Hitch racks, whether tray-style or hanging- style, are installed to a vehicle’s trailer hitch to support bikes by the wheels or by the frame. As a result, it holds more types of bikes. When you load or unload your bikes, this rack will not accidentally scratch the paint because it keeps your bikes away from the car. In consequence, if you care about your vehicle's paint, this might be a good choice. Also, it’s the simplest installation than any other racks, just tightening these racks into a receiver. When you’re not carrying bikes or when you aren’t using it, most of hitch racks can be folded down and tilted out of the way. However, the factor whether your car has a hitch or not should be taken into account. If no, it will be an extra budget in that you need to get one installed. Moreover, some hitch racks allow you to tilt the rack down or swing it to the side for vehicle access while the other don’t. At this time you have to unload the bikes to get easily accessible to the rear hatch or trunk of your vehicle. At last, one of the worst downsides to hitch racks is its added caveat of weight. If you transport multiple bikes, it would be one disaster after another. Although some bike locks are available, yet greater attention should be paid to theft of bikes, even the rack.

If you need to take three or four bikes, multi-sport trailer is just the thing, which often has the most greatest capacity. These trailers can be used to carry other outdoor equipment, like kayaks, surfboards and luggage boxes. Moreover, they can often be accommodated to different vehicles. Super easy to disassemble the bike from your car and zero scratch is one of their advantages as well. Nevertheless, bike trailer does more harm than good. It is the most expensive rack. And you need to make sure that there is enough space to store it in garage or house. What’s worse, whether your truck has a hitch receiver or not affects your choice. If yes, the size of the hitch is another consideration; if no, you have to pay extra expenditure for installation of a hitch receiver. Lastly, the driver can not notice what happens behind, which will lead to many harmful results. Rear car accident may damage the rack and what it carries. Theft is also a hassle. Of course you can lock your bike securely, whereas that means additional charges will be paid for bike lock.

If your budget won’t allow you to get multi-sport trailer, hatch rack is a good budget-friendly alternative. As the most inexpensive bike rack, installation and storage of these racks are under a minute, so does remove the bike. Additionally, if your vehicle doesn’t have a trailer hitch, trunk rack is an easier solution to mount to the back of almost any kinds of vehicles than any other racks. Thanks to its light weight, it exerts less effect on fuel consumption than other tray-style racks. And this option is not permanently mounted to your vehicle, so it’s suitable for the occasional ride. The weaknesses of trunk rack can be concluded as following: in the first place, it’s a must for you to remove your bikes to access to the back of car; in the second place, with the straps and hooks mounting on your car, and with your bikes hanging by the frame, both of them are taking some risk of scratching paintwork; in the third place, boot rack is not as stable as a hitch rack. For example, if you want to carry more than one bike, they would sway a bit during transport, thus bumping into one another, which is promised to damage not only your car but also your bikes. And they show limitation in carrying multiple bicycles. Last but not least, some bike locks are available, but care must be taken of bike and rack itself’s theft.

If you carry your bike on the top of your car, it will provide plenty of places to friends, kids or other gears. Roof racks are attached to a base crossbar system (we will get some details later) and places the bikes sturdily on the top of the vehicle, which takes an advantage in two aspects: first, driver's view is guaranteed to be clear by keeping your bike up the vehicle; second, no impeded access to your vehicle’s trunk and interior compartment is ensured because roof rack isn’t installed on a vehicle’s rear hatch around. Besides of mounting a bike, a roof rack can be used for any outdoor sports equipment in your inventory, from kayaks, skis, snowboards to paddle boards. However, in order to get your bike up and down from the roof, not only does it require you to be strong and tall enough, but it also will account for the paint getting scratched. An entra endeavor needs to be spent in looking for car parks or garages that fit into overhead areas. Kindly keep in mind that don't drive your vehicle into the garage while your bike is still on the roof.

Let’s mention the last bike storage option for car in our list. Spare-tire racks, mounted on rear-mounted exterior spare tires, is moderate costly. Due to its comparatively light weight, it’s usually simply installed and easily removed. On the negative side, they don’t offer great capacity as other racks, just carrying only 2 bikes. In addition, bikes may obstruct driver's view, which may account for car accident. The rack must match with rear-mounted exterior spare tires.