Car racks are important to protect your car and your bike. Plus they make it a lot easier for you to get to the many great places there are to ride around here. Loading a bicycle in and out of your car is just not a lot of fun. It increases the likelihood of damage to both your bicycle and your vehicle. It may be something as basic as knocking your brakes out of adjustment. Maybe worse you bend your rear derailleur hanger unknowingly. That could result in a shifting your derailleur into your rear wheel and causing even more damage to the bike and possibly you as a result. Grease stains on your interior are no fun to remove from carpet or worse yet damage to the vehicles interior, like a rip or tare.
As design of vehicles change and lighter materials are used in building them it is important to make sure that the rack you select is designed to work with your vehicle. If it is, make sure to read all of the notes about how to properly mount the rack to your vehicle. Many of them have specific instructions to make sure the car and bike are safe when being transported. Most rack companies offer fit guides to assist in selecting a rack for your vehicle. Of course we are happy to help and will help you install your rack the first time while educating you on the proper way to do so and mount your bicycles. A good quality bike rack will last a long time and offer protection for both your bicycle and your vehicle. Allowing you to focus on the ride.
It just makes sense to carry the bike on the outside of the car leaving more room to bring your fellow cyclists and their gear along for another great adventure on your bicycles. You, your bicycle and your car will be happier.
Note – This is part of a series we will be sharing that Ernest wrote about cycling accessories and components. While they aren’t intended to be full on “Buyers Guides” We do hope they will help you with things to consider when thinking about them or to view them a little differently. Then in future post we will dive deeper into each one of these.
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[…] BC – Car Rack – A car rack will make it easier for you to get you and your bike to all of the great places to ride. Make it easy to ride and you’ll ride more often. Transporting your bike inside your car can damage both the bicycle and the car. (Check out my post about car racks.) PRICE RANGE: $80 – $400 Learn more about car racks. […]