Just recently I was shopping for a new roof bike rack, and was surprised at how many options and styles were out there. I had to return two different bike racks before I found a style that met my needs and worked on my car. While shopping for my new roof bike rack, I came across a few resources that I will use from now on to help with all my future bike rack needs.
Choosing the best bike rack for your vehicle can be a timely and confusing process. It gets complicated trying to figure out which types of bike racks will work on your vehicle. Can you use a roof bike rack or do you need a trunk-mounted rack? Will you be able to carry multiple bikes at a time or are you limited to just one? Well, youre in luck. While I cant tell you exactly what your bike rack needs are, I can point you to someone who can: Thule. Whether youre going to end up purchasing a Thule rack or not, you will find the Thule website (www.Thule.com) is a great source for figuring out your bike rack needs. This website was very useful in helping me choose a new roof bike rack, and I highly recommend doing some research on this site before making a purchase.
On the Thule site, you can select what kind of rack youre looking for (bike rack, ski rack, base rack, etc.). First, youll want to select bike rack and then select the load capacity youre looking for (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 bikes). This will narrow down the number of racks you have to choose from. Depending on the number of bikes you select, your mounting options will change. For instance, if you select three bikes, the only types of racks available are hitch racks or rear racks. If you want a roof bike rack, you can only select a load capacity of one bike.
Play around with your options so you get a good idea of which styles can carry different quantities of bikes. When youre ready to start looking at specific bike racks, rather than just the bike rack styles, you can scroll down the page and see which Thule racks are available in the style of your choice. Here you will see prices and product names. You can get all the specs on each product and even compare them with each other.
When youre ready to make a buying decision, you can shop around at other websites that might have similar products, or the same product, for less. If you cant find what you need from Thule, you may want to check out INNO (www.innoracks.com) and Yakima (www.yakima.com) as well. Both of those are huge names in the rack business and design high-quality roof bike racks, trunk bike racks, hitch bike racks and more. The Yakima site also has an interactive set up, similar to Thules, that helps you figure out which bike rack will be best for you. And, you can input your exact year, make and model vehicle to ensure that the rack you choose will work with your ride.
Choosing the best bike rack for your vehicle can be a timely and confusing process. It gets complicated trying to figure out which types of bike racks will work on your vehicle. Can you use a roof bike rack or do you need a trunk-mounted rack? Will you be able to carry multiple bikes at a time or are you limited to just one? Well, youre in luck. While I cant tell you exactly what your bike rack needs are, I can point you to someone who can: Thule. Whether youre going to end up purchasing a Thule rack or not, you will find the Thule website (www.Thule.com) is a great source for figuring out your bike rack needs. This website was very useful in helping me choose a new roof bike rack, and I highly recommend doing some research on this site before making a purchase.
On the Thule site, you can select what kind of rack youre looking for (bike rack, ski rack, base rack, etc.). First, youll want to select bike rack and then select the load capacity youre looking for (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 bikes). This will narrow down the number of racks you have to choose from. Depending on the number of bikes you select, your mounting options will change. For instance, if you select three bikes, the only types of racks available are hitch racks or rear racks. If you want a roof bike rack, you can only select a load capacity of one bike.
Play around with your options so you get a good idea of which styles can carry different quantities of bikes. When youre ready to start looking at specific bike racks, rather than just the bike rack styles, you can scroll down the page and see which Thule racks are available in the style of your choice. Here you will see prices and product names. You can get all the specs on each product and even compare them with each other.
When youre ready to make a buying decision, you can shop around at other websites that might have similar products, or the same product, for less. If you cant find what you need from Thule, you may want to check out INNO (www.innoracks.com) and Yakima (www.yakima.com) as well. Both of those are huge names in the rack business and design high-quality roof bike racks, trunk bike racks, hitch bike racks and more. The Yakima site also has an interactive set up, similar to Thules, that helps you figure out which bike rack will be best for you. And, you can input your exact year, make and model vehicle to ensure that the rack you choose will work with your ride.