The Best Bike Racks for Every Type of Car
In the past few years, enjoying the outdoors on a bicycle has become increasingly popular. And while pedaling around your neighborhood is a lovely way to get yourself moving and perhaps also meet your neighbors, sometimes we want some new scenery. With a bike rack, riding in new places is much more accessible. If you’re already achieving new routes by shoving your bike inside your vehicle to transport it, that’s great—think about how much cleaner the inside of your car will be when your backseat is full of friends or gear rather than greasy, muddy bikes.To get more news about
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This article outlines nine of our favorite bike racks across all different styles and models. Beyond the products, we list features and limits to consider when buying a bike rack, as well as answer some frequently asked questions you might have in the process. You can increase your vehicle's carrying capacity and your biking life’s fun capacity by finding the right bike rack for you—so let’s do it.
Glance around the parking lot at any busy bike trailhead in America and you’re almost guaranteed to spot a few Kuat Sherpas. This rack is super popular, and for many reasons. The two-tray system is built with sturdy, light aluminum tubing, with enough heft to inspire the confidence you need to strap something more expensive than your car to the outside of it (you know who you are). A pivoting swing-arm securely cinches down over the front tire of the bike to hold it securely to the rack, and a thick plastic strap ratchets around the rear rim to keep the other end from bouncing. attests to the rack's sturdiness in his five-star review titled “Beautiful and Outstanding Rack,” writing: “This solid, no-wobble work of art is so relieving. I no longer have to worry that the rack will snap off my car—this rack does not move.”
The Sherpa 2.0 will fit just about any bike with a wheelbase of 47 inches or smaller (the distance between where the two tires touch the ground), which includes most bikes out there aside from some freeride and downhill mountain bikes. The wheel trays can accommodate tires up to three inches wide, which is also a super generous range that only really excludes fat tire bikes. Additionally, the rack comes with a swing-arm adapter that allows you to carry a one child-sized bike. The rack’s weight limit is 80 pounds, which means it could hold some electric bikes, but only one at a time.
A foot-actuated lever lets you adjust the rack’s position easily, so you can store vertically against the back of the car when you’re not using it. Another great perk of this rack is the semi-integrated locking system. The rack comes with a thick cable that allows you to loop it through the bikes and attach the end directly to the rack, and unlock it with a key when you’re ready to remove them. The overall light, strong construction of the Sherpa 2.0 combined with all the thoughtful touches that make it easy to use places it square on the top of our list.
Not all racks are approved for use behind an RV. The shape of an RV, with the back extended well beyond the rear axle, which can create a lot of movement on the hitch and bike rack. RV-approved bike racks are built to withstand this extra stress, which usually wouldn’t occur on the hitch of a standard passenger vehicle. The Saris SuperClamp HD is built to be sturdy enough to withstand these forces.
This is not to say you can’t use it on a regular car hitch—you can. The SuperClamp HD is particularly ideal for users who will be transporting e-bikes. With a maximum weight of 60 pounds per bike, this includes many electric bikes on the market. Two adjustable arms clamp down over the front and rear wheels of each bike to secure it to the platform and ratcheting plastic straps add extra security. The arms and wheel trays are designed to fit a wide range of bicycles with wheelbases up to 50 inches long and tires up to four inches wide, which does include a range of fat tire bikes on the narrower side.
Like the Sherpa 2.0, a tilting feature allows you to fold the rack up against the back of the vehicle when not in use, as well as tilt away from the vehicle to allow trunk access even with the rack fully loaded. In terms of security features, the rack has a locking hitch pin that keeps it safely attached to the vehicle's hitch and an integrating locking cable that allows you to secure your bikes to the rack.
The Saris SuperClamp HD earned a high average rating of 4.7 out of five stars . Reviewer Eric from Washington touts the rack’s ease of use, writing, “This thing is worth every penny. Bikes go in and out in no time. They ride securely with very little or no wobble on the road. It's not too heavy, if you need to pull it off and store it in the garage.” This super-duty rack makes hauling your heaviest bikes safer and easier, which can go a long way towards improving your whole RV trip.
If you’ll be using a truck to haul mountain bikes, a tailgate pad is the best rack for you. Whether you’re transporting the whole family’s bikes to the trailhead, or shuttling your friends up the mountain for downhill runs, a tailgate pad is a quick and secure option to carry a lot of bikes at once without scratching up the frames or the bed of your truck.
The pad drapes over the tailgate of your pickup and cinches around the bottom with three webbed straps. You can hook up to seven bikes over the closed tailgate (five on a small size) with the fork and front wheel hanging outside of the bed. A microfleece lining on the bottom side helps protect the finish of your truck, and a recycled polyester top side with UV/weather-resistant coating keeps it protected from the elements. Individual bike anchor straps on the top side keep the bikes from sliding side to side—gravity and physics does the rest of the work to keep them in place.
