My Cargo Racks

Industry report · 2026

The State of Cargo Racks 2026

What people search for, what racks cost, what owners complain about, what a used rack is worth and what gets recalled — for bike racks, roof boxes, rooftop tents and everything else that carries gear on a vehicle.

666 products · 93 brands · 225,330 owner reviews · 58 search terms · 28 outside sources

5.4×

growth in US searches for e-bike racks, 2019 → 2024

Every other product topic: 0.86× to 1.34×

~$992

typical list price of a hitch bike rack

Middle 80% of models: ~$427 – ~$1,820

225.3K

owner reviews behind the sentiment data

239 products, collected 1 September 2026

26%

of car racks are rated to carry the median e-bike

Median e-bike 27 kg; median rack limit 23 kg per bike

Search demand

Rack demand is back to 2019 levels. E-bike racks are the exception.

Google searches are the closest thing this industry has to a public sales chart. We grouped 52 US search terms into 19 product topics and followed them month by month from January 2019. The 2020–21 pandemic spike shows up almost everywhere, and almost everywhere it has fully unwound: by 2024, the last year that is measured for every term, most topics sit close to where they started.

Monthly US searches by product topic, 2019 onward

Each panel has its own zero-based scale, so compare shapes, not heights; the figure in the corner is the top of that panel's axis. The badge compares average monthly searches in 2024 with 2019.

E-bike racks

5.4× since 2019
10K/mo

Bike racks (all types)

1.11× since 2019
200K/mo

Measured through Jan 2025

Hitch bike racks

1.04× since 2019
50K/mo

Measured through Mar 2025

Roof boxes & cargo boxes

1.15× since 2019
50K/mo

Measured through Dec 2024

Roof racks & crossbars

1.02× since 2019
50K/mo

Rooftop tents

1.34× since 2019
100K/mo

Measured through Apr 2025

Kayak & canoe racks

0.87× since 2019
100K/mo

Measured through Jan 2025

Ski & snowboard racks

1.00× since 2019
20K/mo

Measured through Mar 2025

Hitch cargo carriers

1.24× since 2019
25K/mo

Measured through Apr 2025

Truck bed & overland racks

1.19× since 2019
10K/mo

RV racks & levelling

1.01× since 2019
20K/mo

Measured through Apr 2025

Motorcycle carriers

1.15× since 2019
10K/mo

Measured through Jan 2025

E-bike rack searches averaged 3,729 a month in 2024 against 696 in 2019 — 5.4×. The next fastest-growing topic managed 1.34×.

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer — monthly Google search volume estimates, retrieved 20 September 2026. Recent months that Ahrefs had modelled rather than measured are cut; see Methodology.[1]

View the data
Monthly US searches by product topic, 2019 onward
TopicSearch terms included2019 avg / month2024 avg / monthChangeMeasured through
E-bike racksebike rack, e bike rack, electric bike rack, bike rack for electric bikes, e bike rack for car6963,7295.4×Aug 2026
Rooftop tentsrooftop tent, roof top tent, hard shell roof top tent24,86633,3731.34×Apr 2025
Hitch cargo carriershitch cargo carrier, hitch cargo box7,7219,6101.24×Apr 2025
Rooftop cargo bagsroof bag, rooftop cargo bag1,2981,5531.20×Aug 2026
Truck bed & overland rackstruck bed rack, overland rack3,1413,7241.19×Aug 2026
Vertical bike racksvertical bike rack1,8672,2001.18×May 2025
Surf & paddleboard rackssurfboard rack, paddle board rack1,8772,1671.15×Aug 2026
Motorcycle carriersmotorcycle hitch carrier, motorcycle carrier5,4596,2801.15×Jan 2025
Roof boxes & cargo boxesroof box, cargo box, roof cargo box, rooftop cargo carrier, car top carrier12,79214,6871.15×Dec 2024
Bike racks (all types)bike rack, bike rack for car, bike rack for suv41,71946,3841.11×Jan 2025
Truck bike carriers & tailgate padstruck bed bike rack, bike rack for truck, tailgate pad4,9065,3621.09×Jan 2025
Hitch bike rackshitch bike rack, bike hitch rack, 2 bike hitch rack, 4 bike rack, platform bike rack, hanging bike rack10,09910,5291.04×Mar 2025
Roof racks & crossbarsroof rack, roof rack cross bars, crossbars19,55219,8511.02×Aug 2026
RV racks & levellingrv bike rack, rv leveling blocks, rv cargo carrier4,1224,1751.01×Apr 2025
Roof bike racksroof bike rack1,0091,0091.00×Aug 2026
Ski & snowboard racksski rack, snowboard rack5,3745,3571.00×Mar 2025
Trunk bike rackstrunk bike rack1,5911,4320.90×May 2025
Kayak & canoe rackskayak rack, kayak roof rack, canoe rack, kayak rack for truck14,80312,8720.87×Jan 2025
Roof basketsroof basket, cargo basket2,7302,3580.86×Feb 2025

What grew and what shrank, 2019 → 2024

Average monthly US searches in 2024 divided by the 2019 average. The axis is logarithmic, so halving and doubling are the same length.

  • E-bike racks5.4×
  • Rooftop tents1.34×
  • Hitch cargo carriers1.24×
  • Rooftop cargo bags1.20×
  • Truck bed & overland racks1.19×
  • Vertical bike racks1.18×
  • Surf & paddleboard racks1.15×
  • Motorcycle carriers1.15×
  • Roof boxes & cargo boxes1.15×
  • Bike racks (all types)1.11×
  • Truck bike carriers & tailgate pads1.09×
  • Hitch bike racks1.04×
  • Roof racks & crossbars1.02×
  • RV racks & levelling1.01×
  • Roof bike racks1.00×
  • Ski & snowboard racks1.00×
  • Trunk bike racks0.90×
  • Kayak & canoe racks0.87×
  • Roof baskets0.86×

Of 19 topics, 12 are more than 2% above their 2019 level, 3 are more than 2% below it and 4 are within 2% either way (grey). The median topic moved 1.11×.

Ahrefs search-volume estimates, retrieved 20 September 2026.[1]

When people shop: searches by calendar month

Each row is indexed to its own average month (100), using 2022–2024 so the pandemic spike does not distort the shape.

Seasonal index of US search demand by product topic and calendar month
TopicJanFebMarAprMayJuneJulyAugSeptOctNovDec
Bike racks (all types)637110011613815514612893726258
E-bike racks556792113128136138134108857966
Roof boxes & cargo boxes8384989511814715011078737986
Roof racks & crossbars88891009911613513511085798284
Rooftop tents899510310611312212411399897869
Kayak & canoe racks51598811517219919812572453838
Ski & snowboard racks1951339059535056627387149193
RV racks & levelling6274111110138146160126100695745
Motorcycle carriers788810812212513111911394837268

Bike racks (all types) searches peak in June at 155 and bottom out in Dec at 58. Ski & snowboard racks runs the opposite calendar, peaking in Jan.

