Psychocycles

My wife and I are planning a road trip to the west coast of the US (we live on the East) by car this summer. The whole point of it is to ride our bikes along some of the best roads in America along the way, and I was wondering how you guys would secure your bikes to the car for maximum security & where you would stay along the way.

I currently have a Toyota Camry, and that's unlikely to change between now and then so let's assume everything will be done with a sedan style car. I have Saris Bones 2 bike trunk rack, which is quite nice when you're going somewhere from home but to leave the bikes on the rack (if we go for a hike, or whatever) is a bit iffy considering there's no way to securely lock the rack itself to the car. I'd like to keep the Bones rack as it's no further expenses, but am open to the idea of adding a hitch & putting a Thule or something on there so that I can lock the bikes to the rack & the rack to the car, plus being able to access the trunk without removing the rack is a big plus. How big a deal do you guys think it is to not be able to lock the rack to the car?

Have any of you done something similar to this? We don't have such a great budget for accommodation so I don't think we'd spend every night in a motel, considering this is probably a 4-6 week trip. I was thinking a combination of camping at camp sites, seeing if there's any legal free camping around, and some motels. I'm not terribly worried about camp sites as they're usually secured and we can pitch our tent right beside the bikes, but my main concern comes from leaving the bikes on the rack if we chose to go on a hike. Should we just not go on hikes at all during this trip? That would be such a shame to be in places like Yellowstone and not be able to be detached from our bikes....

shelbyfv

IMO, you will quickly tire of dealing with the trunk rack each time you want to access the trunk. You need a roof rack or hitch mount rack with locks for rack to car and bikes to rack. Expensive. I know this is a cycling forum but maybe this trip could be more fun w/o the complication of bikes. Are you both avid cyclists? Do you have a significant number of great rides planned? Lots of places in the West have fabulous scenery and great hiking but cycling can suck. If this is a first extended trip to the West you will often want to leave your car for hikes.There are reasonably priced week long supported bike tours in most of the Western states, maybe an option for the future?

speedevil 

You will be much happier on this trip if you install a hitch and use a hitch-mounted rack. You can lock the rack to the hitch and the bikes to the rack. Most of the trunk mounted racks can be as easily removed by a thief as you would remove them. And if you're hiking they have a lot of time to do their thieving.

A rack like this will tilt down so you can get to the trunk without having to remove the bikes and rack - a definite plus.

rm -rf

The hitch racks often have cable locks. These are okay for short stops, but I'd worry about leaving the car+bikes at a trail head. Cables are all easily cut. I'd add a heavy chain lock for peace of mind if I'd be away for a while.

For the trunk rack, is there any fitting on the bottom side of the car that you could lock a longer chain to? A loop through the frames, then lock that to a second chain down to the car frame? Some cars used to have a loop that was a tie-down for shipping the car across the ocean.

prj71

I used to have a Camry. Put a hitch on it and the Thule T2 bike rack. The rack has the bike locks built in.

HenryK

As others have said, locking hitch rack (tray type). Also wouldn't hurt to invest in a good shrouded security lock and security chain, ie: kryptonite, abus or other. Transport chain might work also. As also stated above, cables can be cut easily. Re chains, I'm not talking about the standard chain sold at hardware and big box stores.

Psychocycles

Thanks for the responses, guys, and sorry for the delay in responding; I've been away for a few days. Seems like the consensus is to get a hitch rack, so I'll most likely go that route. I do have two Kryptonite locks, a U-lock & chain, and two small cable locks that I'll use in addition to the rack's built in locks.

Shelby, the whole point of this trip is to bike around and I'm a pretty avid cyclist so the bikes have to go, nuisance & all. Rm-Rf, my car does have a built in loop underneath; that's a great idea to lock to! I'll probably need to get another chain for that but that's easy enough.

Thanks again, guys, you've helped me make the decision. I know it'll be a hassle to bring the bikes but I think it'll be worth it. Also, I had an idea the other day that if I'm really going to go on a long hike I can call up the local bike store, explain what I'm doing, and ask if I can leave my bike there for the day, either for free or pay a small fee or whatever. Then I have no worries while I'm hiking! Or, and this is tough, I will choose to not hike, as this is primarily a biking trip and I'll do a hiking one later.

kbarch

I was going to say: a bike is not a travel accessory. You're either going biking, or you're going hiking.

That said, I'm sure there will be opportunities along the way to leave your bike somewhere secure - perhaps coordinate your hiking days with nights you stay in a motel, where you can leave the bikes in your room even, or a bike shop where you drop them off for a little maintenance or something.

