Australian families love cycling holidays. Jumping on a pushy to explore a new destination is one of the best ways to immerse yourself in it – and cover more distance than you would by walking. This does mean that to enjoy the benefits of two-wheeled exploration (think: fresh air, exercise, the wind in your hair) you need a reliable and safe method of transporting your clan’s bikes. In short, you need a bike rack.
But the big question is: what type of rack will suit you and your family – and your vehicle – best? Here’s our expert run-down on the different types of bike racks on the market.
Top it up with a choice of three
Roof-mounted bike racks are very popular for a number of reasons. The main one is that by carrying your bike(s) on the roof of your vehicle, you’re not taking up any space inside it. For low-roof vehicles – such as sedans, small compacts/SUVs, and for vehicles that don’t have a hitch receiver or towbar – they’re ideal, thanks to the ease with which they can be loaded. Even taller SUVs and 4WDs will ‘work’ with roof-mounted bike racks; it just means you have to be a bit taller or use a step to get to the height you need to place the bike on the rack.
There are three types of roof-mounted bike racks: fork-mount, wheel-mount and frame-mount, all of which simply mount to your vehicle’s roof crossbars. Each name is pretty self-explanatory but to go into more detail, a fork-mount describes a rack that locks onto the bicycle’s front fork, once the front wheel has been removed, with the rear wheel staying attached and secured via a ratchet strap. This keeps the overall load-height lower, but you do have to find a separate storage space for the front wheel (most bike rack companies offer a wheel-rack accessory for this scenario). Besides the loaded bike’s lower profile, the way this type of roof rack secures a bike ensures the frame isn’t touched and thus has no potential for scratches or damage.
The wheel-mount roof-based bike rack is very popular with riders as it allows you to secure the ‘complete’ bike up on the roof without having to remove wheels/components, etc. As the moniker suggests, this rack type secures the bike via its front wheel, using a closing ratchet-style system with two ‘arms’ at the front and behind the front wheel to secure the bike. The ratchet mechanism is tightened up so both arms effectively ‘lock in’ the front wheel. The rear wheel is then secured via a ratchet strap. This does mean it’s more difficult to lift a bike up to that height, as you have to allow for the front wheel. Additionally, it does increase the overall height of bike/vehicle. However, it’s very straightforward in use.
The third roof-mounted rack option – the frame-mount – is also popular as it, again, allows the full bike to be secured, although this time it’s via a swing-arm with a ratchet-based clamp that attaches to a bike’s downtube. It’s this ‘squeezing’ motion as the ratchet closes the clamp tightly around the tube that can cause some damage to frames – but only if you over-tighten it. Plus, for those carbon-fibre frame bike owners, most bike rack companies offer a padded ‘sleeve’ that protects the frame as the clamp is tightened.
Roof-mounted bike racks are super easy to use and very effective (just don’t forget the bikes are up there before you drive into a garage!). There are only a couple of negatives with this type of bike rack. One is if you need to carry more than two bikes; you could – maybe – squeeze three roof-mounted bike racks up top, but access to clamps and lifting bikes up to the middle rack, among other things, would all be a pain in the proverbial – a maximum of two roof-mounted bike racks is optimum. The other is the height of your vehicle; having to reach up on tippy-toes while balancing a burly mountain bike is certainly possible, but if you’re even slightly challenged vertically, it ain’t much fun, with a real chance of the bike falling either on you or your vehicle’s roof.
Havin’ a ball out the back
A towball-mounted bike carrier does exactly as the name suggests: it attaches to your vehicle’s towball (if fitted). The towball-mounted bike carrier can vary from a simple vertical pole and (folding) arms that the bikes are ‘hung over’ (via their top tube), before being strapped via ratchet straps; through to a tilt-down, multi-bike carrier that secures your bikes via clamps and straps, and comes complete with inbuilt tail lights (and all essential wiring) and a space for your car’s number plate. Please note your particular state’s regulations regarding ensuring your number plate remains visible at all times, as well as your rear brake/indicator lights. If they’re not legal, you risk a fine.
