Claremont Cycle Depot: bicycles & sporting goods

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Allen and Thule car racks at Claremont Cycle Depot

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About bicycle racks

Sometimes you just have to transport your bike with your car — to a club ride, to a race or maybe so you can ride it on a vacation trip. If you don’t have space in your vehicle (or you don’t want to put your muddy mountain bike in the back seat of your new car), you’re going to need a bike rack.

Racks (for cars and vans) come in three basic varieties, depending on how they attach to your vehicle. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. They are:

Roof Racks

Roof racks have the most options of any type of rack. They are entirely modular: you buy mounting brackets that fit your vehicle, a set of rails, and then you can add carriers for four or more bikes, skis, boats or cargo. The disadvantages are that your setup may only fit one vehicle and roof systems cost more. And don’t forget to take down your bike before you pull into the garage!

Trunk Racks

Trunk-mount carriers attach with straps. They are lower in cost and can often be moved between vehicles. But they only can carry bikes (up to three), so you’ll have to come up with something else to carry your skis.

Hitch Racks

Hitch-mount racks mount to a step bumper or hitch (not included) on your car or truck. They are versatile, and systems are available to carry up to five bikes, skis or cargo. They also (like roof racks) offering locking security.

Racks for your truck

Many people just lay their bike in the back of their pickup, but there are better ways to carry your bike. One option is a hitch-type rack. A better solution, assuming you won’t be carrying much else, is to use a fork mount. You can get a telescoping bar that adjusts to fit your truck’s bed and will hold a number of fork mounts (Thule’s Model 822 comes with two mounts). You can also buy only the fork mounts (Model 821) and mount them directly to your truck bed or to a piece of wood.

If you need help choosing a rack, Thule has a “wizard” that will help you choose. Simply select your vehicle in the dropdown at the top of the page to begin. Or stop in at Claremont Cycle Depot and talk with the knowledgeable sales staff about your needs. This page shows only a few examples of what is available from Thule. If we don’t have exactly what you need in stock, we can quickly get it.

Allen

Allen Racks, makers of the original trunk-mount bike rack, has a reputation for affordability formed by three decades of frontline experience in sourcing materials and manufacturing for quality.

Thule

Thule began as a maker of windsurfing car racks, but quickly branched out into ski and bike racks. They now make racks to hold canoes, luggage and just about anything that won’t easily fit inside your car.