Bike Racks?

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fizzit

fizzit

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I've been looking into bike rack solutions for the SE and wanted to share my findings, and see if anyone else has thought about bike transportation solutions.

Here are the options I've considered so far:
Trunk racks: This is what I'm using at the moment. It attaches to the trunk with straps and hooks so it can potentially damage the paint, but it's more aerodynamic than having a bike on the roof. I estimate I get about a 10-20% range reduction on the freeway with two bikes on the back.

Hitch racks: I haven't been able to find a hitch receiver that says it's compatible with the 2020 Cooper. The closest I've found is one for the clubman. Even with a compatible hitch receiver, it looks like you'd have to cut up the bumper or underbody plastic to expose it.

Roof racks: There's the official Mini one. It looks like you need factory-installed roof rails to use it, so I haven't looked into it much.

Official MINI rear bike rack: It looks really nice but it's $750, and you need factory option SA3AR to use it, which apparently puts a threaded hole in the punchout spot on the left side of the bumper. I wasn't aware of that option when I purchased my Mini so I'm not sure if it's even available for the SE. The punchout is there but on my car there's just a rectangular hole in the bumper.

Suction cup racks: The seasucker mini bomber looks nice and sturdy but expensive. It's $500 for the two-bike version, and from my measurements it seems it would have to be placed on the roof, causing aerodynamics issues. There is also the hornet, which holds the handlebars and might work for hanging a bike behind the car, but it's $300 for one bike.

I'm interested to hear everyone else's thoughts on racks, and if there are any options I might have missed.
 
I've also been looking for bike rack options. I tried to get roof rails or the SA3AR option when I ordered my SE, but neither were available.
 
fizzit said:
Hitch racks: I haven't been able to find a hitch receiver that says it's compatible with the 2020 Cooper. The closest I've found is one for the clubman. Even with a compatible hitch receiver, it looks like you'd have to cut up the bumper or underbody plastic to expose it.
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It would be emotionally difficult to make the first cut to the special exhaust-free lower rear body panel of the MINI Cooper SE. I wonder if MINI hacked into that panel on the MINI Electric pre-production prototype to mount a hitch for this towing stunt?

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Seasucker has a 2X talon deal (2 single mounts) for $500 instead of $600. Mine just arrived today. Haven't had a chance to use it, but looks very well built.

I started looking at traditional hitch mounts for my other car. Adding up the cost of a stealth hitch, installation, and a Thule (or similar) bike rack and it quickly got into the $2000-3000 range.

The suction mounts have to be removed when you reach your destination to avoid theft, but they can be easily applied to almost any car whereas the stealth hitch install $ would be lost when we sell the car.
 
I still await my 2022, but I ordered the factory roof rails and rack. I'm planning to order the Yakima Highroad and give it a try. Hopefully won't have too much trouble lifting my bike up and down from the roof.
 
polyphonic said:
Seasucker has a 2X talon deal (2 single mounts) for $500 instead of $600. Mine just arrived today. Haven't had a chance to use it, but looks very well built.
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This video sold me on the SeaSucker, but I've been waffling because I want a rack for two bikes. Are you saying one can fit two bikes on the MINI? If so I'm sold!

 
It’s not too hard to get the bike on the roof (I’m 6’1”). More awkward than anything if you haven’t done it in a while.

There is definitely space for two bikes on the mini’s roof. I only took one out today, over some bumpy twisty roads to test it out. It held up perfectly without loosing suction.

It seems that most people tend to mount the suction cups to the paint as well as the moonroof glass.
The Seasucker Facebook page actually has a mini for the background pic and they mounted all suction cups to the moonroof. The manual confirms that glass/moonroofs are best when possible.

I heard it jostle the glass ever so slightly on occasion. That’s one of those things that an ICE would cover up.
 
Quick trip report. Hit a couple stops today with 2 bikes for a total of around 40 miles with some freeway driving. Seasuckers held on completely fine. No suction lost at any point. Something was clunking a bit here and there, but it wasn’t overly concerning.