Towball-mounted bike carriers usually carry between two and four bikes and are fantastic for families, although the more ‘fancy’ (read: tilt-down/brake lights fitted) versions are quite expensive – but they are robust. Bikes are attached using a combo of the aforementioned ratchet straps (for the wheels) and arms with a clamp at one end. The other is attached to the rack’s front, but also able to be moved to suit fitment. Fitting two, three or four bikes to these racks can require Tetris-like skills (most notably to avoid frames/handlebars/pedals banging into other bikes) as you feed the progressively longer arms through bike frames to secure that last bike at the end. However, the effort is worth it. Another excellent feature is that each locking arm will usually have a separate lock, so you can lock all bikes individually to the rack itself. And, finally, thanks to this rack type’s low access height, there’s no real heavy lifting to get the bikes on and off the rack.
With towball-mounted carriers, if you can afford to, definitely go for the tilt-down variant as it will save you endless stress and swearing when you invariably need to access the rear of your vehicle after you’ve fitted all the bikes (and the rack) to the towball (yes, we’re speaking from lots of experience…). Most of these are operated the same way: a simple push down of the rack’s foot lever, and the bike rack (with bikes) will tilt out of the way to allow access to your vehicle’s rear cargo area.
There are few negatives to a towball-mounted rack, with the most notable being the (often, not always) narrow space allowed for each bike in a multi-bike rack – be sure to check this (if possible) with your bikes before buying. A hot tip is to secure each bike opposite the other (i.e. the first with handlebars to the left, the second with ’bars to the right, and so on, to allow more room). Finally, these aren’t the best option for vehicles with swing-away doors as they prevent the door from opening fully, even when tilted back.
Hitch ’em up
Hitch-mounted bike carriers are available in a number of design types. There is the popular platform-style, with two to four bike trays. There are swing-away variants with a vertical arm and smaller fold-out arms on which bikes are attached. And then there’s the increasingly popular vertical racks, where the bikes are hung (in the main) by their front wheel, secured in an angled cradle atop a horizontal cross-bar, with the bike’s rear tyre then secured to a lower horizontal cross-bar via a bungee cord or ratchet strap.
As the name suggests, a hitch-mounted bike rack is secured via sliding its connecting tube into the tongue of your tow-hitch and secured via (with some brands) an internal expanding nut, but always with the lock-pin of your vehicle’s tow-hitch. Some have additional securing measures as well, such as an extra pin. Hitch-mounted carriers will fit any vehicle with a two-inch (50mm) hitch. One thing to note is that hitch-type bike racks don’t include integrated brake lights (or a number-plate holder). Most brands do offer these as optional accessories (at additional cost). Most, but again not all, hitch-mounted racks will include a cable lock of some sort.
There are myriad options in regard to hitch-mounted racks, and they’re all good, albeit heavier than their towball-mounted equivalents. The majority of horizontal tray-type racks are designed for two bikes, but some models will have the option of adding another one or two trays to increase capacity to three/four bikes. This does extend the length of the rack out from the rear of your vehicle, though, and you must be careful regarding road legality around overall length. Also be aware that not all bike racks can carry e-bikes; the additional weight of these pedal-assist bikes means you need to check individual bike capacity for the rack you’re looking at purchasing.
The horizontal variants secure bikes in a variety of ways, from front tyre clamps and rear tyre ratchets to arm/clamp/ratchet combos, and all entail a bit of puzzle-solving to get the best fit. Some of these rack types will include the ability to tilt down, something we reckon is an absolute must. Finally, thanks to that low position (shared with towball-mounted racks) lifting the bikes up for loading and unloading is far easier than getting them on (and off) the roof of your vehicle – and you don’t have to stress about low garage heights, either!
Hitch-mounted vertical bike racks are available in capacities ranging from two to six bikes, and most of these will offer some kind of tilting facility to ensure adequate access to the rear of your vehicle. Today’s vertical racks are proving very popular, and a lot of variants are rated to carry the extra heft of e-bikes, too. Plus, they make it easy to load and unload bikes. Just roll up the bike on one wheel, lift the bike slightly for the front wheel to drop into the cradle, secure it (and the lower tyre) with bungee/straps and you’re done. They also offer adequate space between bikes. What most vertical racks do not have, however, is any type of cable lock – we suggest investing in the beefiest one (or two) you can find.
When it comes to the negatives of hitch-mounted bike racks, the lack of brake lights and number-plate holders is one, but this is easily remedied via accessories. Aside from that, the only other issue would be weight. Most of these racks are, by necessity of design and carrying capacity, quite heavy, ranging from 15kg to 30kg-plus, and may be difficult for one person to wrangle on to the hitch/attachment.