Ahrefs search-volume estimates, retrieved 20 September 2026.[1]

Brand demand: who is being searched for

Average monthly US searches for “<brand> bike rack”. Bare brand names are unusable here: Yakima is also a city and Saris a garment.

Brand demand: who is being searched for
Brand2019 avg / month2024 avg / monthChange
1Up USA5,30111,0052.1×
Kuat6,88910,6801.55×
Thule20,48619,1680.94×
Yakima8,2126,9810.85×

Searches for 1Up USA racks stand at 2.1× their 2019 level; searches for Yakima racks at 0.85×.

Ahrefs search-volume estimates, retrieved 20 September 2026.[1]

Same products, very different countries

Average monthly searches in 2024 per million people, using each country's own vocabulary — roof box, cargo box, Dachbox, roof pod.

Monthly searches per million people by country and product, 2024
ProductUnited StatesCanadaUnited KingdomAustraliaGermany
Bike racks125104238314503
Roof boxes163215349179
Roof racks4557110137101
Rooftop tents9359182936323

Per head, Germany searches for roof boxes about 11× as often as the United States, and Australia searches for rooftop tents about 10× as often.

Ahrefs search-volume estimates, retrieved 20 September 2026.[1] Vocabulary differs by country and no list of terms is complete, so read these as orders of magnitude, not market shares.[28]

Almost nobody googles a used rack: every “used …” term we track added up to about 458 US searches a month in 2024. The second-hand market lives on classifieds, which is where we went to measure it — see the used-market section.

If you are buying

Demand peaks in early summer for everything except ski racks. Shop the quiet months if you can plan ahead: the products are the same in January.

If you make or sell racks

The pandemic cohort has been absorbed. Growth now has to come from a new reason to buy, and the search data points at one: bikes that are too heavy for the rack people already own.

The e-bike weight gap

Most e-bikes are heavier than most racks are rated for

A rack has a weight limit per bike, and e-bikes are heavy. To see how far the two have drifted apart we took the stated weight of 73 e-bikes on sale in North America from their makers' own pages, and the per-bike limit of 125 car racks from theirs. We could not find a published comparison of the two.

E-bike weights against per-bike rack limits

Top: share of e-bikes in each weight band. Bottom: share of racks whose per-bike limit falls in the same band. Bands are kg.

E-bikes, by weight (73)

1%
12%
15%
21%
16%
19%
14%
1%
9–1314–1718–2223–2627–3132–3536–4041+
30%
16%
10%
25%
6%
5%
9%

Car racks, by per-bike limit (125)

The median e-bike in our sample weighs 27 kg; the median rack is rated for 23 kg per bike. 26% of racks are rated to carry the median e-bike, and 9% can carry the heaviest tenth (from 38 kg).

E-bike weights: manufacturer product pages, 73 models, accessed 20 September 2026. Rack limits and prices: manufacturer product pages, re-checked 20 September 2026. The e-bike list is a spread across types and brands, not weighted by sales, and makers quote weights with different inclusions (battery, pedals, size). For 10 brands — among them Giant / Liv, Trek / Electra, Cannondale, Orbea — we could not read a stated weight from the maker's own site, so they are missing. Many racks also lower their per-bike limit when an add-on is fitted; we use the highest standard figure.

View the data
E-bike weights against per-bike rack limits
kgE-bikes, by weight (73)Car racks, by per-bike limit (125)
9–1310
14–17937
18–221120
23–261512
27–311231
32–35148
36–40106
41+111

What a given rating actually covers

Share of the e-bikes in our sample that weigh no more than the limit.

  • Rated 18 kg per bike15%
  • Rated 23 kg per bike29%
  • Rated 27 kg per bike49%
  • Rated 32 kg per bike68%
  • Rated 36 kg per bike86%

A 18 kg rating — still common on hanging and trunk racks — covers 15% of e-bikes. 36 kg covers 86%.

E-bike weights: manufacturer product pages, 73 models, accessed 20 September 2026. Rack limits and prices: manufacturer product pages, re-checked 20 September 2026.

Median weight by type of e-bike

  • Fat-tire & moped-style35 kg15 models · 25 kg–42 kg
  • Cargo & utility35 kg10 models · 29 kg–40 kg
  • Folding28 kg10 models · 16 kg–33 kg
  • Commuter & city26 kg17 models · 16 kg–38 kg
  • Electric mountain23 kg14 models · 16 kg–26 kg
  • Road & gravel15 kg7 models · 13 kg–25 kg

Manufacturer product pages, 20 September 2026.

What an e-bike rating costs

Hitch racks whose maker says they carry e-bikes, against those that do not. Medians, across the 91 hitch racks whose maker states a per-bike limit.

What an e-bike rating costs
Hitch racksRacksList pricePer-bike limitRack weight
Rated for e-bikes58~$1,37027 kg23 kg
Not rated for e-bikes33~$63818 kg16 kg

An e-bike rating adds ~$736 to the median list price (~$1,370 against ~$638) and 7 kg to the rack you lift onto the hitch. It is not a guarantee: 53% of the racks sold as e-bike-ready are rated below the 27 kg median e-bike.

Manufacturer product pages, 20 September 2026.

Per-bike limit against list price, every hitch rack

Each dot is a rack and links to its page. Coral: the maker says it carries e-bikes. Dashed line: the median e-bike. Racks sharing a limit and price are nudged apart so every dot is visible.

  • Rated for e-bikes
  • Not rated

List price

Per-bike weight limit (kg)

Manufacturer product pages, 20 September 2026.

Racks rated for a 27 kg bike, cheapest first

Every rack we re-checked whose maker states a per-bike limit at or above the median e-bike. Check the limit for your configuration: several drop when an add-on is fitted.

Racks rated for a 27 kg bike, cheapest first
RackPer-bike limitList price
Saris MHS Modular Base36 kg~$354
Allen Sports E-Bike Hitch Rack 2-Bike32 kg~$482
Saris MHS DUO Tray36 kg~$638
SeaSucker Mini Bomber 2-Bike Rack45 kg~$707
1Up USA Heavy Duty Single29 kg~$709
1Up USA Heavy Duty Single29 kg~$709
Hollywood Racks RV Rider 2-Bike36 kg~$921
1Up USA Super Duty Single45 kg~$957
1Up USA Super Duty Single45 kg~$957
Yakima OnRamp30 kg~$991
Hollywood Racks Destination E 2-Bike (E-Bike)32 kg~$1,060
1Up USA Heavy Duty Double29 kg~$1,090
Yakima StageTwo32 kg~$1,350
VelociRAX 3X MAX45 kg~$1,420
Yakima OnRamp LX 236 kg~$1,420

and 17 more at higher prices

Manufacturer product pages, 20 September 2026.

