What Type of Car Rack is Best for My Bike

What Type of Car Rack is Best for My Bike

No matter if you're mountian biking or you're cycling on your new electric bike through a vinyard, there's a bike rack to help transport your bike safely to your destination wherever that might be.

The Hollywood Racks Fit Guide can give you direction on the best bike rack for your vehicle.

What type of bike do you have and How much does it weigh?

Should the bike frame come into contact with the bike rack?

Most bike owners have strong feelings about whether they are comfortable with a car rack touching the frame of their bicycle. That's why we offer bicycle carriers that cater to both persuasions: car racks that hold the bike by its frame, and racks that do not intend to hold the bike by its wheels.

Almost all bicycle carriers list the maximum bike weight in their specs, and for good reason: to protect you, your car, your bike and everyone traveling around you.

Here at Hollywood Racks our bike racks are divided into two weight classes:

1) car racks that can carry bikes up to 35 pounds.

2) car racks that can carry bikes up to 60 pounds.

The former is a collection of racks that hold bikes by the top tubes, either hanging style racks for trunk or hitch; while the latter applies to our entire family of platform hitch racks. Not sure how much your bike weighs? Most bikes fall under the 35-pound mark; while downhill bikes, mountain bikes, fat bikes and eBikes.. minus the battery, of course, tend to be in the 60-pound range. All right, now that you've figured out your options by frame contact and bike weight, let's find the best car rack for your bike.

Lighter is better, is the cyclists mantra.. and that is why carbon fiber frames have become the frame material of choice, among the racing teams. It's lighter of course, and it absorbs vibrations better and basically makes you feel like you're riding a cloud. A really, really fast cloud. For these carbon set-ups, there's no better choice than a platform rack. This hitch rack will never come into contact with the frame of the bike, as it transports the bike by holding the front and rear wheel with dual shepard's hooks. Moreover, the wheel tray has a special groove designed to specifically cradle a skinny tire.This configuration just so happens to be the most secure way to haul your prized cycle.

For those steel roadsters and those aluminum frames, of course a trunk rack is best. A trunk rack is designed to the hilt with sleek lines, an internal strap management system, and integrated locks that secure bike to rack and rack to car to help deter from theft. The best bicycle carrier for mountain bikes depends on your specific ride. Most mountain bikes come in around the 35-pounds or so, With this in mind, we recommend a platform style bike rack for your mountain bike. The rack holds the bikes by both wheels plus downtube, and accommodates any combination of bike sizes.

Platform racks securely hold the bikes by their wheels, and tires up to 4 inches wide. With folding capabilities to garner hatch access and the load speed, the bike racks will transport your bikes safely to your destination. When it comes to electric bikes there is one option and that is a platform style hitch rack. Our platform style racks, are best for hauling two bikes, which makes laoding them a sniche.

For most all size kid's bikes, a Hitch Rack is the perfect rack for families on the go. The adjustable arms help fit anywhere from 2 to 4 and even 5 or 6 bikes, depending on your need and easily transport the range of bikes that accompany childhood growth. Plus, Hitch racks are some the lightest hitch racks around and super easy to install when even your hands are full with other things.