Tips on bike racks
Kids have grown and their new bikes won’t fit in the trunk of our 2014 forester. I realize I need to install a bike rack but I have no idea what to do, where to look, what to buy and how to install it. Should I call the dealership and ask them if they sell and install it? It seems I need to get a hitch installed first but there are several different types of hitches and million different types of racks. I am petite, so top mount won’t work for me. I would appreciate any tips you may have on which product to buy and where to take the car for installation. I am hoping to get at least 2 bikes on a rack on the back of the car. Thank you!
Feb 6, 2021
Parent Replies
I used to work at REI and we helped people with this sort of thing all the time. If it were me, I would head down to the store and have them take a look and make a recommendation. It's been several years, but I know they still sell bike racks and I assume they can help!
We have a 2010 Forester and use a Thule bike rack that we got at REI and fits on the back of our car. It can fit 3 adult bikes. We've taken it to Oregon and Tahoe and haven't had any issues. On the Thule site, you can plug in your car info to figure out which racks will work. If you wanted a rear mount, these are the ones that will work with a 2014 Forester: https://www.thule.com/en-us/fit-my-car?c=bike+carriers&q=P7MTUF4BG
Kuat works great for us. We had the hitch and rack installed at Rack N Road in San Rafael. That’s their specialty and we’ve had no problem with it. It works great. During the install, the worker made a scratch to the back of our Prius, we pointed it out, but they said it wasn’t them. It’s not a big deal but go prepared and maybe pad the area.
I'd recommend going to uhaul and getting a hitch installed. We went to the one in richmond and they installed one on our subaru outback. Uhaul actually does a lot of installs for subaru dealerships. As far as the rack, I like the thule, yakima and kuat brands.