Trailer hitch vs roof bike racks

[LeaveEarly]

Hi Everyone,

I have a lx hatchback and am looking for a bike rack either trailer hitch or roof rack. Anyone have any experience with installing one of these?

If so what are some pros and cons of each and what price is reasonable.

Let me know,

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[canalrun]

I have a trailer hitch receiver bike rack, but I have a sedan rather than a hatchback.

For a hatchback you might have a hard time finding a trailer hitch receiver – especially if your car has a center exhaust.

My receiver is a DrawTite 29454. It was about $125 at e-Trailers.com. I paid a body shop about $100 to install it.

You could probably find a somewhat decent hitch bike rack for about $200.

Personally, I could not see lifting a bike on to the roof, but that may be a hatchback's only option.

I personally do not like the bike racks that mount on the trunk since they may damage the paint or pull the trunk lid upwards.

Barry.

 

[van604]

The manual explicitly says that the Civic is not good for towing. Of course a bike rack isn't technically towing, but the trailer hitch on the back of the car... might mess with your warranty? i'd check with your dealer before I would install it.

 

[latole]

The manual explicitly says that the Civic is not good for towing. Of course a bike rack isn't technically towing, but the trailer hitch on the back of the car... might mess with your warranty? i'd check with your dealer before I would install it.

There have a post on that, answer are not clear IMO

 

[kc189go]

Ignoring the "will a hitch void my warranty" issue, for the bike itself the tradeoff is usually that:

* A roof mount comes with some non-trivial risk that you'll forget the bike is up there and try to pull into a garage, drive-thru, etc., with the predictable results. Have a look at a bicycle riding forum site and you'll see occasional, but regular, reports of this. It's also a bit more difficult to hoist the bike on to the roof, and if you're driving in the summertime your bike will accumulate smooshed bugs on it at the same rate as your windshield.

* A hitch mount subjects the bike to more road debris and potential damage if your exhaust is too close to the bike itself (probably more of an issue with carbon bike frames). In addition, should you get rear-ended, even at such a slow speed that no damage would have occurred to your car, your bike is likely to be damaged beyond repair, especially for a carbon frame.

 

[canalrun]

The manual explicitly says that the Civic is not good for towing. Of course a bike rack isn't technically towing, but the trailer hitch on the back of the car... might mess with your warranty? i'd check with your dealer before I would install it.

Yes. I first went to the dealer and the dealer was actually the one who recommended the body shop to install the hitch. I also did not install the taillight electrical hookup - actually towing a trailer would be illegal since I would not have any turn signals or taillights on the trailer.

 

[fegan]

I went with a SeaSucker Talon to transport my bike. https://www.seasucker.com/collections/bike/products/talon

 

[syncro87]

Thread on the subject

http://www.civicx.com/threads/2017-hatchback-bike-rack.9495/page-2

^ here, with some pics of my hatch / hitch.

I've hauled bikes for years. I much prefer hitch mount vs. roof mount. Advantages of hauling your bikes on the rear far outweigh any advantages I've found for hauling them up top. I used only roof racks for years until I woke up one day and realized there was a better way.

I put a hitch on most everything I own, solely for bike rack mounting. Never had a warranty issue, or even had the issue raised. Multiple cars, different brands. Not one remark from anyone in a service capacity whatsoever.

Just did a 2400 mile (approx) round trip with two bikes on the back of our CR-V, using the rack pictured in the thread I referenced, shown on the LX hatch. No problems, minimal MPG hit, no worries about height of bikes on top or security of rack on roof, etc. 80 mph speeds on the highway, no issues.

 

[Fazzster]

They can't void a warranty if you don't run the wiring harness for trailer lights. You can't put a trailer on the road without brake lights.

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