If you are buying

Weigh your bike, or look up its stated weight, before you look at racks. Then check the per-bike limit, not the total: the total assumes lighter bikes.

If you make or sell racks

The rated-for-e-bikes segment starts at about ~$709. Below that price a buyer with a 27 kg bike has almost nothing to choose from.

Prices

What a rack costs in 2026

Manufacturer list prices for the 664 of our 666 products that have one. Each bar covers the middle 80% of products in the category and the dot is the median — not the average, which a handful of rooftop tents would drag upward.

Typical list price by category

10th percentile, median and 90th percentile. Logarithmic axis. Categories with fewer than 5 priced products are not shown.

Categoryn

The median list price runs from ~$92 for surfboard carriers to ~$4,030 for rooftop tents. Inside bike racks alone, the middle 80% runs from ~$284 to ~$1,570.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

View the data
Typical list price by category
CategoryProductsLow (10th pct.)MedianHigh (90th pct.)
Rooftop Tents92~$2,130~$4,030~$6,380
RV Carriers57~$207~$916~$1,910
Truck Racks7~$396~$707~$1,440
Cargo Carriers128~$126~$707~$1,560
Motorcycle Carriers9~$466~$707~$1,050
Bike Racks148~$284~$700~$1,570
Ski & Snowboard23~$296~$495~$774
Kayak & Canoe50~$125~$289~$729
Snowmobile Racks13~$149~$211~$279
ATV & UTV Racks7~$120~$211~$636
Accessories26~$33~$163~$335
RV Leveling60~$28~$113~$529
Paddleboard Carriers15~$51~$106~$476
Surfboard Carriers29~$48~$92~$220

How the whole catalogue splits by price

Number of products in each list-price band.

124
137
124
123
86
70
Under ~$142
~$142 – ~$354
~$354 – ~$709
~$709 – ~$1,420
~$1,420 – ~$2,840
~$2,840+

39% of the products we track list under ~$354; 11% list at ~$2,840 or more.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

How current are these prices?

35%

In September 2026 we re-read list prices from the manufacturers' own pages for 138 of 153 bike racks, 51 of 102 rooftop tents, 38 of 38 roof boxes. 193 products had both a price on record and a re-read one; 22 moved by more than half and were set aside as probable variant changes. Of the remaining 171, 59 were higher than the figure on record — by a median of 16.5% — 18 were lower and 94 matched. The charts use the re-read price where there is one.

Every other price on this page, including about half of the rooftop tents, is the list price we had on record, which may be older. Treat those medians as a floor.

If you are buying

List price is a ceiling, not a forecast — sale prices are common. Check the maker's current list price before judging a deal: 35% of the prices we had on record were below it.

If you make or sell racks

58% of what we track lists under ~$709. Above ~$2,840 almost everything is a rooftop tent. The bands are not equal widths, so read the counts, not the shape.

What your money buys

Hitch racks: what each price band includes

Hitch racks are the one category large enough to split by price. For each band we counted the racks that tilt away from the hatch, lock the bikes to the rack, hold the bike without touching the frame, and are rated by their maker for e-bikes.

Share of hitch racks with each feature, by list price

Percent of racks in the band. A feature the manufacturer does not state is counted as absent.

Tilts away from the hatch

90%
93%
92%
94%
Under ~$425n = 10
~$425 – ~$851n = 29
~$851 – ~$1,280n = 25
~$1,280+n = 33

Locks bikes to the rack

10%
41%
68%
88%
Under ~$425n = 10
~$425 – ~$851n = 29
~$851 – ~$1,280n = 25
~$1,280+n = 33

No frame contact

10%
45%
84%
76%
Under ~$425n = 10
~$425 – ~$851n = 29
~$851 – ~$1,280n = 25
~$1,280+n = 33

Rated for e-bikes

10%
38%
64%
91%
Under ~$425n = 10
~$425 – ~$851n = 29
~$851 – ~$1,280n = 25
~$1,280+n = 33

Tilt is standard at every price (90% to 94%). Bike locks go from 10% of racks in the lowest band to 88% in the highest, and an e-bike rating from 10% to 91%.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

View the data
Share of hitch racks with each feature, by list price
List priceRacksTilts away from the hatchLocks bikes to the rackNo frame contactRated for e-bikes
Under ~$4251090%10%10%10%
~$425 – ~$8512993%41%45%38%
~$851 – ~$1,2802592%68%84%64%
~$1,280+3394%88%76%91%

E-bike ratings by how the rack mounts

Share of racks the manufacturer rates for e-bikes. Mount types with fewer than 5 racks are not charted.

  • Hitch60%58 of 97
  • Trunk strap0%0 of 23
  • Roof0%0 of 9

58 of the 60 racks rated for e-bikes mount to a hitch. None of the 32 trunk-strap or roof racks we track is rated for one.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

If you are buying

If you own or may buy an e-bike, the decision is close to made: you almost certainly need a hitch, and you should budget for the upper two price bands.

If you make or sell racks

Locks and e-bike ratings are the two features that still separate price bands. Tilt no longer does.

Roof boxes

Roof boxes: what capacity costs, and what it costs to carry

Roof boxes are sold by volume, so that is how we priced them: current list price against stated capacity for the 19 boxes that are still in their makers' ranges and state a capacity. 18 boxes we had on file have been discontinued and are left out.

Capacity against list price

Each dot is a box and links to its page. The dashed line is the straight-line fit. Neither axis starts at zero.

List price

Capacity (L)

The median box costs ~$295 per 100 litres. Size explains some of the price but not most of it (r = 0.6, n = 19): boxes within 30 L of 450 L run from ~$709 to ~$1,560.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

Price per unit of capacity, best first

Price per unit of capacity, best first
Roof boxCapacityList pricePer 100 litres
Rhino-Rack MasterFit Box 440L440 L~$709~$161
Yakima SkyBox NX 18510 L~$1,200~$236
Thule Pulse 2 L450 L~$1,060~$236
Thule Force 3 XXL610 L~$1,460~$239
Thule Pulse 2 M400 L~$992~$248
Yakima SkyBox NX 16453 L~$1,130~$250
Thule Force 3 XL500 L~$1,320~$264
Thule Force 3 L450 L~$1,250~$277
Thule Force 3 M400 L~$1,180~$294
Thule Motion 3 XXL600 L~$1,770~$295
Thule Motion 3 XXL (Black Glossy)600 L~$1,770~$295
Thule Motion 3 XL (Black Glossy)500 L~$1,630~$326
Thule Motion 3 XL500 L~$1,630~$326
Yakima SkyBox NX 12340 L~$1,130~$333
Thule Motion 3 L450 L~$1,560~$347
Thule Motion 3 L (Black Glossy)450 L~$1,560~$347
Thule Motion 3 XXL Low510 L~$1,770~$347
Inno BRM660 Shadow 15 Roof Box311 L~$1,200~$387
Thule Force 3 L Sport300 L~$1,180~$392

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

The running cost: drag

+18%

extra fuel at 130 km/h with a roof box fitted, averaged across the boxes ADAC tested on a VW Touran diesel — between 0.94 and 1.29 extra litres per 100 km[14]

0.8%

of all US light-duty fuel in 2015 went on roof racks by Berkeley Lab's estimate: about 100 million gallons[13]

4–8×

more miles are driven with racks empty than loaded, which is why empty racks cause most of that loss[13]

The Berkeley Lab study puts the penalty at anywhere from nothing to 25% depending on the rack and the car. We could not find an instrumented test of electric-vehicle range with a roof box from a major test organisation; the figures that circulate are owners' anecdotes.

