How to choose the best bike rack for your vehicle

With three main styles available, there is a bike rack available for every vehicle configuration

Exploring your holiday destination by bicycle is a great way of relaxing during the festive season, but and in order to do so you need a way of transporting your bicycle by car.

There are various ways to transport bicycles on your vehicle, however, the features and benefits of specific rack models, as well as their placements on the vehicle need to be considered when deciding on a bicycle rack.

Bike rack styles and your vehicle

Bicycle racks come in a variety of styles and can be mounted on a vehicle’s roof, on the towbar, on the boot, or in the bed of your bakkie.

There are three basic options for carrying bikes; rooftop bike racks, towbar bike racks and boot mounted bike racks. motus.cars, supported by Motus Ford (previously Imperial Ford), explains these options:

1. The rooftop option

Rooftop mounted bicycle racks give you full access to the boot of your vehicle and allow for the loading of up to four bikes.

Rooftop bicycle carriers are great for sedans and smaller SUVs with a lower loading height or models that do not have a towbar installed. This style of rack is also great for fitment above the load bin of your bakkie, ensuring that the carrying capacity of your bakkie remains unchanged while your bikes are securely attached.

If you opt for a rooftop mounted option, you do need to be aware that this will have an effect on the fuel consumption of your vehicle, and you will need to be mindful about driving under low hanging structures.

2. Towbar-mounted bicycle racks

Towbar mounted bicycle racks are the most common and convenient option when it comes to bicycle racks. These bicycle racks can carry one to four bikes, are easy to mount, and limit heavy and high lifting, which is especially important for e-bike owners.

Tow bar mounted racks will also have the lowest impact on the fuel consumption of your vehicle.

3. Boot mounted bike racks

For vehicles without a roof rack or towbar, a strap on boot mounted bicycle rack is an ideal option. Although this style of rack will take a couple of minutes longer to fit onto your vehicle each time, it is foldable and easy to store when not in use.

Browse our range of quality, Motus-certified new, used and demo bikes for sale here.

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