Psychocycles

Yup! That's exactly what I had in mind.

TrojanHorse

Or.... rent a minivan and put the bikes inside the van when you're out and about. I never feel confident leaving my bikes on a rack unless I"m sitting there watching it. I lock them just to slow people down but there is no cure-all (even putting them inside a car!) I do assume that "inside" is better than "outside" and it's a little more obvious when somebody is busting a window to get at your stuff.

sdmc530

I will echo what is already said by many and above. Hitch rack is the way to go. Make sure it tilts down for trunk access and my Thule has a cable lock built in. Very happy with mine. Wouldn't let it go overnight probably but for lunch stops and overlook/quick shopping trips along your vacation it will do just fine.

A little tip, if you add the hitch on the car get the lightest rated one you can find....REALLY. Your not going to pull a trailer, so you will only be holding the rack and the bikes. So maybe 250lbsish? Don't get a super duty hitch to hold that little of weight. You will save a ton of cash getting a lower rated hitch. Class II will do the trick pretty easily. However if you do plan on pulling anything than go Class III or bigger. You could go to a class I but then you can't get a 2" receiver on the rack, 2" is better.

Class I

1. Class I hitches are weight carrying (WC) hitches rated up to 2000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 200 lbs.
2. A Class I hitch usually has a 1-1/4" square receiver opening.
3. A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch.
4. Class I hitches usually attach to the bumper, truck pan or vehicle frame.

Class II

1. Class II hitches are weight carrying (WC) hitches rated up to 3500 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 300 lbs.
2. A Class II hitch usually has a 1-1/4" square receiver opening.
3. A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch.
4. Class II hitches usually attach to the bumper or vehicle frame.

Class III

1. Class III hitches are weight carrying (WC) and also are weight distributing (WD) depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.
2. Not all Class III hitches are rated to be both. See the specific hitch for that information.
3. Class III hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 6000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 600 lbs.
4. Class III hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
5. A Class III hitch usually has a 2" square receiver opening.
6. A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
7. Class III hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

Class IV

1. Class IV hitches are weight carrying (WC) and weight distributing (WD) hitches depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.
2. Not all Class IV hitches are rated to be both. See the specific hitch for that information.
3. Class IV hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
4. Class IV hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 14,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1400 lbs.
5. A Class IV hitch usually has a 2" square receiver opening.
6. A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
7. Class IV hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

Class V

1. Class V hitches are weight carrying (WC) and weight distributing (WD) hitches depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.
2. Class V hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 12,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1200 lbs.
3. Class V hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 17,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1700 lbs.
4. Your ball mount and hitch ball need to both be rated for Class V to safely tow these weight loads. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
5. A Class V hitch has a 2-1/2" square receiver opening.
6. Class V hitches attach to the vehicle frame only

TakingMyTime

The advantage of a hitch rack is that if your other cars also have a receiver you can move the rack from car to car. You can even move it to a friend's car if they have a receiver and want to drive that day. Roof racks are sometimes car and roof design dependent and do not transition from car to car that well. The same thing with trunk racks. Many are trunk or car (type) specific.

ctpres

Have over 50,000 miles with bikes on back of motorhome or car. This is what I learned. Have yet to find a bike cover that will withstand many miles of air turbulence behind car and not one mfg. will wty. use behind car. Use cheap cover when parked for weather protection and to keep eyes off em. Platform racks are best period. Swagman XC2 and similar have ratcheting top bar hooks that are released by squeezing a trigger. There is a hole behind trigger for bolt & nut or small lock that will prevent mechanism from working its way up the post. Whole lotta shaking going on back there. If hook moves up far enough - you could loose bike. So don't travel far without something securing the trigger. Not sure why but Swagman did not come with pins but my knockoff did. Once you are comfortable with way bikes are mounted drill hole thru bar just above top of highest hook carrier and insert long shank padlock. That will do a pretty good job of securing bike and wheels. Most likely bike top tube will get paint damage from loose hook. So wrap top tube with rag or foam tube ( I use both) and then press hook carrier down until bikes are steady and then another bump down before installing trigger lock pins. Have fun - there are some really great bikes rides out there.

Metis

Trunk them. Last summer I drove a newer Camry down the whole West Coast and put 2 bikes (58cm and 52cm Spec) in the trunk. We just used a blanket between the frames and I put my nice wheels in a wheel bag. As long as the rear derailleurs don't get banged up it's really nice.