If you are buying

Buy the volume you need, then take the box off between trips. The research says the fuel cost of a rack is mostly the cost of leaving it on.

If you make or sell racks

We could not find a published, instrumented range test of an EV with a roof box. With battery-electric cars at 17.4% of new EU registrations in 2025[12], that is a gap waiting for a brand to fill it.

Rooftop tents

Rooftop tents: the shell adds weight, and weight is the constraint

We re-checked 51 rooftop tents against their makers' pages and kept the 38 that are still on sale with a stated weight. Search interest in rooftop tents is 1.34× its 2019 level, down from a 2020–21 peak.

Hardshell against softshell

Hardshell against softshell
TypeTentsMedian list priceMedian weight
Hardshell24~$5,38097 kg
Softshell14~$2,98069 kg

The median hardshell lists at ~$5,380 and weighs 97 kg; the median softshell lists at ~$2,980 and weighs 69 kg.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026. Setup times and “required roof load” figures are not charted: makers state them inconsistently or not at all.

How heavy rooftop tents are

Number of tents in each weight band (kg).

5
7
9
5
8
4
41–53
54–67
68–81
82–94
95–108
109+

25 of 38 tents weigh more than 68 kg. A vehicle's dynamic roof load — the limit while driving, stated in the owner's manual — has to cover the tent plus the rack under it.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

If you are buying

The number that decides whether a tent fits your car is weight, not price. Find your roof's dynamic load limit first.

If you make or sell racks

Thule reported rooftop tents as a category that grew in both its regions in 2023[6] — a year in which its racks-and-carriers sales moved −19% organically.

Materials

Aluminium is the premium material, not the light one

Steel and aluminium split the hitch-rack market almost evenly. The assumption is that aluminium means a lighter lift onto the car. In the racks we track it does not.

Hitch bike racks: steel against aluminium

Hitch bike racks: steel against aluminium
MaterialRacksMedian list priceMedian rack weight
Aluminium50~$1,40023 kg
Steel48~$65817 kg

The median aluminium hitch rack lists at ~$1,400 and weighs 23 kg; the median steel one lists at ~$658 and weighs 17 kg. Compare only two-bike racks and the gap remains: 21 kg for aluminium (n = 32) against 17 kg for steel (n = 26). Choosing aluminium does not get you a lighter rack.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

Both metals now carry a 50% US tariff (25% from the UK)

On 4 June 2025 the United States raised its Section 232 tariff on imported steel and aluminium from 25% to 50%, leaving imports from the United Kingdom at 25%[19], and on 19 August 2025 extended it to 407 further categories of products made from them[20]. We have not checked whether rack tariff codes are on that list. What is on record is the largest rack maker's response: “We are implementing price increases in North America to offset cost increases from the newly imposed tariffs, even though we have two of our own factories in the US”[4]

What everything we track is made of

Primary material as stated by the manufacturer, all categories.

  • Aluminium234
  • Steel217
  • HDPE plastic43
  • ABS plastic35
  • Fabric30
  • Nylon25
  • Composite20
  • Rubber15

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

What owners say

Build quality is the strength. Fit, stability and durability are the weak points.

On every listing Amazon shows the themes reviewers mention most, marks each one as a strength or a weakness of that product, and counts the reviews mentioning it. We collected those panels for 239 products on 1 September 2026 — 225,330 reviews in all — folded Amazon's labels into eight themes, and added up the mentions on each side.

Owner mentions by theme: weakness against strength

Reviews mentioning each theme on products where Amazon marks it a weakness (left) or a strength (right). Racks and carriers only: RV levelling gear is left out of this chart because it dominates some themes.

Marked a weaknessMarked a strength
  • Build quality41312.9K
  • Installation3993.3K
  • Ease of use4373.6K
  • Value1.3K3.5K
  • Locks & security569882
  • Fit3.2K1.6K
  • Stability3.2K905
  • Durability2.6K141

97% of build quality mentions sit on products where Amazon marks it a strength. For durability it is 5%. Amazon marks a theme one way or the other for a whole product, so read these as how often a theme is a product's weak point, not as a share of happy reviewers.

Amazon.com “Customers say” theme panels, collected by MyCargoRacks on 1 September 2026; 225,330 reviews across 239 products. Amazon decides which themes to show and how to mark them, and a mention counted here is not itself positive or negative — it is a review that raised the theme. Products sold mainly through dealers are under-represented, so this leans toward the mass-market end of each category.

View the data
Owner mentions by theme: weakness against strength
ThemeMentions where a strengthMentions where a weaknessStrength share
Build quality12,94941397%
Installation3,26339989%
Ease of use3,62743789%
Value3,5301,28273%
Locks & security88256961%
Fit1,5883,18033%
Stability9053,22022%
Durability1412,6475%

The complaint profile depends on what the product carries

Share of a theme's mentions that sit on products where Amazon marks it a strength. The dashed ring is 50%: inside it, the theme is more often a weakness. A theme with fewer than 20 mentions is left undrawn.

Bike Racks

60 products · 91.2K reviews

50%Value76%Build quality99%Fit17%Stability17%Durability4%Installation88%Ease of use93%Locks & security70%

RV Leveling

45 products · 85K reviews

50%Value77%Build quality94%Fit88%Stability93%Durability62%Installation98%Ease of use100%Locks & security—

Cargo Carriers

33 products · 28.1K reviews

50%Value79%Build quality99%Fit62%Stability56%Durability1%Installation100%Ease of use98%Locks & security0%

RV Carriers

20 products · 5.9K reviews

50%Value70%Build quality81%Fit68%Stability21%Durability100%Installation100%Ease of use79%Locks & security—

For bike racks, the weak axes are durability (4%), fit (17%), stability (17%).

Amazon.com “Customers say” theme panels, collected by MyCargoRacks on 1 September 2026; 225,330 reviews across 239 products.