Negative: applying and removing the racks is a little bit of a chore, especially since they require a very clean surface. They do not lock to the vehicle so you will need to stow them at your stops. I found that they are a magnet for animal hair.

Overall Seasucker is a solid product. Much cheaper than a hitch mounted rack. If you plan to use your Mini exclusively for bikes I would also look into a permanent roof mount or hitch solution.
 
Really appreciate the report on the Seasucker, polyphonic. Sounds like it could be great for a lot of use cases.

As an update on my rack situation, I kept rocking my hatch-strap rack for the rest of last summer and will probably keep using it when I start riding again this year. It held on fine at 70mph with two mountain bikes. I have just left it on the car in the parking lot when biking, there's a hook at the bottom that goes inside the hatch so you'd have to cut the strap to steal it. I put patches of 3M clear wrap on the top and edges of the hatch where the strap hooks go, and the padded bars go on the rear window and license plate, so there's no part of the rack contacting the car paint.
 
Puppethead said:
Did you see any drop in range? Happen to catch what the efficiency (mi/kWh) was?
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Unfortunately I didn't pay attention, but we used 20% of the battery. I just ran the trip on google maps and it was 37 miles. Over half of that was highway, but I stuck to the right lane at about 60-65 mph (lot of traffic). Temps in the 80s.

@fizzit likewise!

The rear hatch rack sounds like a good idea. No doubt that will be easier to load/unload. I actually had a Saris Bones a while back but got rid of it because of concerns about damaging the paint. Wish I would have thought to protect the car like you did. :)
 
Yakima Highroad
First report on the Yakima Highroad with Mini factory roof rails and cross bars: rock solid after one test run. Last night I installed the Yakima in about 15 minutes (will go much faster next time now that I figured it out). No tools needed. It has two tension connection points on the front cross bar and one connection on the rear bar.

Lifting my bike to the roof was no big deal. Just have to be firm in your hold on the lower frame as you guide the front wheel into the slot. Then keep a firm grip on the rear of the bike as you slightly roll it back and forward to get the secondary lift bar in place. A big ratchet knob then tightens the lift bars - you just tighten until it clicks like a gas cap. (That's right, I said gas cap on an EV post!) The rack grips tightly to the front wheel, and one strap tightens down on the rear wheel. The rear attachment point to the cross bar is separate from the wheel attachment point. The wheel attachment point slides as needed to match up to your bike's length. I like the low profile of the rack when there is no bike mounted.

I did a 30 minute drive including both local roads and the interstate up to 75 mph, in green mode only, and took it easy on the turns. My wife kept an eye on the bike through the moonroof. Both the rack and the bike remained solid throughout. The Yakima did not slide sideways on the bars. I will have no hesitation using this rack, but will report back if it develops any problems.

I have ordered 6 Yakima SKS lock cores, which supposedly will fit the Mini roof rails, so that I can have one key for the entire roof system and bike rack.

I may move the rear Mini cross bar back or forward 2 to 3 inches. The rear wheel landed directly on top of the cross bar, which made it difficult to pass the rear strap through the ratchet to tighten it down.

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Made my maiden voyage with my new SeaSucker Talon, 40 miles at freeway speeds with no issues. First time I've ever driven with a roof-mounted anything, so there was a bit of anxiety. But got to my destination with zero issues. And no noticeable loss of range. (Note: I have not gotten the hang of the Hogg adapter for the front wheel, so the front wheel rode inside.)

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Puppethead said:
Made my maiden voyage with my new SeaSucker Talon, 40 miles at freeway speeds with no issues. First time I've ever driven with a roof-mounted anything, so there was a bit of anxiety. But got to my destination with zero issues. And no noticeable loss of range. (Note: I have not gotten the hang of the Hogg adapter for the front wheel, so the front wheel rode inside.)

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I'm glad it went smoothly!
 
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