BROOKLINEBIKER

Hi,
I'm looking for a bike rack that will fit my wife's Subaru Forester which has a hatchback. The rack should be able to hold a 52-inch road bike, a 24-inch mountain bike, a 16-inch hybrid bike, & a small women's road bike. Can anyone recommend a bike rack that would fit the car & hold these bikes of varying sizes? Bonus points if I can easily find it on Craig's List!

VegasTriker

Does it have to carry all 4 bikes at once? That's a tall order because of the weight it puts on the car. Lots of 4 bike hitch racks for sale but few of the other kind that accommodate 4 bikes. Love my used Rhodegear 3 bike rack.

This one shows up on Walmart website "Allen Sports Premier 4-Bike Trunk Mount Trike Rack" $88 Picture shows it mounted on a hatchback as well.

BROOKLINEBIKER

Thanks very much. I'd like to get the whole family to go.

FXjohn

4 bikes probably doesn't equal one person in the back seat.

VegasTriker

Of course 4 bikes add trivial weight to the car itself but when several bikes are on a bike rack, there is a fair amount of force exerted by the rack where it rests against the car. My Rhodegear rack has foam around the rack to avoid scratching the paint but it still has to rest somewhere on the hatchback. On my Scion XB, one of the resting places is against the rear window and the other is below the window against the metal above the license plate. The lower resting point takes much of the weight. The farther out on the rack you have a bike, the more force it exerts on the lower resting place instead of supporting it by the upper straps. I know this from first hand experience. There are 6 straps in all to attach the rack - top, side, bottom but only the top straps support any of the weight.

FXjohn

I'd just get a reese hitch and go that route for a carrier

caloso

If the Forester has factory rails (and I've never seen one without), I would go with a roof rack. Simple, reasonably inexpensive, and customizable.

BROOKLINEBIKER

I have bad shoulders so I want to avoid a roof rack. Thanks.

BROOKLINEBIKER

What is a Reese Hitch?

caloso

Ah. Okay. Then your best bet is a hitch mounted rack. Yakima makes several, including one that will swing away to allow you to use the liftgate of the wagon while bikes are mounted.

PumpedUpKicks

on our Outback, i have to put on a 6 inch hitch extension on for our hitch mount rack so our rear hatch can open and close with the rack on. i like a hitch mount rack because its considerably lower than putting the bikes on the roof.

BROOKLINEBIKER

Thanks everyone!

gsa103

2in trailer hitch. The Forester should have one, and it's by far your best option. Aftermarket hitches should run ~$200 installed (by U-haul or potentially Subaru). The hitch itself is ~$130 if you're comfortable working on cars. The installation is relatively simple, on par with changing your oil. The frame rails will be pre-drilled and tapped for bolts, so it's a matter of bolting it up and torquing it down.

With a hitch, there are a wide variety of bike rack types. Simple top tube racks are the cheapest, and work well for standard diamond frame bikes. Wheel tray type racks are more expensive, but work far better for full suspension mountain bike where top tube mounting is problematic.

Storming

I had the same dilemma. I decided to buy the Thule hitch carrier because my wife loads bikes quite often. With my previous saloon I used Thule roof racks. Little more uncomfortable to lift, but MPG is better with Thule T2.

rumrunn6

did you ever get the problem solved? as a previous Forester owner that carried 4 bikes (using 2 racks) I'm curious.

fietsbob

Once you have a trailer hitch why not get a small trailer ? You can put a Roof rack inside it on the Deck.

BROOKLINEBIKER

Hi Rummrunn,
I purchased a used Yakima Super Joe rack from Craig's List. It's grimy but appears to be solid. I haven't been riding for the past 6 weeks (and thus have had no cause to transport bikes) so I can't comment on its reliability, fit to the car, etc. Lastly, sorry for my delayed response. I've been contending with medical issues.

Velo Dog

I haven't used a roof rack on my Forester (the kids are gone; I just carry two on a rear-mount), but this should work. I bought a Yakima roof rack about 20 years ago and have used it (with different Q towers) on a '95 Neon, 2000 Civic, 2003 Protege and '03 Protege5. It carried four bikes on a Civic coupe without seriously affecting the handling (killed the mileage, of course, from @34-25). I'm almost certain Sube makes a bike rack attachment for the rails, and that might be the best way to go. Check online, too--I got some Forester accessories for about 60 percent of what Ripoff Subaru charges here.

BROOKLINEBIKER

Hi, That's really iteresting, I had no idea Subaru made a roof rack for bikes. Thanks for posting!

Chuck Naill

I use a Yakima rail for my bike. You can lock in your bikes front fork.

fietsbob

decades back I had a hatch back, The round yakima cross bars

and their extruded aluminum wheel trays ,
let the whole rack come up with the hatch back,when I opened it.

But this was an old car with rain gutter-edge on the roof, for the front bar.
there are of course alternative mounts for modern cars.

I used the same type of mount-tower to grip the edge of the hatch back.



...

pkluong

check out rackattack and ORSRACKS for discounted rates for racks.

rumrunn6

Subaru also makes (or used to make) a small 2 bike hitch rack. I got this one on CL for less than $100. I traded my Forester but kept the rack. it's perfect for 1 bike but can carry 2, if they line up well against ea other



it has a little bit of lean to it but that's inconsequential

Ozmanbossman

Allen s104 4 bike rack might be a good choice. You mentioned that your car is a hatchback so I am assuming it does not have a spoiler because S104 won't work with a spolier. But overall a good rack. You may have to get creative in order to fit the 16 inch bike.
Hope it helps