For JUST that reason.. I would strongly hesitate on utilizing such a device to "hold" my bike(s).

I'd imagine if there was some kind of sudden sharp turn (like to avoid an animal in the road or an accident in from of you) / the side-ways shift would cause your bike to torque loose > pop one of those suckers and risk your bike flopping around against your vehicle and eventually break the glass and fall off onto the highway/street..

Investing in the hitch, is not only wiser, it allows for SO MUCH More solid options to carry your bikeS (safe-r) and a ton of other stuffs!

And, a hitch stiffens and add strength to the rear subframe too boot. Just my 2 cents.

These aren't your regular suction cups. These are VACUUM cups.

@pipefish
I understand they're vacuum suckers.
I understand they can hold a bike going at "high speeds" in a straight line. Also, did you notice the bike they used? It looks like a professional race bike which is very likely made of carbon fiber and weighs only 12-15 lbs.**

The Mustang video was done on gravel.. I would like to see them drift on asphalt instead, with them bikes. I believe the results would be different.

I'm not dissing those suckers nor the company.
I'm just saying I've seen too many weird/crazy drivers on the roads and how they can cause you or others to swerve and those lateral forces can/may pop the bike off. So, knowing that why put yourself or other drivers in possible danger when you can carry bike(s) more safely on a hitch mount rack that's already been tested by thousands (if not millions) of bike riders already?
That's all I'm saying.


Now in your case.. since you are using what appears to be FIVE of them suckers to hold down your single bike, there's probably not much to worry. I was mainly concerned of people who use the bare minimum suckers (just two) to strap down their gear.


**& costs between $6,700-8,900+... Anyone who can afford bikes like that probably won't have any worries about accidents if their bike falls off.

i know, old thread .... but i used my cheap Bell rack i got from Walmart ($45) successfully yesterday on the OS.

it actually works better than it did on our Forester, as one of the padded mounting points rests below the rear wiper - on the Forester it rested on the rear glass, which made me a little nervous.

adjustable for cars, hatchbacks, or SUV's. only takes a couple minutes to mount it up or remove it ... and its cheap.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-Canti...Bike-Rack/3918

I;ve seen snow ski carriers that using sorta similar pads - magnetic and those I would use. But putting my carbon fiber bikes on those SeaSuckers and roaring through the mountains.... I dunno! Pretty innovative though. I use a www.northshoreracks.com 4 bike carrier. Its only downside is that it does not carry road bikes. (But I am fixing that with a little custom mod!)

They do fit lol with out taking off the wheel on the mountain bike

I once put two road and one mountain bike in the back of a Mazda 323 - smaller than the space in the RVR. One is easily doable with or without the front wheel on. I tried both ways.

Had a sunday fun day

These trunk/hatch mounted bike transporters are not recommended for the OS/RVR. Heavier bikes and bike racks can damage the rear spoiler. If the spoiler breaks your bike can fall off and can be dangerous to someone following you. Saris (Bones) and Thule (Raceway series) make really nice ones for two or three bikes but I am concerned about the safety and the potential damage (dent) they can cause (although some people install it on Audi A7):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE1PJPxEs50
Some examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhPgXOOnSv4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TWDgm8BpS8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14QXTxTzIzU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxdI8PEcz7o
Update:
Here is a user review of the Saris Bones 3 on OS:
http://nosetothewind.com/2013/10/21/...saris-bones-3/
People use these type of racks on even more expensive cars e.g. Porsche Macan (but it is not recommended)
http://www.macanforum.com/forum/appe...pon-macan.html
with these type of hatch mounted bike racks I would suggest to use something like this (see the attached image):

In my opinion the answer in most cases is a no.
1. Inside the car? Nobody was suggesting that the bike should be anchored down to the hooks found on the cargo floor. Without tieing the bike down it can easily become a weapon in case of a collision or during an emergency braking.
2. On top of the car? On a straight line most of them could be fine but during an emergency maneuver they break loose.
3. On trunk mounted bike racks? Many of them uses straps that can easily stretch and loosen up. Even the more expensive ones with wire cables were reported to snap.
4. On hitch-mounted bike racks? They could be the best ones but far from being safe. Cost cutting is not the way to go.

See these independent tests below (the videos are quite informative, one do not have to speak the language to understand the message).
The tests were performed by ADAC (and in some cases translated to other languages) :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADAC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYoYy3jhxGw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjXgtTXslEQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7TLOUDw5vw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx2gb8NJN2A

World famous triathlete Scott Tinley was once asked the safest way to get a bike to a triathlon. His reply? "Ride it there". And fellow Canadian Olympian Steve Bauer was once asked if he was concerned about his bike being damaged by the airlines. His reply? "Nothing I couldn't fix with a hammer and a pipe wrench!"

For the record, I've traveled to dozens and dozens of races with bikes in a car (hatchback). There is NFW that a bike could hurt you unless it came through the back of a seat.

The very best ones are hitch mounted (excluding the rear end collision which is well, not your fault). I have a North Shore Racks NS4. http://www.northshoreracks.com/NSR%204-bike.htm Softride makes a cool one as well. http://www.softride.com/rack-product...ang5_bike_rack Others like the 1upRack are they hitch mounted tray racks and for more than two bikes, basically stick out so far back they might as well have their own zip code.

Thanks for these really cool quotes. Not being a professional biker I meant safe transportation for the folks on the road and not for the bike. I should have specified it in my post.

Luckily, you never had an accident while driving to and from those races. Your statement is quite strong, I would not be so sure but it is just me, I am overly cautious. Most of the time just throwing the bike into the cabin is fine except when an accident happens. We would not need seat belts, airbags, etc. if we were to plan only for uneventful rides. I would still anchor the bike somewhere.

I would anchor the bike only to protect it from damage. I used to carry up to six racing bikes in a Grand Caravan - made a custom fork hold down rack for them that bolted to the rear seat channels. it would have taken a heckuva crash to dislodge them (like a rollover maybe?). I would still vote putting them on the outside of the car with the proviso that high end carbon bikes should NOT be on the roof. A rock at 75 mph would cause "issues".

I agree and thanks for your input.