Good morning, friends. I'm the new owner of a 2007 Prius and we bike. I need to carry 3 heavy-ish (hybrid) bikes safely (and without damaging my car!). I've read numerous posts for days on end about bike racks. I think I will go with a trunk mount for now, but I'm concerned about the ability of the popular Saris Bones 3 to carry these bikes. Has anyone tried the Thule Raceway on a Gen II Prius? I'll accept any other thoughts or tips as well! Thanks much! Julia
The Saris Bones is by far one of the best trunk mounted bike racks available. I have not used it on the Prius before so I cannot comment on the placement, but I have used the Bones 2 on my previous Acura TSX and it was much better than all the others out there. What is the weight for all three of your hybrids? I now currently use a Kuat Sherpa platform hitch mount.
I'm not sure of the exact weight, to be honest. But we're talking two adult hybrid bikes and a youth bike (those are WAY too heavy). What I've read about the Saris Bones 3 (which I almost purchased this weekend) is that with the weight of three bikes (and sometimes even with two bikes), the top arms (which rest on the back glass) pull away from the car with the weight of the bikes. In other words, the Saris Bones can't hold the weight. The other reason I like the Thule Raceway is for the fact that it can be locked -- the bikes can be locked onto it AND it can be locked onto the vehicle. Thank you very much for your input. I appreciate you taking the time. Julia
Hmm. that is interesting about the Saris Bones. The mount and strap points on both the Bones and Raceway looks very similar (though I can't say for sure). The Raceway does look very well built similar to the Bones. Your best bet would be to find a store that has a good return policy. Both Thule and Saris are top-notch companies and back their products fully. One thing, make sure the bottom mount is resting on the hatch and not the top of the rear bumper; I've read many complaints about sagging rear bumps. Check out this forum about bike racks: Car & Biker - Mountain Bike Review
anthony, or anyone else who uses a hitch mount... when you do not have the bike rack attached and are simply driving all year with the hitch mount attached to the underside of the rear of your Prius, do you see an MPG hit? Just curious re: any other implications of using the hitch as opposed to a trunk mount that can be removed when bikes aren't being carried.
I posted this on a couple of other threads b/c I thought it important for folks to hear regarding hitch mounted bike rack and bit drop in mpg: I recently had UHaul install a hitch on my 2007 Prius, bought a hitch mounted Thule bike carrier for 4 bikes and had no problem for the first few weeks with two bikes. Then I put on four for a short trip, and later that day transported two, one adult and one kids bike. The kids bike somehow came off the rack but didn't drag b/c lock kept it off the ground. I was perplexed b/c I knew I had strapped it on safely. That night, driving home down interstate, I carefully strapped on two bikes again. This time my adult bike came off the rack and dragged on highway for about 200 meters while I tried to pull over. Needless to say the bike got heavily damaged, and I'm returning the bike rack to the store b/c I don't think I can trust that type of rack on the back of my Prius knowing I'd done it all properly. I'd never heard of this before and would assume if someone told me that they'd obviously been a bit careless with the straps but I know 100% that I strapped the bike/s on very tightly and yet it still somehow came off. I'll not be using that hitch on the Prius ever again. One other thing, I noticed a huge drop in gas mileage with the bike rack. Usually on highway, at least, I get about 50 mpg; with the hitch and only two bikes, I got about 33 mpg.
Thanks very much for posting this information, bmott. I was very nearly sold on the hitch mount but may reconsider. It isn't worth taking a big hit in MPGs for the short summer and fall biking stint we have here. I was thinking that it woudl be great to have a hitch to also pull a small trailer when needed, but that might prove to be too much hauling for a small car! Thank you again!
Sorry for the long delay for the reply. I do keep my hitch mounted platform bike rack mounted during the season, but I remove it when I know I will not bike for a few weeks (when the weather is really hot or cold). I did encounter about 2-3 mpg loss with the rack installed. The rack is use is the Kuat Sherpa (very light but only restricted to 2 bikes). They also make the Kuat NV (heavier but has +2 bike addon). http://www.kuatinnovations.com/ I'm not sure if you are willing to spend that much on a bike rack, but I did for reassurance on my carbon frame and full susp bikes. I did use the strap on bike racks in the past, both hitch and trunk mounted. They were both the same to me, and I disliked them since it was a pain and time consuming to strap the bikes on.
Have not seen closure ot this thread and as I was in the market for a brand new 2012 and needed a new rack I settled on the Thule Raceway 3. I didn't really need a 3 bike carrier but the bike shop had the 3 as a floor model from last year and the 2 bike carrier that he had still in the box from a January shipment was $20 more then the 3 from last year. So far very happy, very sturdy, no straps to the side, posted some pics at the url below. PriusChat Forums - joachimz's Album: 2012 II seaglass pearl + Thule raceway 3
The best rack to use hitch mounted is the style that holds the wheels. They can be found cheap now days and are much better support wise. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DMJPLO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER That is a swagman XTC and is a great deal. They are light and easy to store when not needed.
