Luggage-Bike carrier advice needed

There's a lot of info on PriusChat about bike carriers: hitch vs. rooftop, as well as discussions around the MPG hit.

I use a Thule roof rack on my Prius, which I used on two previous cars (I just bought a fit kit with new footings and just moved the rack from one car to the next.) It seems to have lasted forever and was worth the investment.

I like the roof rack for several reasons: No hitch to install.. the bikes (and rack) are up and out of the way... and you get full access to the hatch... I also like the roof rack b/c I find used accessories (different holders) on Craigslist and customize it.

You might even be able to find a decent used rack on Craigslist -- and then just buy new the footings you need. You can figure out which used racks will fit your year Prius -- as well as, if you want, buy a new rack -- at rackattack.com. They sell both Thules and Yakimas. (Yakima is another good brand, which I have on my Honda).

The downside for any roof rack, tho, is that you probably get a bigger MPG hit vs. a hitch rack.

BTW, I have had no paint damage at all. In fact, I remove the rack going into each winter and the put it back on in the spring.

 

Roof racks are great, and I've had no damage to paint with my Thule rack, but I need to carry more stuff when I go camping, so I put equipment on my roof rack (including a Thule cargo box), and bikes on a trunk-mounted Rhode Gear bike rack.

The only thing I'd like to do differently is install a receiver hitch and get a rear bike rack that slots into it. The problem with my rack is that it rests on and straps to the trunk lid, so once the bikes are on it's really hard to open the trunk to throw in that one last item I forgot to pack. I understand most receiver-hitch-mounted-bike-racks allow the trunk to open. Some actually can swing out of the way.

Douglas

 

I very much enjoy my prius but was completely frustrated by the lack of a rear hitch to carry bikes - especially as one is a semi-recumbent and won't mount on hanger-bars. And I am NOT going back to lifting bikes onto a roof mount, especially looking at the fueld consuption effect that has.

I therefore chased around until I managed to get made a hitch carrier that was developed with Toyota - although they didn't want to say too openly - we all know Your Can't Tow with a Prius!!

I then was aproached by a couple who needed to carry a wheelchair on the back of their Prius.

AT LAST
they are available in the UK from a priuscarrier site and I am back to moving my bikes around in a sensible manner.

I hope that this is of help to all out there
best wishes
Derek Radtec

 

SORRY - I should have said that, ref the wheelchair - the priuscarrier.com site system has carrier frames that take luggage or bikes and that seem to work well
Derek Radtec