Bike Rack for Odyssey?

[LD92599]

Anyone have a bike rack for their Odyssey and if so, which one? We're looking for a hitch mounted type rack.

If you have one, who installed it? Dealer? Someone else? You? DH?

Thanks! Right now w/ load our bikes into the van itself but since we'll need the 2nd captains chair in a few months, that won't work, nor will it be safe!

TIA!

[willow33]

We don't have a minivan...have a SUV, but we bought an Allen bike rack on Amazon. DH attached it himself to the hitch and it can hold up to 4 bikes and can swing out so we can access the back of the car without removing the bikes. We've been very happy with it!

[DrSally]

I'm looking for one for my Oddy too. The bike shop we go to suggested the Yakima double down. I'm also looking at the Yakima swingdaddy, but that one doesn't get as good reviews (only 2 reviews on Amazon though). I've been checking CL for a used one.

ETA: The main brands I see mentioned are Yakima and Thule, but I think there are many others. I would be interested to see what luck others have had with different brands.

[twowhat?]

Saris Bones.

eta: it's not hitch-mounted but it works well. Check their website or call them for more info. They're also pretty inexpensive.

[niccig]

I have a CRV. I searched some Honda forums for the hitch that worked best on my car model. Then I called around to places where you can buy trailers and find someone that had the hitch and installed it. In hindsight, I could have bought the hitch myself online, and had our independent mechanic install it, but at the time I didn't have an independent mechanic. Apparently it's not difficult to do, and a handy person could do it themselves. But that's not me.

We were going to get a swing away hitch, but it was too heavy for me to carry and I wanted to be able to install it without needing DH's help. We were going to get a Yakima or a Thule, and when our local bike store had a sale, we got a Yakima on sale and they applied their coupon on top of that. We had to separately buy the lock to lock the bike carrier to the hitch and them a locking cable to secure the bikes to the carrier. You can just use a bike chain to lock the bikes to together and to the rack, which we did for a little while, but the built in lock is much simpler and quicker to do.

What ever you get make sure it has anti-sway - it can be a lot of weight on the back of your car swinging around.