View the data
The complaint profile depends on what the product carries
ThemeBike RacksRV LevelingCargo CarriersRV Carriers
Value76%77%79%70%
Build quality99%94%99%81%
Fit17%88%62%68%
Stability17%93%56%21%
Durability4%62%1%100%
Installation88%98%100%100%
Ease of use93%100%98%79%
Locks & security70%—0%—

If you are buying

Before you buy, read the reviews for three things specifically: does it fit your vehicle, do the bikes sway, and how has it held up. Start with fit. Check what fits your vehicle.

If you make or sell racks

The industry's unsolved problems are not features. They are fit guidance, sway control and long-term durability — in that order for bike racks.

Brands

Brands: price against what owners say

We carry 39 brands with at least 5 products. For each: where it is from, how wide its range is, what it typically costs, and — where there are enough reviews to be fair — a review-weighted owner rating. Every brand name links to its page.

Typical price against owner rating

Each bubble is a brand; its size is the number of reviews behind the rating and its colour is the category most of its products are in. Horizontal axis is logarithmic; the vertical axis starts at 3.8 stars, so small gaps look large.

  • Bike racks
  • Roof & cargo
  • RV gear
  • Other

Owner rating (Amazon stars, weighted by reviews)

ThuleYakimaMaloneCamcoSarisKuatAllen SportsLippertDORSALHollywood RacksBALSwagmanEAZ LIFTKolpin

Median list price

Ratings run from 4.13 (Saris) to 4.79 (BAL) stars, across brands whose typical price runs from ~$53 to ~$1,270. Compare within a colour: levelling blocks and bike racks are judged on different things, and the highest-rated brands here mostly make the former.

Amazon.com “Customers say” theme panels, collected by MyCargoRacks on 1 September 2026; 225,330 reviews across 239 products. A brand gets a rating only with at least 4 rated products and 500 reviews.

Every brand with 5+ products

Every brand with 5+ products
BrandFromFoundedProductsCategoriesMedian list priceOwner rating
ThuleSweden1942996~$9924.33 ★ (10.5K)
YakimaUSA1979726~$5094.41 ★ (8.8K)
Overland Vehicle SystemsUSA—221~$2,450Too few reviews
MaloneUSA2002203~$2114.49 ★ (1.5K)
Rhino-RackAustralia1992196~$466Too few reviews
CURTUSA1993173~$254Too few reviews
CamcoUSA1966172~$674.52 ★ (21.3K)
SarisUSA1989161~$8224.13 ★ (2.9K)
KuatUSA2009151~$1,2704.73 ★ (3.8K)
Allen SportsUSA1967141~$2724.41 ★ (67.4K)
LippertUSA—122~$7984.51 ★ (2.3K)
TepuiUSA—121~$3,470Too few reviews
Cascadia Vehicle TentsUSA—111~$4,820Too few reviews
Front RunnerSouth Africa1997103~$318Too few reviews
DORSALUSA—102~$534.26 ★ (560)
Hollywood RacksUSA1973102~$5324.67 ★ (1.7K)
Tuff Stuff OverlandUSA—101~$4,850Too few reviews
1Up USAUSA201291~$957Too few reviews
23ZEROAustralia—91~$4,250Too few reviews
iKamperSouth Korea—91~$6,380Too few reviews
BALUSA—81~$1404.79 ★ (19.8K)
SwagmanCanada198982~$4104.39 ★ (6.1K)
Surco ProductsUSA198582~$530Too few reviews
RoofnestUSA—81~$5,590Too few reviews
Stromberg CarlsonUSA199381~$303Too few reviews
EAZ LIFTUSA—81~$5104.75 ★ (7.4K)
SmittybiltUSA—71~$2,980Too few reviews
INNOJapan196676~$353Too few reviews
SeaSuckerUSA200363~$495Too few reviews
VelociRAXUSA201861~$1,610Too few reviews
RoadmasterUSA—61~$1,770Too few reviews
Rightline GearUSA—62~$133Too few reviews
B&W Trailer HitchesUSA—51~$1,980Too few reviews
Cheetah Factory RacingUSA—51~$211Too few reviews
SnapPadUSA—51~$326Too few reviews
RockyMountsUSA200452~$381Too few reviews
Blue OxUSA—51~$1,670Too few reviews
KolpinUSA194351~$1404.52 ★ (1.8K)
Carefree of ColoradoUSA—51~$1,450Too few reviews

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026. Amazon.com “Customers say” theme panels, collected by MyCargoRacks on 1 September 2026; 225,330 reviews across 239 products.

Where rack brands are from

Brands with products in our catalogue, by country of origin.

  • USA60
  • China6
  • Australia6
  • Canada2
  • South Africa1
  • Japan1
  • Sweden1
  • Portugal1
  • South Korea1

USA accounts for 60 of the 79 brands whose country of origin we have on record, out of 93 brands we track.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.

The used market

A used bike rack asks about half its list price

We looked for a study of how well car racks hold their value and found none — not from a brand, a marketplace or a trade body. So we made a first measurement ourselves. On 20 September 2026 we read the public listings we could find for 33 popular rack, roof-box and tent models on Pinkbike Buy/Sell, Kijiji and Craigslist, threw out parts, add-ons, bundles, dealer stock and duplicates, and compared what was left with today's list price for the same configuration. Only bike racks had enough comparable listings to report; roof boxes and rooftop tents turned up too few.

Asking price as a share of current list price, by model

The bar spans the middle half of listings; the dot is the median. Models with fewer than 5 usable listings are not shown.

ModelListings

By brand the gap looks large — Thule listings ask a median 59% of list (n = 24), Saris 37% (n = 20) — but almost every Saris listing is a ~$284 trunk rack, so this is a price-tier effect at least as much as a brand effect. We do not have enough listings to separate the two.

Across 69 used listings the median asking price is 50% of current list, and the middle half fall between 36% and 64%. The range across models is wide: Yakima RidgeBack asks 29%, Thule Apex XT asks 64%.

Public listings on Pinkbike Buy/Sell, Kijiji and Craigslist, collected by MyCargoRacks on 20 September 2026; list prices from manufacturer pages.

From 179 listings to 69

  • parts, add-ons, bundles and wanted ads−37
  • new or dealer stock−24
  • models without a confirmed list price−37
  • duplicate cross-posts−4
  • configurations we could not match−6
  • placeholder or implausible prices−2

Read this before quoting it

  • These are asking prices. Nobody outside the two parties knows what a rack actually sold for, and sellers ask more than they get.
  • It is one day's listings and 69 of them. Treat it as a first reading, not a settled figure.
  • Most listings are Canadian. Canadian-dollar prices are converted and compared with the US list price.
  • Older generations are compared with today's price for the current version — the choice a buyer actually faces.
  • eBay and Facebook Marketplace listings are not included.

