How to Haul It All

Your most essential piece of sports equipment may be the one that carries the rest
By John Lehrer

Of course no one buys a sport rack first--after all, you can't ride, slide, paddle, or row a car-mounted carrier. And that's fine, if you're one of the fortunate few who live near river or mountain, or one of those carefree souls who don't fret over coating the SUV's cargo space with mud. The rest of us need an enabler, a catalyst, if we're to enjoy our toys. That's a sport rack.

Even if a rack is the last item on your equipment list, it should be the easiest to shop for. If bikes are your only gear and you don't get out often, a rack that straps onto trunk lid or hatchback will suffice. For large water-sports equipment, you'll need a roof rack. And if you own a sport-utility vehicle or minivan and aren't keen on perfecting your weight-lifting moves, a hitch-mount rack may be best for you.

Unless your vehicle is a Peterbilt, you'll have no trouble finding a rack that fits--just make sure a shop employee looks at what you're driving before you settle on any particular carrier. As for reliability, rest assured: All the models reviewed here will clamp your gear securely and safely in place. Here's what to look for in these three categories, including our favorites from each--some new offerings and a handful of reliable veterans.

Strap-On Racks

The new Rhode Gear Cradle Shuttle 2 ($110) is like a roof rack on your trunk lid. It cradles two bikes by their wheels in a fore-and-aft position--as if the bikes were riding up the back of your car, which is nifty, though it does restrict the driver's view to the rear. The unique configuration, however, keeps your bikes safely separated, and with no arms to bounce or sway, the Cradle Shuttle 2 does its job with an assuredness uncommon among strap-on racks. Fitting it to your car requires a mere ten minutes, thanks to quick-release levers that let you adjust the frame's width, and plenty of padding keeps your car's paint safe.

Hitch-Mount Racks
They may seem a bit awkward, protruding as they do from beneath your rear bumper, but hitch-mount racks provide simple and tidy utility. Most come preassembled, so installation is as easy as sliding the rack into your vehicle's receiver-type trailer hitch, the only attachment point, and locking it into place. They carry bicycles widthwise behind your vehicle, keeping them accessible and out of harm's way in the vicinity of low overhangs. The flip side is that skis and snowboards, which clamp on vertically, are easy targets for slush and mud, and you may feel a bit edgy in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The base price is for a two-bike configuration; attachments for more bikes, skis, or snowboards are extra.

The Advent Backpacker ($170) is a basic hitch-mount rack with a perfect excuse for the frills it lacks: its low price. It carries only bikes and holds them by their front forks and rear wheels--a doubly advantageous configuration, since it has a firm grip that keeps them from jostling one another and can carry exotic bikes that don't have a top tube. But it isn't hinged, which means removing a bike to open your tailgate, and it doesn't accommodate front wheels, so they have to go inside. A two-bike add-on costs $140, however, making the value for four bikes somewhat less notable.

As its name implies, the Bauer Full-Access Rack ($279) lets you rummage through the rear of your vehicle without unloading, but whereas most hinged racks tilt down, the Full-Access swings to the side. Twist a handle, pull a pin, and voilÞ--you can fish out your ice chest with ease. Ingenious. A well-padded support beam holds bikes by their top tubes, and the rack is steadied by an antisway bracket. A two-bike add-on costs $70; a six-pair ski kit, which also holds two snowboards, $140. Locking pins ($60 for a full complement) secure bikes, skis, and snowboards to rack and rack to hitch.

The Softride Access 200 ($250) revolutionized hitch-mount racks with its spring-assisted pivoting arms that recede to waist-level, giving quick access to the rear of your vehicle. The notably sturdy design of the Softride hasn't changed much since it was introduced in 1995, though some of its finer points could afford to be updated: Bikes attach to the rack with bungee cords rather than secure clamps, you need extra bumpers ($18 apiece) to keep your bikes separated, and it holds only two bikes. But then, the Softride is the only rack that has perhaps the ultimate accessory: a barbecue grill ($169).

Roof Racks
Other designs have come a long way in convenience and quality, but roof racks still enjoy the broadest appeal. They carry the widest array of goods--everything from bicycles and skis to rowing shells to lumber--safely and securely, with minimal risk to your vehicle or your stuff. The price of a roof rack includes the two load bars that support your gear, four padded towers that link load bars to roof, and vehicle-specific clips that secure the rack solidly to the inner door molding. Typically, roof racks are more expensive and a bit more difficult to install than other racks, but then there's no need to rig them for each outing--most people leave them attached semipermanently.

The sleek Saris ($205) from Graber is the essence of user-friendly design. Unlike racks that send you scurrying from one side of your vehicle to the other as you install them, the Saris goes on from one side, thanks to a tensioning knob that draws in both clips simultaneously. Locks are built into the tensioning knobs, which prevents attachments from being removed (read stolen) from the aerodynamic, aluminum load bars, though it would be nice if the bike clamps had integral locks. I've come to admire several finer points in using my own Saris: A single key fits both rack and accessories, for example, and the ski/snowboard carrier ($100) folds flat when not in use, minimizing wind noise. You can choose from either fork-mount or upright bike carriers ($70 and $90, respectively), kits for canoes, rowing shells, sailboards and the like ($60-$80 apiece), and cargo boxes ($440).

The Thule Aero Foot 400 ($177) is the Volvo of sport racks--thoughtfully engineered, notably sturdy, supremely functional, and Swedish to boot. Fit has always been Thule's long suit (even with its trunk racks); in fact, the company makes some 300 "fit kits" for the U.S. market, each tailored to conform to a specific vehicle's roof. The Aero Foot 400 installs in 20 minutes with no tools. As for accessories, you'll appreciate Thule's Pro Series Fork Mount bike carrier ($75), with its long-throw quick-release lever that opens wide enough to clear wheel-retention tabs on your fork without the need for readjustment each time. As for the rest of your stuff, if you can lift it onto the rack, Thule makes an attachment to hold it there. Seriously.

The Yakima WingRider ($190) is the latest in an emerging trend in roof racks: Rather than clipping to your vehicle's inner door molding, the towers bolt directly to those otherwise-not-very-useful factory-installed tracks found atop many sport-utility vehicles. Yet the WingRider's true significance is its departure from the round-bar construction on which Yakima built its formidable reputation. (It even makes hitch-mount racks now.) The new design features flattened, aerodynamic load bars and slimmed-down towers for a less obtrusive look. And in a move that's sure to foster goodwill among those who already own a Yakima, retrofit hardware is available ($6 for a set of four) to adapt most existing mounts to the new bar. If you're starting from scratch, the accessory options are many, including the Buttondown mount, which holds a whopping six pairs of skis and four snowboards ($95), and HullyRollers, for sea kayaks and rowing shells ($110).

John Lehrer is a frequent contributor to Outside's Review pages.

Photographs by Craig Cameron Olsen