Driving performance with bike mounted roof rack?

[furrydogs]

I'm debating whether to get a hitch mount bike rack or use my current Yakima attachments for a roof mounted system. I swore I would never use the roof system again because of decreased gas mileage, performance and getting blown all over the place. Has anybody put their bikes on the roof and if so how was the driving experience? Thanks

[furrydogs]

I definitely figured it would cut down on gas mileage, which I can live with, but my main concern would be driving down the Interstate at 80 MPH with the bikes on top. With my old 4Runner I had problems maintaining 75 MPH with the bikes on top b/c of the drag and the puny 4 cylinder that was in it. I am hoping the Vibe has enough get up and go to do 75 in 5th gear.

[ShotInTheDark]

oh I have no doubt that you could go that fast but the best thing to do is to buy a Bike Tight strip and mount it in the back of the car. If there are only two of you that is. Search the forum and you will find a few other members who have mounted bikes in their cars.

[NovaResource]

Ever think about mounting the bikes IN the Vibe? Check out this thread:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=1046

[Jethro]

I'll try the inside mount for hauling my bike so I can get a quick ride in over my lunch hour. But for serious bike hauling I'm very pleased with my hitch mounted rack and wouldn't imagine any other way (short of securely attached in the bed of a truck which I don't have).I wouldn't dream of trying to wrestle bikes to the roof (even if I was tall enough to accomplish the job, which I'm not). I've seen the results of dropping a bike down the side of a car and it wasn't good! Not worth the risk.

[furrydogs]

You're right. Have you seen the results of a bike and roof rack that has tried to go into a parking garage? Not a pretty picture either.

[cds22]

I carry one or two bikes upright inside my Vibe for the occasional ride during the week. But for longer trips when I need that inside storage space I put them on the roof (I prefer to sacrifice a bit of gas mileage in exchange for easy access to the back hatch). In my old car I had fork down mounts that were very sturdy and I never worried about the bikes on the roof. Howerver, I have to say I was a bit worried about having to switch to down tube mounts because I wanted to attach them directly to the factory rack. But, I'm happy to say I have had no problem with them. I did a road trip of over 2000 km with two bikes on the roof and had no problems at all. The bikes were held on very sturdy and I didn't really notice much drop in gas mileage (it was a bit noicy though, couldn't keep the sunroof open). In fact, we go up to 700km on a single tank with the bikes on the roof (we like to keep a nice, efficient 95 - 100 kmph )