My Research Ordering and Installation of Prius Hitch and Bike Rack

Ok I am a Prius NooB, but have done my research and after my first tank at 46.7 have the HSI reading 55. something on this tank after 400 miles. I have an Red 2010 and absolutely love it. I traded in a 2010 Ford F150 after feeling it in the wallet the last few months commuting about 40 miles a day. BEST DECISION ever . I am an avid cyclist and one of my main concerns was, "how am I going to carry these darn bikes?" Well my ticker got to tickin and I started a little research on bike racks for the Prius. My initial idea was to just stuff them in there, but so far I have one serious scratch on my 2012 Tarmac Expert from loading/unloading, and lots of dirt-debris-marring from loading my ginoourmous 2012 Epic Comp 29" (takes a lot of pilates moves and patience to get it in and out of there). And this is only a weeks worth!

Obviously I needed a rack. Roof Rack... no. kills gas mileage and I am not trying to look cool like the wanna be frat boys and pretenders. Trunk rack... naw, they are just stoopid to take on and off and there aren't really any that fit the Prius perfectly anyways. Hitch rack... well... a hitch on a Prius? for real? This may void the warranty (i'm at 32, ish thousand) and decrease the fuel econonomy (weight and underbody aero)- and I don't want to do either. I guess you could remove the bolt on hitch when you took it in for warranty work, and maybe there is a light weight aerodynamic hitch alternative. The hitch mounted racks i have experienced before are heavy and not really what I wanted to use on my super efficient Prius, and at the same time all the hitches I started to research on the Prius were bulky, left little room for departure, and seemed a bit heavy to carry around everyday for the small hatchback.

Products to the rescue. It seems some companies were listening as I thought and created products just for me and my new (to me) hybrid car. After lots of time, deliberation, deciding, and saving (top of the line doesn't come cheap). I have decided on an EcoHitch from TorkLift Central and the Kuat Sherpa from Kuatracks. These two products seem to fix all the problems I have seen with hitches on cars and hitch mounted racks over the years.

I ordered today. They should be here Friday. I plan to take you on a trip from research to installation to use here on this forum. I'll let you know what's up when they get here. Maybe I can help you out and save you a little time when you decide to get a bike rack for your Prius and bikes (they'll thank you for not stuffing them in there)!

Thanks,
Scott