we are seriously considering getting a civic hybrid to ease the pain at the pump when we want to get to bike rides.... however we need to be able to transport 2 bikes (either 2 road bikes or 2 mountain bikes... depending on the ride)....

are any of you cyclist? what system do you use? what is best? we think we prefer rooftop as it's not quite as accessible to thieves as a trunk (or hitch) mount! (we had a bad experience where someone tried to steal my brand new bike off a hitch mount thus the purchase of our current gas hot SUV so we could carry the bikes inside.... of course... that was prior to the HUGE gas hikes!)

anyways.... riding is a big and very important thing to us.... so we NEED to transport our bikes safely and also keep them safe if we need to stop to eat of shop on our way home from a ride.....

any help, thoughts, comments would be very much apprecieated!

If you're going to be mounting the bikes on the roof, that will cause a lot of drag, which equals a mileage hit... you might be better off with an Escape hybrid that you could still put the bikes inside? Or a Prius might be big enough too, I don't really know, but the back seats fold down, and it's a hatchback. If I'm wrong, somebody please correct me, after all the Civic hybrid is great, especially on the highway.

What kind of driving will you be doing?

if you only need to carry two people when you go mountain biking, then consider the prius. The seats fold down like IMAhybrid stated, so you can fit a lot of stuff. People from priuschat.com have put a lot of stuff in there, with some claiming to have been able to put in a 52" DLP tv and a washer (not at the same time) in their prius, with several putting in their mountain bikes.

And that's why I bought a cheap folding bike. Fit's in my trunk fine. I'm not a cyclist, but enjoy the ocassional bike ride.

It's a dahon, they also make road and touring bikes. And yes, a lot look funny, but there are a few that look like normal bikes. I'm not sure of their quality per se, (I'm not a cyclist) but they look legit to me.

www.dahon.com

I'm not saying you should go this route, per se, but if you still want the HCH and to have your bikes be safe this is an option!

Yes... we're AVID cyclists! I must admit that we generally use our SUV to transport our road bikes, but I have used the HCHII for this purpose. Last July, our family (three) took the HCHII from So. Cal up to Seattle for the STP ride. I fit BOTH road bikes into the trunk! I first removed the styrofoam spare tire insert and the folding floorboard. That created all the room needed to fit the bikes (as well as helmets, shoes, water bottles and duffle bags with cycling clothing) in there. As for the bikes, I had to remove both wheels and one of the saddles.

Certainly not the most convenient for a quick ride, but if you're going a long distance, it works, and no wind resistance issues, theft issues or bike damage issues! Here are the photos...





In addition, I know of at least one person who installed a Thule hitch rack on their HCHII. They had to have a "hidden hitch" installed first. There are photos of this installation in another thread. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll search for you! Anyway, that is the rack we use on our SUV, and it's GREAT. I don't know what it might do to MPG, but it sure is easy to mount and remove the bikes. I've been thinking about getting the hidden hitch on my HCHII so I can use that rack on both vehicles.

I hate roof mounted racks... they look strange and I think it would be a pain to mount a bike up there. Big chance of dropping something and damaging the roof! There's also the trunk mount ones, but they limit trunk access and can mess up the paint on the mounting points. For a quick transport to the bike trail, though, I guess one of those (Saris?) trunk racks might work.

I've also fit one road bike into the back seat area. Just took off the front wheel and put blankets on the seats to keep dirt away. A pedal did scuff the back of the center console area plastic upon removing the bike once, so you do have to be careful with that!!

Good luck!

thanx for the replies!

jonathan.... no way and i riding 100+ miles on a folding bike! lol! we both have top fo the line carbon fiber.... as cool as the folding bikes are.... i don't think they can compare in comfort (or efficiency) of our current road bikes! and of course... for mountain biking no way! lol!

jeff.... hmmmmmm hubby won't be happy with having the practically dismantle the whole bike... at least i don't think he will! that's one of his major complaints with our MDX.... he has to remove his seat cuz his bike it too tall with it on! but i'll mention that to him!

the main reason we were thinking roof rather than trunk is for that TEENY TINY bit more security... being UP on the car rather than off the back.... i mean i truly do prefer them to be inside.... especially after some idiot tried to steal mine... and i'm sure he had NO clue exactly what it was he was trying to steal! propably thought it was just another bike! UGH!

katie.... we'll probably look at the prius tomorrow.... i just can't imagine you can get two road bikes much less two mountain bikes in one???? but i could be wrong (we have issues with the handle bars of the mountain bikes JUST fitting in the MDx! he was looking at the 2008 escape online last night...

i just started thinking aboutt he drag and what it will do to the MPG... of course.... i can't imagine it would be as bad as the MDX (about 17ish overall)

i guess we need to do a lot more thinking and a lot more researching! we may just be better off keeping the MDX????????????????????????

I have a Yakima roof rack with steelhead trays for both road and MTB. I've used them on SUVs which are a pain due to height. I couldn't handle putting MTB inside SUV because of smell from dirt, mud, deer droppings, etc. High end bikes on a hitch isn't something I'd consider anymore than using my bike as a bumper pad and issue of having 1/3-1/2 value of car hanging off the rear bumper.

If you don't care about Civic vs. Prius, definitely nice to have hatchback to throw in a single road bike. Downside of roof rack is I have tons of friends with stories about driving into garage fully loaded (ouch).

Other downsides:

* Noise - roof rack alone adds a huge amount of wind noise and rack alone lowers mpg by 2-3 on freeway
- had to add wind shield because the wind drone was awful
* MPG - w/o bikes = loss of 2-3 mpg at 70mph, more at higher speeds
- w/ bikes = loss of 5-8 mpg at 70mph

That makes driving with MTB on top driving up hills (and I'm usually late so have to drive faster) and AC on gives me 24-26mpg or around 33 normal freeway driving.

you will be a bit surprised when u find out how much you can fit into a prius. Take a look at these posts, look at the pictures:

http://priuschat.com/What-can-you-fi...us-t29502.html

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showt...=firework&st=0


My recommendation is to measure the height and length of your bikes, and then measure the inside of the prius with the back seats down. If it comes out to be pretty close, then I would ask the salesman or if u know someone with a prius, to let you put in ur bikes in there.

If you're already comfortable with the SUV, maybe you should set your sights on the Ford Escape Hybrid.

It's hard to say your vehicle was targeted solely on having a hitch mount. We'll never know, but even if you had roof racks, the thief may have tried to steal your bikes also.

I ride MTBs. Most of my riding buddies have hitch mounts. They're easier to attach the bike to. They're better for your FE. And you don't run the risk of low overhangs (drive-thrus, garage doors, etc.).

<Best Tank Economy!><Best Tank Endurance!>

Take the mpg hit on a rear mounted system. Ignore the roof rack because that's more of a permanent solution for the season... To put the roof rack on and off every time you want to go riding, that's a major pain (unless you don't care about the drag and drop of mpg).

The rear mounted system allows you to take the hitch off once you are done riding. And your mpg numbers will not suffer.