Strap yourself in
For those who don’t have a towball or tow-hitch, and who don’t want to try and reach up to their car’s roof, there are carriers that can hold one or two bikes via a strap set-up. Here, the straps are secured to the rear door or hatch of the vehicle, and the rack then sits on the window or rear panels. These racks come in a couple of different designs. Some have a tray to support the bike’s wheelbase, while others have two or even three cradles for you to ‘hang’ the bike across using its top tube.
Strap-attached bike racks are relatively quick to set up and have padded sections where the rack rests against your vehicle. Some may argue these racks are more for the casual rider, as they can be easily removed and fitted again when needed, but that doesn’t really wash when you consider their robust construction. Plus, they work very well. The final bonus is, just like roof-mounted bike racks, you don’t need auxiliary brake lights or an additional number plate.
The negative of strap-based bike racks is that you can only carry one or two bikes, and nothing too heavy. There’s also your own personal paranoia regarding whether you’ve secured the straps tightly enough. Finally, the position of the bikes when on these racks can obscure rear vision for the driver, although no more so than if you have four to six bikes hanging on a vertical rack behind you.
Extra padding
The final type of bike carrier is the tailgate pad, which is ute-specific. Here, the bikes sit in the ute tray, and the front wheels hang over the back end secured via a strap on the pad, which is, itself, secured via heavy-duty straps. If you’re a ute owner and go for this option, be sure to add frame protection (if not already fitted) to your bike’s downtube to prevent rubbing/scratching of the bike frame. As with roof-mounted bike racks, the bike pad can also just stay permanently affixed to your vehicle, and there’s very little that can actually go wrong with them thanks to their basic design.
Regarding negatives for bike pads, these are mainly around security (although any bike thief will steal any bike they really want to, no matter how ‘secure’ you think you’ve left it when locked up). And you’ll most likely need an auxiliary number-plate holder as, when carrying more than two bikes, your number plate may be covered by the wheels/forks.
Lock ‘n’ load
As mentioned throughout this guide, most (not all) bike racks have some type of cable lock. For those that don’t (and even for those that do), we recommend a plastic-covered steel cable, with the cable being a minimum of 20mm thickness, combined with a padlock. This will offer great security – and even greater peace of mind.
Get it right for fun times ahead
Choosing a bike rack set-up for you and your family is no easy task, as these items aren’t cheap – especially when you start looking at multi-bike racks, whether they are the ‘fancy’ fold/tilt ones with brake lights and number-plate holder, or the vertical bike rack variants.
You also need to take into consideration what vehicle you have and how long you may be keeping it. We say this through personal experience; when swapping from a vehicle with a side-opening rear door to a lift-up rear door (or vice versa) you soon realise that expensive bike-carrying solution you had for your old vehicle no longer works very well with your new one.
For families, the choice will be made easier if you ensure you have a very close look at how/where you and the fam ride your bikes. Is it mainly around home with just the occasional holiday, or do you load up the bikes and visit a new riding destination every second or third weekend? This will govern how much you’ll spend and how many ‘fancy’ features you do or don’t need in a bike rack. If you can get away with the cheaper, more basic rack with fold-out arms, and it does the job, then that’s the perfect bike rack for you. Everyone will be different in their final choices and no-one will be wrong – we will, in fact, all be right, as our eventual bike rack choice will enable every one of us to get out and enjoy riding our bikes. That’s called winning!
Best in the business
When it comes to bike racks, there are a number of brands that produce good-quality, reliable products. The three main players in the Australian market are Yakima, Thule, and Shingleback Off Road (vertical rack-specific), but there are many others. We’ve tested loads of Yakima bike racks and found them reliable, tough and well-built. The same goes for the Shingleback Off Road vertical racks – this writer liked the Lite 4 (four-bike version) so much that, after testing, I bought one. Thule also has a well-earned reputation for producing quality bike carriers. Most of these brands now offer e-bike specific racks too, so make sure you check those out if you’re riding a pedal-assist pushy.
No matter which of these brands you look at, you’ll find a product that’s well-designed, meets regulations, and should help you and your bike-mad family enjoy many cycling adventures.