Weekend Athlete: A Word About Bike Racks

That’s not to say I’ve never used a bike rack. In fact, I’ve used both rear and roof-mounted racks in the past, and I can state for the record which I prefer, and that would be a roof rack.

Why not a rear rack? For starters, I have to parallel park a lot — both at races and in the city where I live. The problem with a rear rack is that instead of accidentally nudging the car behind you with your bumper, it’s your fancy race bike that takes the nudge. Before you scream “Learn to park!” remember someone could park behind you while you’re racing and nudge your fancy rack. That’s not good either, is it?

“But,” you say, “I use a rack that sits over the trunk of the car so the bike doesn’t stick out past the bumper.” That’s good — it does eliminate the bike-as-bumper issue. However, in my experience, once you put one of those over your trunklid, you can’t get in the trunk. I like to use my trunk for carrying stuff at races. Others may prefer using the rear seat. To each his own.

Now, with a roof rack, you can still get in the trunk and parking isn’t an issue. Also, depending on the roof rack system, it can be modified with attachments to let you carry more things than bikes.

Of course, there’s always the (apocryphal) tale of the rider who left his bike on the roof, pulled into a garage and ruined a bike when it hit the ceiling.

I guess I could see that being an issue, but, really, no. If you go to a race and on your way back home forget a) why you left the house in the first place and b) that you brought a bike with you to the bike race … I just don’t know what to tell you.

To me, the best reason to turn down a roof rack is its height. If you’re a shorter athlete or own a taller car, I can see hoisting a bike up onto a roof being too much to ask. In that case, yep, go for it with some form of rear rack. To help out, here’s a section on racks in the Cars.com Advice section that details racks, and this section outlines different things that racks can carry.