bike racks on Prius?

topic posted Sun, December 10, 2006 - 10:27 PM by  Petronella
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Hello all,
Anyone have any reccomendations for a bike rack for the prius? The last bike rack I had (previous car) used the traditional car trunk for tension. The bikes were suspended off the back.

Is a roof rack the only option for my curvier Prius? I wonder how this would affect the mpg.....
posted by:
Petronella
New Mexico
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  • Re: bike racks on Prius?

    Mon, December 11, 2006 - 9:45 AM
    A roof rack is one option. It *will* cut your fuel economy, even when you don't have bikes on it, as it does interrupt the airflow and raise the coefficient of drag for your car.

    Some folks have had great luck having a receiver hitch installed, and using a bike rack that slides into that. The bonus is that, unlike roof rack, you don't scratch your paint AND you can remove the rack easily when you're not using it.

    peace,
    Linda (2001 Prius, 2003 Civic Hybrid, 2006 Insight)
    • Re: bike racks on Prius?

      Mon, December 11, 2006 - 12:28 PM
      For BM06 I bought a Yakima Super Joe 3, which is a three-bike carrier that's suspended off the rear hatch by webbed strapping. I actually bought it for a van, but it's reconfigurable for hatchbacks and sedans as well. I've used it on my '05 Prius on many occasions, and it works great. Most of the weight is borne by the hooks that hang from the leading edge of the Prius hatch. The rest of the weight is borne by the part of the rack that rests on or near the license plate. There's very little weight on the rear window. The only real downsides are that it's not permanent (maybe that's an upside?) and you can't use the rear wiper when it's there. I got mine off Craigslist, think I paid about 50 bucks for it.

      If you want to go the hitch-mount system, there is a company called Coastal Electronics that sells a towing hitch for the Prius. The Prius has very limited towing capacity, but carrying bikes should not be a problem at all. Only problem is that I've had pretty bad customer service from Coastal Tech. I would proceed with caution, and as a minimim make sure they actually have the item in stock before placing an order with them.
      • Re: bike racks on Prius?

        Fri, December 15, 2006 - 7:38 AM
        Actually, that's Coastal ETech. coastaletech.com/ Coastal Tech will take you to a completely different website of an unrelated company! Maybe that contributed to part of your communications problem? :-)

        I met these people last summer at Hybridfest 2006 in Madison, WI (people from more than 30 states attended!). Coastal ETech a small operation -- they get swamped like anyone, especially when there's buzz for a new produt -- but Dave and Kelly are great folks. Anyway, that's who I was thinking of for the receiver hitch for Prius. They just posted this week that the NAV override device is now primetime, too -- lots of interest building for that item as well.
        • Re: bike racks on Prius?

          Fri, December 15, 2006 - 9:31 AM
          Yes, that's them. Here is my experience with these "great folks."

          I ordered the NAV kit and the door lock kit off their website in March of 2005. I never received any kind of order confirmation. So every few months I'd call or email to inquire about the status of the order. Never heard anything back. Then, one day, about eight months later, a package arrives - the door lock kit! A few weeks later the NAV kit arrived.

          I installed the NAV kit first, and it flat out did not work. I followed the directions very carefully, removed it, and reinstalled it again, but it just didn't work. I called and emailed for support and got no response. Over the course of the next few weeks I'd call or email at least once a day, and got no response at all. Dead silence. Finally I emailed them advising that I was going to file a dispute with my credit card issuer. No response. So I opened the dispute and mailed everything back to them. I received some forms from my bank, which I filled out along with printouts of the unanswered emails I'd sent.

          In the the 9 months my order with Coastal was open, they never made any attempt to respond to my inquiries or help me with my product support issue. Literally, this is dozens of phone calls and emails over the course of nine months, all unanswered. They just couldn't be bothered. It wasn't until MY BANK contacted them informing them the charges had been reversed, that's when they called me. That's rather telling, isn't it?

          As much as I'd like a receiver hitch for my Prius, I won't do business with those people again.
  • Re: bike racks on Prius?

    Thu, December 14, 2006 - 10:46 AM
    I have a roof rack and it does lower the mileage about 4 mpg
    --but it also does something quite positive.
    people see me more easily and don't cut me off, like they did without the rack.
    and it is about the car, not my driving, mu husband experienced the exact same thing.
    safety over a little bit of mileage is an easy decision for me since i live in th sf bay area.

    i'ts a yakima roof rack and i also got the basket which i only add when needed.
    also, i've got the yakima wind guard turned around so that no big ugly text :)

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