You could not be happier right now. You just got your new 29 inches, 21-speed mountain bike the same week as discovering the best biking trail in your city, complete with plenty of hills, straightaways and scenic views.
But it’s ten miles from your house and riding a bike to a place you want to ride your bike seems to miss the point. This stresses the importance of having a bicycle mount on your car or SUV.
But you don’t know whether you should get a roof rack or a hitch mount bike rack. When you do the research, you’ll discover that a hitch mount bike rack has an abundance of advantages over strap-on trunk mounts or roof mounts.
The first and main advantage is ease of installment. If your vehicle or larger car already has a hitch mount, all you have to do to install it is to slide it in. This is less labor-intensive than drilling holes into your roof or strapping racks onto a vehicle only to have to repeat the process because it’s not as sturdy when driving.
There are different types of hitch mounts that come in all sizes to accommodate different types of vehicles, from Class 1 hitches for most cars and small SUVs to Class III hitches for truck-based SUVs and pickups. And these different classes all come in options that allow you to mount more than one bike.
This is the type of bike mount for vehicles that most consumers prefer. And with all of these types, there is never a need to remove the front wheel to place it in the mount. The same cannot be said for the other types consistently.
Because of its high preference by bike riders, hitch mount bike racks come in a wider selection and variety of styles than all other mounts. There a single-arm rack, where the bike frame is supported by a single cradle and a dual-arm rack where two cradles support the frame.
There are wheel mounts, where the bike is secured by an adjustable cradle and clamp system, making removal of bikes much easier when you arrive at your destination.
And there are V-shaped mounts where the wheel is strapped onto the cradle and there is no contact at all with the frame of the bike. And this is not counting the convenience options this mount is available in.
In addition to fixed hitch mounts, there are also swing-away, tilted parallelogram versions of this mount. A swing-away allows you to access to the rear of the vehicle without removing your bikes or the mount itself.
A tilted construction allows access to the trunk or rear hatch when empty. A parallelogram style features the same capabilities of a swing away but instead extends the entire rack away from the vehicle. In any version, the versatility of this type of mount is preserved.
In all of these variations, the construction of hitch mounts accentuates the benefits of this wide variety of options that all have one thing in common-making mounting and removing your bike from the hitch mount easier than all other options.
The bike is right at the body level and the most you will have to exert yourself is easing it from the chest level height of your mount to the ground. There’s no heavy and dangerous carrying of the bike from the roof of your car or your trunk to the pavement (and if you on the short side, this is extra precarious).
Another advantage of this type of mount is its placement. Hitch mount bike racks are always placed in the rear of your vehicle with options to still allow access to the rear of the vehicle as demonstrated earlier.
This also makes this type of mount the most aerodynamic option available, as one will also see upside down bikes on a roof mount sticking out like sore thumbs and sketchy trunk mounts crushing the car’s spoiler.
This preservation of the car’s aerodynamic performance means less gas will be wasted than with the other mounts, as the vehicle will have to work more to overcome the extra load and the wind resistance caused by their construction.
Nothing slows you down quite like two large wheels sticking up in the air above your head as you speed down the highway. This also has the added advantage of making hitch mounts safer and more effective at protecting your bike, since they are not adding more height for your roof to clear when approaching tunnels and underpasses or parking garages.
This added safety also comes in the form of a lower probability to come in contact with other cars to your side, since it is situated firmly behind you.
Another advantage of this style of mounts comes in how well it protects your vehicle. In most type of trunk or roof mounts, your bike with eventually come into some kind of contact with your car or SUV or truck.
While driving, bumps or steep grades can result in nicks, paint scratches and, in some cases, dents caused by your bike bouncing around and rubbing or crashing roughly against your vehicle’s surface.
But with a hitch mount, your bike is attached to the mount itself and never comes in contact in any way with your vehicle, preserving its finish or paint job and avoiding bumps or dents.
And most of these come with anti-rattling devices, which eliminate unnecessary movement or jostling during transport. You can either use a twisting know or a tightened bolt to secure your bike to the mount.
Finally, the best thing about this type of mount is how it is better at providing a higher level of security when away from your vehicle. The straps on a trunk mount can easily be cut and allow for higher chance of theft when choosing them.
The main factor to consider when choosing the type of mount you want for your bike is how beneficial all of its features prove to be. And with its huge selection and variety of styles, its ideal vehicle position, how it provides ease of securing and removal, and its aerodynamic construction-a hitch mount bike rack for your SUV, car or truck earns its status as the bike mount of choice among cycling enthusiasts.