That way you don't have to constantly keep an eye on the bikes or lock down every removable component each time you visit a grocery store or stop for a break. It might take an extra 4 minutes to get out the gear and put on the wheels but it is well worth the time.

Seattle Forrest

A junkie broke my car window on a busy street at rush hour, pulled the bike out through the window, and ran off with it. There were passersby, but it was a desperate act, and nobody wanted to take any risks getting involved. One of them called 911, the police took an hour to arrive.

Bikes are a unique case (at least in a city) because they're also an escape vehicle.

I run, too, and I might have been able to catch the guy if I'd messed with the shifters before storing the bike, so the chain would jam, or with the wheels off. But that's not much security.

PaulRivers

The most secure way to do it is to keep the bikes in the trunk. But that sound untenable from what you're describing - you need to keep your luggage somewhere as well.

Agreeing with most of the other comments:
1. Get a hitch installed.
2. A hitch bike rack will make it much easier to get in and out of the trunk.
3. Get a bike chain lock, and lock the bikes to the hitch via the chain lock. Hitches have metal loops in the back that are easy to lock to. It's hard to find a particularly large chain you might want to use an additional cable lock to lock the wheels to keep someone from walking off with them.
4. When you return take the chain lock off the bikes - you don't want a heavy chain rubbying against the bike frames while you are on the road.

There might be a way to attach the chain to the body of the car some other way, saving yourself the expense of the hitch but I'm not sure. I wanted a hitch rack anyways so I didn't look into it further.

Your bikes would be secured this way about the same as if you left them locked to a good bike rack.

This is the chain I use, though I haven't tried it with the hitch as I use it for locking up my bike inside my car:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Seattle Forrest

When you're hiking the PCT at Hart's Pass - you said you want to see the best of America so of course you'll definitely be at Hart's Pass - you can store the bike at Methow Cycle and Sport, so you can spend a night on the trail. They're great folks.

Bah Humbug

topflightpro

I would definitely add some extra cables if you are locking the bike to a roof rack or hitch rack.

prathmann

I've also put two road bikes in the trunk of our Camry with a thin blanket between the frames to keep them from getting scratched. Depending on how much other luggage you have that might be a feasible approach with the other things stored on the rear seat.

Years ago we took a trip across much of the country with two bikes on a trunk rack. We secured them with a long cable lock to the undercarriage of the car. We did have one incident. While visiting the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago we had left the car parked outside and someone attempted to steal the bikes. They had cut the straps holding the bikes and pulled them partially off the rack before realizing that they were also secured by the cable lock. We came out to find the remnants of the straps and the bikes pulled partially off the rack.

Psychocycles

Interesting idea with the bikes in the trunk. I've only ever done that to one bike, guess it's possible if we put a blanket and put the other on top. My only concern with that is that it's easier to bust a window and take the bikes than it would be to cut the locks. Also, storage space would be a concern as this is a 4-5 week trip and we won't be in a motel every night (planning to disperse camp now and then).

sdmc530, if I go with a hitch I'll definitely go with the 1 1/4" as I have zero need for anything heavy duty.

ctpres, good idea on the tarp. Didn't think about that but I'll definitely use it while parked.

prathmann

True, but it's unlikely that anyone would break a window when the bikes are secured inside a closed trunk and therefore out of sight. At least in our car one can also use a key to disable the inside trunk and rear seat back releases. So even with a window broken the thief would still need to break a lock to gain access to the trunk - albeit probably not a hard lock to defeat.

50PlusCycling

Been there, done that. I use a roof rack, which locks onto the roof, and which I can lock the bikes. The bikes are easy to load and unload, I still have easy access to the trunk. I don't have to worry about the bikes being damaged if I get rear-ended, back into something, or be hit by a women on a cell phone parking her car (no offense). I avoid parking garages and low drive throughs at restaurants.

ctpres

Re putting bikes in trunk or inside and traveling any distance in a car for more that a couple days - inside storage will be a premium. If you think it might work test load car, cloths, hiking gear, bike tools, spare tires etc. . Bet the bike rack question will be answered before the first mile. Keep idea in mind that spontaneous rides are going to happen. Time required to get bikes out of car and ready to ride will probably put a damper on idea of even trying a lot of rides. Bike USA and have fun.

kraftwerk 

I am w/ Metis on this one. I almost always use the trunk, it's dry, safe, locked and out of sight.. so much better than a rack. Wheels go in wheel bag bags in back seat or with bike in the trunk.