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If you’ve started looking for a bike rack for your Honda CR-V, you’ll have noticed two things:
- There are millions of different options available
- 99% of them will be hitch-mounted racks
This will no doubt have left you feeling:
- Somewhat confused about what the best option is when you don’t have a hitch on your CR-V, and
- Really annoyed that no-one has had the decency to write an article about, oh let’s say… “Bike Rack For Honda CR-V Without Hitch”
So, I’ve done some research for you and can now reveal what the best cycle carrier is for your CR-V. Let’s take a look.
Highly Recommended
Bike rack recommendations | ||
  Saris Bones 3-Bike |   Thule Gateway Pro |   Allen Sports 4-Bike |
Where can you fit a bicycle rack onto a Honda CR-V?
Leaving aside the hitch, there are three places where you can put bikes in/on a CR-V. These are:
- On the roof
- Inside the trunk
- On the trunk lid
Just for the record, I hate those first two and love the third one.
Putting bikes on a roof rack is fraught with danger, difficulty, and opportunities for damaging you, your bikes, and the car. When you have to hoist a 35lb bike up over your head, using one hand because the other needs to clip the bike onto the rack, things will go wrong. And when things go wrong in the situation, bad stuff will inevitably happen.
Putting bikes inside the trunk is also likely to lead to problems. Whilst you might not be able to drop bikes on your head, you still have the opportunity to damage bike components and the interior of your trunk. With bikes taking up all the trunk space, you never have enough room left over for all the other gear that you’re taking with you on your car trip – luggage, lunch, dog, kitchen sink, etc.
So, we’re going to discount those two ‘options’ straight away and, instead, I’ll tell you about my favorite trunk lid-mounted bike rack – the Saris Bones Ex Trunk Rack.
I’m often accused (mainly by close family members, admittedly) of rabbiting on about things that I’m passionate about.
So, today, I’m going to turn over a new leaf. Instead of going all the way through some sort of ‘Hit Parade’ of the ‘Top 100 Best Trunk Racks Ever (Part 3)’, I’m going to cut to the chase and just give you the details of the Number One best trunk rack.
And, this is it. The Saris Bones EX.
We’ve used trunk-mounted racks on cars for many years and I love them. The Saris Bones is easy to fit and it can be done simply and quickly by one person. The rack weighs around 11 lbs so it’s light enough to hold against your trunk with one hand. With the other hand you can then attach the hooks (at the top of the trunk lid first) tighten those to hold the rack up, then attach the remaining hooks and tighten those to secure the rack fully in position.
Time taken? A minute. Two at the very most.
It’s also very easy to take off by reversing that process. With the time taken for that being even less. That’s great because it means you won’t just leave it on the car. I’ve seen too many incidents where drivers have forgotten they’ve still got a rack attached and backed the car up too close to a wall – crunch!
When the rack is off the vehicle it folds up really small so you can easily stash it. In the trunk maybe, or at home in the garage or a closet.
The webbing straps that secure the rack are very sturdy and give a wobble-free hold to the rack and your bikes. That’s an essential because any movement could otherwise lead to scratched bodywork and/or bikes. No issue there with the Saris.
As a quick aside, a pro tip is to use pipe foam wrap to protect the frame and other components on your bikes when they’re racked up. It’s a cinch to cut lengths to whatever size you need and wrap them around bike frames. Pick up some from your local DIY store or get some from Amazon. Alternatively, get a set of these useful car scratch protectors.
Now, you might be wondering what the Saris Bones will look like attached to the back a CR-V? Wouldn’t it be great if we had a video showing how the rack fits onto the trunk of, let’s say, a CR-V? How it looks with car and rack cruising down the highway?
Okay…probably rabbiting on now…
Roll VT:
P.S. don’t worry if you have bikes without a ‘standard’ horizontal crossbar. People with ladies’ bikes, kids’ bikes, full-suspension MTBs, and low-step/step-through bikes are all in the same boat here! All you need is a crossbar adaptor which can be used to take the place of that standard crossbar. They’re simple to fit and Allen Sports do a great one that gets excellent reviews. I’ve put a link at the top of the page.
The best rack for your Honda CR-V is the Saris Bones EX Trunk Rack
I hope this article has been useful for you in clarifying what type of rack works best for a CR-V? Like I said at the top of the page, there are a million different car racks to choose from and it can be confusing trying to work out which is the best one for you and your car.
Taking bikes with you on vacation, or just for a day out, can really add to the experience. When you’ve got the proper kit, like this rack, it can make it all so much easier.
Enjoy!
