globetrotalot

Greetings all,

Looking for feedback on choosing the right bike rack for cross country trip in my white 2014 A4. Looking at both hitch and roof rack options.

I am hauling a cannondale mountain bike with 29" rims. I am torn between roof / hitch due the esthetics, road to hitch clearance, bridge clearance and low lying tree limb concerns and, of course, security of the bike.

Your informed thoughts and experience are welcome. Thank you in advance.

Cheers,
Eric

WishfulThinking

Roof versus hitch
* You will one day drive into something with bikes on the roof. Between now and then, you'll have anxiety about it. And if you don't have anxiety about it, that means you will drive into something sooner rather than later.
* Lifting of bikes onto roof isn't for everyone
* You'll have quite the collection of dead bugs on your bike if they're on the roof for a road trip
* So noisy due to wind noise
* If you park underground, super annoying to drive car out, park, get and load bikes from bike storage, proceed. Ditto when you get home.
* If you park in a garage or carport, gotta move car out first, then load/unload bikes.

Hitch mount
* So easy to load, especially if you get a tray rack (I can load & secure 2 bikes in less than 1 minute)
* No wind noise
* No collecting of dead bugs
* So easy if you park in a garage, carport, or underground
* Except for the hitch, the rest of the rack can be removed from the car within a minute. It's so easy that I only have the rack on my car each time I use it (once or twice a week in spring/summer).
* Road clearance is a non issue unless you go off-roading (unlikely, given you drive an A4)

Hope this helps!

Note, the hitch you'll want is the CURT 11186.

taxman1

Thule roof...just don't try to drive into a parking garage with the bike on top.

Been there; done that; seen that( much funnier than "done that")

jfo

I'd recommend the TorqueLift hitch over the Curt. Looks much better.

https://torkliftcentral.com/2009-2016-audi-a4-ecohitch