The second-hand market around it

93%

of Americans bought something second-hand in 2025, by OfferUp's survey[16]

35%

of consumers worldwide buy pre-owned goods at least monthly, in eBay's survey of more than 27,000 people[15]

1.4M

used items sold by REI through its Re/Supply programme in 2024[17]

458

US Google searches a month in 2024 for every “used …” rack term we track — the used market is on classifieds, not in search

If you are buying

A used platform bike rack at half of list is roughly the going ask. Check the model against NHTSA's recall list, make sure the keys and hitch hardware come with it, and price in whatever is missing.

If you make or sell racks

Nobody publishes residual values for racks. A brand that did — with real sold prices — would own the best argument for a higher new price.

Recalls and theft

What actually gets recalled

Vehicle-mounted racks are motor-vehicle equipment in the United States, so their recalls go through NHTSA, not the consumer-product regulator. We went through every NHTSA equipment recall from 1 January 2021 to 20 September 2026 and searched the CPSC database for the same products. CPSC had nothing in scope.

Rack and carrier recalls, 2021–2026

Potentially affected units, as recorded by NHTSA. Every recall links to its official record.

Rack and carrier recalls, 2021–2026
ProductUnitsReportedRecall
Kuat Transfer v2 bicycle hitch racksThe pivot cams may become disengaged, causing the bike rack to unexpectedly drop, which can allow a bicycle to detach and become a road hazard.86,209June 2024NHTSA 24E044
Hollywood Racks Destination E Rack bicycle carriers, 2022-2023The eyebolt that holds the vertical clamping frame may fail, allowing a bike to detach and drag behind the vehicle or become a road hazard.E-bike carrier7,500Nov 2023NHTSA 23E085
Kilimanjaro e-bike racksThe connection points may crack, causing the rack to fail and allowing a bicycle to detach and become a road hazard.E-bike carrier6,718Aug 2024NHTSA 24E074
Thule Range, Camber 2, and Camber 4 bike carriersThe weld on the bike arm assembly may be defective, causing the bike arm assembly and an attached bike to detach and fall into the roadway.4,759Oct 2022NHTSA 22E091
Mopar roof rack kitsThe pivot bolts for the roof rack crossbars may not have been tightened properly, allowing the crossbars to detach and create a road hazard.Carmaker accessory3,038Sept 2026NHTSA 26E064
Hyperax Volt RV Lite, 2024 Volt 2, 2024 Volt 2 LHB, and 2023 Volt RV e-bike carriersThe e-bike carrier latch mechanism may wear excessively and disengage in transit, allowing the e-bike to shift out of position.E-bike carrier2,380Dec 2025NHTSA 25E092
Thule Tepui Hybox and Tepui Wedge rooftop tentsThe rooftop tent shell may crack where the mounting rails attach, allowing the tent to detach from the vehicle and become a road hazard.738May 2021NHTSA 21E045
Hyperax Volt RV 4x bike carriersVibration may cause the anchoring plates to fail, allowing the carrier or bike to detach from the recreational vehicle or trailer.160Feb 2026NHTSA 26E007

No equipment recalls in this period. NHTSA's records show no equipment campaign in this window for Yakima, Saris, 1Up USA, RockyMounts, Swagman, Rhino-Rack, Malone, Allen Sports, INNO, SeaSucker, VelociRAX, iKamper, Roofnest or Front Runner.

Scope: NHTSA equipment campaigns. A rack recalled as part of a vehicle campaign — one fitted by a motorhome builder, say — is recorded against the vehicle and is not counted here.

8 recalls covering 111,502 units. One of them, the Kuat Transfer v2 bicycle hitch racks, accounts for 77%. 3 of the 8 were carriers sold specifically for e-bikes. Every hazard statement describes the same kind of failure: a part gives way in transit.

NHTSA recalls data (equipment campaigns), compiled 20 September 2026; each row re-checked against the NHTSA recalls API.[21]

Theft peaks when the racks are on

Police data from five Canadian cities shows 138% more bicycle thefts between 1 June and 30 September than in the rest of the year[18] — the same months rack searches peak. Of the hitch racks we track, 61% lock the bikes to the rack.

The standard behind the sticker

ISO 11154:2023 sets requirements and test methods for roof racks on cars and light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes[22]. Its scope is roof-mounted carriers; hitch racks are outside it.

If you are buying

Check a used rack's model against NHTSA's recall list before you buy it, and ask the seller whether the remedy was fitted.

If you make or sell racks

Carriers sold for e-bikes account for 3 of 8 recalls. Heavier loads are where the failures are being found.

The market

A boom, a three-year hangover, and now tariffs

Nobody publishes reliable sales figures for car racks. The nearest thing is Thule Group, the largest company in the category, which is listed in Stockholm and reports audited sales every quarter. About half of what it sells is racks, roof boxes and carriers, so its accounts are the best public record of what the last six years looked like from inside the industry.

Thule Group net sales, 2019–2025

SEK million as reported each year. The figure under each bar is organic growth: sales change with acquisitions and currency stripped out.

7,038
7,828
10,386
10,138
9,132
9,541
10,429
2019organic +2.9%
2020organic +13.1%
2021organic +37.7%
2022organic −9.7%
2023organic −15.2%
2024organic +3.5%
2025organic −1.3%

Organic growth of +37.7% in 2021 was followed by −9.7% and −15.2%. Thule's explanation for 2023: “In the first two quarters of 2023, retailers significantly reduced their inventory levels of bike-related products, which is to be compared with a phase of aggressive inventory build-up in the year-earlier period.”[6] Reported sales were back at the 2021 level by 2025, but only with an acquisition: organically 2025 moved −1.3%.

Thule Group, Year-end and interim reports, FY2019 – Q2 2026[3].

Racks and carriers specifically: organic growth by year

Thule's Sport&Cargo Carriers category — roof racks, roof boxes, bike, water and winter carriers, rooftop tents. The percentage beside each year is the category's share of group sales.

ShrankGrew
  • 2019 · 63%+1.1%
  • 2020 · 64%+17%
  • 2021 · 66%+43%
  • 2022 · 62%−17%
  • 2023 · 59%−19%
  • 2024 · 59%+5%
  • 2025 · 51%−1%

Racks and carriers grew +43% in 2021 and then shrank −17% and −19%. They were 63% of Thule's sales in 2019 and 51% in 2025.

Thule Group, Year-end and interim reports, FY2019 – Q2 2026[3].

Where the sales are, 2025

Net sales by region, SEK million, with organic growth.

  • Europe7,04467% of sales · organic +0.4%
  • North America2,47524% of sales · organic −6.1%
  • Rest of the World9109% of sales · organic −3%

Europe is 67% of Thule's sales. North America moved −6.1% organically in 2025.

Thule Group, Year-end report, fourth quarter 2025[2].

