Their study was published recently in the.
Gas mileage and roof top bike racks.
The empty roof rack had a nearly 2 percent impact on fuel economy which translates to a little more than three quarters of a gallon of gas.
A rockymounts tomahawk upright mount rack is the best to use if you own a fat tire bicycle.
With the rack and two bikes that number dropped to 27 miles per hour.
The roof rack mpg experiment he compared the gas mileage of his car at 54 7 mph 88 kph with 1 no roof racks 2 an empty roof rack and 3 a mountain bike on the roof rack.
To make life as easy as possible for you we ve listed and reviewed what we believe to be the ten best value for money roof mounted bike racks below.
The 10 best roof mounted bike racks.
Mileage went from 41 mpg at 65 mph to 40 mpg.
They compared the gas mileage of a new honda accord with no rack an empty rack an empty rack and wind deflector and a rooftop rack with two bikes and deflector.
Most people that s in the back of their head.
Which roof bike rack is best for my fat tire bicycle.
Each one is different in some way so make sure you get the best option for your specific requirements.
In fact it significantly cuts your highway mileage all the time it s installed whether there s weight up there or not.
Adding any rooftop carrier cargo box or ski rack doesn t come free.
Mileage went from 41 mpg at 65 mph to 40 mpg.
As we found when we tested roof and hitch mounted bike racks the suv s mileage on the other hand showed less of a drop.
The empty roof rack had a nearly 2 percent impact on fuel economy which translates to a little more than three quarters of a gallon of gas.
The gear with the most impact were the dual mountain bikes strapped to the roof which impacted the fuel economy by 31 percent or 9 mpg.
So if your car usually gets 30 mpg on the highway and you add a full roof rack your highway gas mileage will drop to 24 27 mpg.
Yakima frontloader rooftop bike rack.
Some drivers may see their gas mileage drop by as much as 20 percent depending on vehicle type and type of roof rack.
With no rack the gas mileage was 42 miles per gallon.
If you must travel with a loaded roof rack try to choose the most aerodynamic roof rack you can.
A close second was the kayak with 28 percent or a.
However if you want to buy from other companies consider those that have a provision for tandem adapters that can.