[d19rye]

I have a 2006 ford escape its a small suv. I want a bike rack for the roof top so what do you guys recommend i need one that can hold two bikes.

 

[phxartboy]

http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/default.asp

 

[rodel]

Thule/Sportsworks - Sidearm :thumbsup:
quick and easy to get your bikes on and off.
no need to remove the front wheel.

 

[carsonwick]

M3 . . . drool

Can't wait for the new one.

Oh, nice rack.

 

[smear3]

I've got a Thule. Works nice. Since I have a Lefty fork taking the front tire off isn't an option. Honestly now that I don't have to mess with taking tires off to ride, I don't think I would buy a rack that requires you to take your wheel off.

 

[Rev Bubba]

Yakima or Thule

I used Thule for years and had no problems but my new Subaru came with Yakima and I am very impressed with them. My experience has always been with fork mountings. They just seem much more stable.

 

[brado1]

I have a Saris roof rack, and i wish i had gone with a Yakima. Yak's stuff is a little easier to attach bikes to, and especially the new stuff that yak has out nice! here

 

[d19rye]

i have a factory roof rack so what all do i have to get to put my bikes up top. because i was looking at the thule website and everything that i had to buy was 500 dollars and that seems to much so is that right or what. Can i just buy the bike holders and attach those to my factory rack or do i have to by adapors.

 

[wi1trackrider]

I'm a Yakima fan. Had the same rack for almost 10 years now. Converted it to fit (3) different vehicles so far - just had to switch out some of the brackets that clamp to the vehicle. I use the Steelhead bike carriers with lock cores. Everything is very user friendly to install and use on a daily basis. It's also very secure - I've never been fearfull of bike blowing of the car. If you grab a hold of the fork once mounted in the rack, you can literally shake the whole vehicle. I'm so use to the fork mount that it's like automatic to mount up a bike. It literally takes me 30 seconds to put the bike bra on (I use it a lot in the summer), mount the bike up, and lock it down. Here's my current configuration.

 

[ArmySlowRdr]

yakima--and yes fork mounts are good--but yakima's king cobra is a great mount too.

 

[mtnbiker1220]

I've got a Yakima King Cobra. Simply awesome!

 

[ionsmuse]

Yak w/ steelhead. Locktite the bolt that mounts the tray to the head and you are solid for many moons. I prefer the greater stability, esp in a crosswind, of a fork mount.

Yak also has very good customer service, in my experience.

 

[davec113]

I got a new Impreza Outback Wagon w/ factory bars and the Yakima/Sub bike rack. I think its the raptor, arms clamp to the downtube, ft wheel stays on. Its noisy, gas mileage goes way down, and I have a bike that ranges from 36-41 lbs, I drive a LOT slower around corners with it up top. I've gone to just putting it in the back of the car when I can instead of using the rack.

I think, and it seems most people in the dh/fr forums agree that a Thule T2 hitch rack is the way to go. There is a recent bike rack thread there. I can get a 1 1/4" drawtite hitch for under $100 that bolts onto my car, the rack is about $300 on sale. They are good for bikes up to 60 lbs. My bar/rack combo may be more flexy than most, I'd bet a King Cobra with Yakima x-bars and towers would be a lot better than what I have, but the noise, gas mileage, exposure to dirt and bugs, and danger of driving under something too low and doing thousands of $$$ of damage to your bike/car are still issues.