A two-quarter business

Thule Group net sales by quarter, SEK million.

3K
3.3K
2.1K
1.7K
2.2K
3K
2.3K
1.6K
2.4K
3.1K
2.3K
1.7K
2.7K
3.4K
2.5K
1.8K
2.6K
3.4K
Q12022
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q12023
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q12024
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q12025
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q12026
Q2

Across 4 full years the second quarter averaged 1.91× the fourth. Thule's own description: “During the first and fourth quarter, sales are mainly attributable to winter-related products. Sales during the second and third quarters are primarily attributable to summer-related products.”[3]

Thule Group, Year-end and interim reports, FY2019 – Q2 2026[3].

What the largest rack maker is saying

“We are implementing price increases in North America to offset cost increases from the newly imposed tariffs, even though we have two of our own factories in the US”
Thule Group, Q1 2025 report, on the United States[4]
“Rising raw material prices are also negatively impacting Thule’s costs, and in the third quarter, we will implement price increases to mitigate these effects.”
Thule Group, Q2 2026 report[5]
“Thule VeloSpace 3, upgraded bike carrier, adapted for heavier bikes such as electric bikes”
Thule Group, Year-end 2025 report, product launches[2]

Thule's reports say “heavier bikes” and “electric bikes”. They describe three recent carriers this way: VeloSpace 3, Verse and Vero.

What the market-size estimates say — and how far to trust them

Commercial research firms publish headline figures for this market with no disclosed method. They are shown here so you can see how far they agree, not as facts.

Car and bike racks

  • Market Research Future$1.42bn“Bike car rack market”, 2025
  • Mordor Intelligence$1.50bn“Car rack market”, 2025
  • DataIntelo$1.64bn“Bike racks market”, 2025

Rooftop tents

  • Cognitive Market Research$0.22bn“Rooftop tent market”, 2024
  • DataIntelo$1.42bn“Rooftop tents market”, 2025

Three estimates for racks sit between $1.42bn and $1.64bn. The two for rooftop tents differ by 6.6×. For scale: Thule's racks-and-carriers category alone was about SEK 5,300 million in 2025 (51% of 10,429, our arithmetic).

Market Research Future, Bike Car Rack Market[24]; Mordor Intelligence, Car Rack Market Size & Share Analysis[23]; DataIntelo, Global Bike Racks Market Research Report[25]; Cognitive Market Research, Rooftop Tent Market Report[27]; DataIntelo, Rooftop Tents Market Research Report 2034[26]; Thule Group, Year-end report, fourth quarter 2025[2].

The demand behind the racks

≈1M

e-bikes bought or sold in the US in 2024 (nearly), of which roughly 450,000 sold direct to consumers

PeopleForBikes

5.1M

e-bikes sold in Europe in 2023, out of 11.7M bicycles, by the European industry body's count

CONEBI

42.5M

Americans rode a bike on road or pavement in 2024; 15.1M went recreational kayaking

Outdoor Industry Association

52.6M

US skier visits in 2025-26 (preliminary), down from 61.5M the season before

Ski Area Management, reporting NSAA

PeopleForBikes, The U.S. E-Bike Market Is Bigger Than the Numbers Show[7]; CONEBI, European Bicycle Industry and Market Profile, 2024 edition (press release)[8]; Outdoor Industry Association, 2025 Outdoor Participation Trends Report[9]; Ski Area Management, reporting NSAA, U.S. Ski Areas Report 61.5M Skier Visits for 2024-25[10]; Ski Area Management, reporting NSAA, U.S. Skier Visits Drop 14% in 2025-26 Amid Weak Western Snowfall[11].

If you are buying

List prices are under upward pressure. The largest company in the category raised North American prices in 2025 to offset tariffs and announced a further increase in 2026 for raw-material costs.

If you make or sell racks

The 2023 destocking is behind the industry, but organic growth has not come back. The product story Thule keeps returning to is carriers for heavier bikes.

For manufacturers and retailers

Where the market is crowded and where it is empty

Our catalogue is built from the current ranges of the brands above, so it is a fair sketch of what mainstream buyers can choose from. Each cell counts the products in a category and price band.

Products by category and list price

Number of tracked products by category and list-price band
CategoryUnder ~$142~$142 – ~$354~$354 – ~$709~$709 – ~$1,420~$1,420 – ~$2,840~$2,840+All
Bike Racks4264650211148
Cargo Carriers2428154318·128
Rooftop Tents····266692
RV Leveling371271·360
RV Carriers38121519·57
Kayak & Canoe7241441·50
Surfboard Carriers2162···29
Accessories12122···26
Ski & Snowboard14153··23
Paddleboard Carriers1032···15
Snowmobile Racks2101···13
Motorcycle Carriers·144··9
Truck Racks·1321·7
ATV & UTV Racks3211··7

The busiest cell is Rooftop Tents, ~$2,840+ with 66 products. 29 of 84 cells are empty.

MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026. An empty cell is a prompt, not a verdict: some are empty because nobody wants the product, others because nobody has built it.

Methodology

Where every number comes from

This page mixes five kinds of data. They are not equally strong, so here is what each one is, how it was collected and what it cannot tell you.

Manufacturer pages, re-checked September 2026
For bike racks, roof boxes and about half of the rooftop tents (138 of 153 bike racks, 51 of 102 rooftop tents, 38 of 38 roof boxes) we opened each maker's own product page and recorded list price, per-bike weight limit, rack weight, capacity, tent weight and shell type, keeping the supporting text. 227 products were checked; 31 had no current manufacturer page and are left out of the report. Retailer and review sites were never used as a source for a specification.
Our catalogue
Category, mounting type and material for 666 products across 93 brands, and list prices for the categories we did not re-check. Those prices are the ones on record and may be older than the re-checked ones.
Owner reviews
Amazon.com shows, for each product, the themes reviewers raise, whether each is a strength or a weakness, and how many reviews mention it. We collected these panels for 239 products on 1 September 2026, 225,330 reviews in total. Brand ratings are weighted by review count and shown only above 4 rated products and 500 reviews.
Search demand
Ahrefs' monthly estimates of Google searches, 58 US terms from January 2019, plus four products in five countries. For about a third of terms Ahrefs' most recent months are modelled, not measured — the year-on-year ratio glides too smoothly to be real — so each series is cut where that begins, and growth is measured 2019 to 2024, the last year measured for every term. Spelling variants are summed into topics.
Outside sources
28 sources, numbered below. Each was opened and the figure read from the page; company filings and regulators are preferred, and commercial market-size estimates are labelled as unverified. Several figures that circulate widely were left out because they could not be found at the source they are attributed to.
Used-market listings
Asking prices from public classified listings, described in the used-market section. Asking prices are not sale prices.

