a thick bedspread over the bottom bike for protection. Best mpg and security. A little inconvenient with more than 1 passenger, though.

 

I read that roof mounted rack increases wind drag.

 

Scott - Don't you have the solar roof? I remembered seeing the pictures of your new baby and was going to ask you about the rack. Then I remembered that I thought you also had the solar roof and was wondering if the rack+bikes might cause unnecessary stress to the solar unit? Was this a concern?

 

We have a trailer hitch rack for my husband's Yukon, and it's not the nice swing-out kind. So we have to load everything in the back first, and then the bikes on the rack, and really can't load anything after that except a few small things thru the window. So based on that I would prefer a roof rack for the Prius. However, with the Yukon we'd need a ladder to get the bikes on the roof.

 

Scott -

I'm afraid that I don't understand your reasoning at all. Let me start by saying that I carry my bikes four different ways depending on the situation. On top of the car, on the rear of the car, on a trailer or inside. They ALL have advantages. If your only concerns that your roof rack is stronger than it needs to be, then you have no concerns. Would you feel better if the rack were lower quality or less heavy duty? The Yakima racks are not *intended* for more weight than two bikes, it is just that they're capable of more weight. Just like buying a Prius and driving it solo, or with only two people and no cargo, etc. The yakima racks work great, and if you want the bikes on the roof, it does keep them out of harms way of *other* vehicles, and it keeps them out of the way of the hatch (a real PITA sometimes to have the bikes back there when you need access to the cargo area).

Yakima and Saris have both made hitch-mounted racks that'll fit a Prius-mounted hitch for many, many years. So by "trunk rack" you must mean one that sits on the rear of the car directly - thus making the hatch even harder to get into? You may want to re-think your decision. Again, if the main concern here is that the roof rack is "too strong" or something, then you should not be concerned!

 

How good of a deal did you get? How good of a deal are you hoping to get if you sell it? (I may be interested if I can get an even better deal?)

 

I had the 1.25" hitch receiver mounted on my 2010 IV and bought the Saris T-Rax fold down model for $159. Works great. I thought about a roof rack but about 6 years ago I drove into my garage with a $3600 bicycle on a roof rack. Amazingly the bike wasn't damaged but the rack and the roof of the car were. But I figured if I got a roof rack it was only a matter of time before I did it again.

 

Hmmm.change my answer then. The racks are not *intended* for anything. They *can* be used for many things. Many thousands of people use them for NOTHING but bicycles. Many thousand others use them for NOTHING but kayaks... or cargo boxes, or ladders...

Just like some people buy a Prius because it is a good commute car, and use it for nothing else. Some people buy it for a family car, etc. I'm not sure what you bought the Prius for, but you can be assured that it works well for other uses too, and I hope you aren't going to sell it because it is otherwise useful!

Maybe I'm not making my point well enough. But if the Yak racks work well as a bike rack - and I know from experience that they do, and I understand the benefits and detractions... then I'm still not sure why you'd want to sell them just because the racks can also be used for cargo boxes, or lumber or... whatever. Fact is, you may find that you want to bring a few 2x4's home from the hardware store one day, and you'll be set. You can even do it WITH your bicycles up there.

But anyway... I'll stop pounding on you now. I was just having trouble with your logic.