I went through this selection process a year or so ago. I settled on a Softride Dura for my wife's station wagon, based on wanting something that folded down to allow access to the hatch, and I thought getting the backs on a rear rack would be easier than lifting them up onto a roof rack. I found one on craigslist: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robharrison/5969361080/ The Dura has an adapter that allows it to fit both 1 1/4" and 2" receivers, but the 1 1/4" adapter moves the whole rack back about 8", which makes for a pretty long cantilever: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robharrison/5969363620/ The rack is bolted on, very sturdy, and quite heavy. We leave it on all the time. The bars that actually hold the bikes come off, so you can put those in the back of the car. The rubber straps that fasten the bikes to the rack arms are secure, but not at all easy to attach. There are provisions for anti-sway straps too, which work well, but are also hard to attach. I haven't had any issues with scratching of bikes with the rack. I take care to slide the rubber straps under any cables. We've had two kids' bikes and two adult bikes on the rack. I like the fact that the bikes sit behind the car, which affords better mileage I imagine than having the bikes on top.
That said, if I had it to do over again, because of the difficulty of strapping the bikes on with this rack, and the versatility of being able to carry other stuff too (skis, canoe) on a roof rack, I'd get a roof rack with an arm like the KC Metro buses have instead, like this Thule Sidearm: http://www.thule.com/en-US/US/Products/Bike-Carriers/RoofCarriers/594XT-SidearmAs I understand it, Thule bought the rights to use this design from the Seattle company which makes the racks for the buses. Sportsrack maybe? You can still sometimes find the car roof racks they made on craigslist. Rob in Seattle -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/73sgSJ7fbesJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