Rules we held ourselves to

  • Medians and percentiles, not averages, for anything priced.
  • No group is shown below its minimum size: 5 products for a category, 5 for a price band, 20 mentions for a review theme.
  • Every chart states its sample size and carries its numbers as a table.
  • Where a chart sets better against worse, green is more or better, coral is less or worse and grey is no real change. Everywhere else coral is simply our accent colour.
  • Nothing on this page comes from our own product testing. It is a data report, not a review.

What this page cannot tell you

  • It is not sales data. Nobody publishes unit sales for car racks; search demand and one listed company's accounts are proxies.
  • Our catalogue leans toward brands sold in North America and toward products with an Amazon listing.
  • We have no year of release for products, so nothing here shows how product specifications changed over time.

Updates

Catalogue figures are recomputed daily. Search demand, outside sources, the manufacturer re-check, recalls and used listings are snapshots dated 20 September 2026.

Cite this page

MyCargoRacks. “The State of Cargo Racks 2026.” Updated 20 September 2026. https://mycargoracks.com/en-AU/trends

Download the data

The tables behind the catalogue charts are available as a CSV file. Use it freely with a link back to this page.

Download CSV

Sources

  1. 1.Ahrefs. Keywords Explorer — monthly search volume history (2026). Search data Accessed 20 September 2026
  2. 2.Thule Group. Year-end report, fourth quarter 2025 (2026). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
  3. 3.Thule Group. Year-end and interim reports, FY2019 – Q2 2026 (2026). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
  4. 4.Thule Group. Interim report, first quarter 2025 (2025). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
  5. 5.Thule Group. Interim report, second quarter 2026 (2026). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
  6. 6.Thule Group. Year-end report, fourth quarter 2023 (2024). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
  7. 7.PeopleForBikes. The U.S. E-Bike Market Is Bigger Than the Numbers Show (2026). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
  8. 8.CONEBI. European Bicycle Industry and Market Profile, 2024 edition (press release) (2024). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
  9. 9.Outdoor Industry Association. 2025 Outdoor Participation Trends Report (2025). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
  10. 10.Ski Area Management, reporting NSAA. U.S. Ski Areas Report 61.5M Skier Visits for 2024-25 (2025). Trade press Accessed 20 September 2026
  11. 11.Ski Area Management, reporting NSAA. U.S. Skier Visits Drop 14% in 2025-26 Amid Weak Western Snowfall (2026). Trade press Accessed 20 September 2026
  12. 12.ACEA. New car registrations: +1.8% in 2025; battery-electric 17.4% market share (2026). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
  13. 13.Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Roof Racks a Drag on Fuel Economy (2016). Independent research Accessed 20 September 2026
  14. 14.ADAC with Stiftung Warentest. Dachboxen im ADAC Test (2020). Independent research Accessed 20 September 2026
  15. 15.eBay Inc.. 2025 Recommerce Report (2025). Company research Accessed 20 September 2026
  16. 16.OfferUp. 2025 Recommerce Report (2025). Company research Accessed 20 September 2026
  17. 17.Trellis. How REI reached a key zero-waste milestone before Target and Walmart (2025). Trade press Accessed 20 September 2026
  18. 18.Square One Insurance. Bicycle thefts increase by 138% during the summer (2025). Company research Accessed 20 September 2026
  19. 19.The White House. Fact Sheet: Section 232 Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum increased to 50% (2025). Government Accessed 20 September 2026
  20. 20.U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security. Department of Commerce Adds 407 Product Categories to Steel, Aluminum Tariffs (2025). Government Accessed 20 September 2026
  21. 21.NHTSA. Recalls data — equipment campaigns, 2021–2026 (2026). Government Accessed 20 September 2026
  22. 22.ISO. ISO 11154:2023 Road vehicles — Roof load carriers (2023). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
  23. 23.Mordor Intelligence. Car Rack Market Size & Share Analysis (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
  24. 24.Market Research Future. Bike Car Rack Market (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
  25. 25.DataIntelo. Global Bike Racks Market Research Report (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
  26. 26.DataIntelo. Rooftop Tents Market Research Report 2034 (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
  27. 27.Cognitive Market Research. Rooftop Tent Market Report (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
  28. 28.World Bank. Population, total (2024) (2025). Government Accessed 20 September 2026

FAQ

Questions this data answers

A hitch bike rack has a median list price of ~$992, and the middle 80% of models run from ~$427 to ~$1,820. Across every type of bike rack we track the median is ~$700. Racks their makers rate for e-bikes cost more: a median of ~$1,370 against ~$638 for those without the rating.
Often, yes. The median e-bike in our sample of 73 models weighs 27 kg, while the median car rack is rated for 23 kg per bike. Only 26% of racks are rated to carry that median e-bike, and 58 of the 60 racks rated for e-bikes mount to a hitch. Check the per-bike limit, not the total.
Not overall. US searches for bike racks in 2024 stood at 1.11× their 2019 level after a pandemic spike in 2020 and 2021 unwound. The exception is e-bike racks, where searches reached 5.4× the 2019 level. Thule Group, the largest maker, reported organic sales growth of −1.3% for 2025.
Search demand for bike racks peaks in June and is lowest in December, at roughly 58% of an average month. Roof boxes and kayak racks follow the same summer pattern. Ski and snowboard racks run the opposite calendar and peak in January. Thule's second-quarter sales average 1.91× its fourth quarter.
ADAC measured more than 18% extra fuel at 130 km/h with a roof box on a diesel VW Touran, between 0.94 and 1.29 extra litres per 100 km. Berkeley Lab estimated roof racks used 0.8% of US light-duty fuel in 2015, mostly because racks are driven empty 4 to 8 times more miles than loaded.
Of the 38 rooftop tents we re-checked that are still on sale, the median hardshell weighs 97 kg and the median softshell 69 kg; 25 weigh more than 68 kg. Your vehicle's dynamic roof load, the limit while driving, has to cover the tent plus the rack beneath it, so check the owner's manual first.
Going by Amazon's review themes for 60 bike racks and 91,172 reviews, the weak points are durability, fit, stability. Only 4% of durability mentions sit on racks where Amazon marks durability a strength, against 99% for build quality. Amazon marks each theme per product, so this shows how often a theme is a weak spot.
NHTSA records 8 recalls of vehicle-mounted racks and carriers between 2021 and 2026, covering 111,502 units. The largest by far is the Kuat Transfer v2 bicycle hitch racks at 86,209 units. 3 of the 8 were carriers sold for e-bikes. Yakima, Saris and 1Up USA had none. Racks recalled within a vehicle campaign are not counted.
Specifications and list prices come from manufacturers' own product pages, re-checked in September 2026. Owner themes come from 225,330 Amazon reviews. Search demand is Ahrefs' estimate of Google searches since 2019. Market figures come from Thule Group's filings, NHTSA and trade bodies, each cited in the numbered source list.

Buying guides that use these numbers