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×
~€606
typical list price of a hitch bike rack
Middle 80% of models: ~€261 – ~€1,110
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 2019Bike racks (all types)
1,11× since 2019Measured through Jan 2025
Hitch bike racks
1,04× since 2019Measured through Mar 2025
Roof boxes & cargo boxes
1,15× since 2019Measured through Dec 2024
Roof racks & crossbars
1,02× since 2019Rooftop tents
1,34× since 2019Measured through Apr 2025
Kayak & canoe racks
0,87× since 2019Measured through Jan 2025
Ski & snowboard racks
1,00× since 2019Measured through Mar 2025
Hitch cargo carriers
1,24× since 2019Measured through Apr 2025
Truck bed & overland racks
1,19× since 2019RV racks & levelling
1,01× since 2019Measured through Apr 2025
Motorcycle carriers
1,15× since 2019Measured 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
| Topic | Search terms included | 2019 avg / month | 2024 avg / month | Change | Measured through |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-bike racks | ebike rack, e bike rack, electric bike rack, bike rack for electric bikes, e bike rack for car | 696 | 3.729 | 5,4× | Aug 2026 |
| Rooftop tents | rooftop tent, roof top tent, hard shell roof top tent | 24.866 | 33.373 | 1,34× | Apr 2025 |
| Hitch cargo carriers | hitch cargo carrier, hitch cargo box | 7.721 | 9.610 | 1,24× | Apr 2025 |
| Rooftop cargo bags | roof bag, rooftop cargo bag | 1.298 | 1.553 | 1,20× | Aug 2026 |
| Truck bed & overland racks | truck bed rack, overland rack | 3.141 | 3.724 | 1,19× | Aug 2026 |
| Vertical bike racks | vertical bike rack | 1.867 | 2.200 | 1,18× | May 2025 |
| Surf & paddleboard racks | surfboard rack, paddle board rack | 1.877 | 2.167 | 1,15× | Aug 2026 |
| Motorcycle carriers | motorcycle hitch carrier, motorcycle carrier | 5.459 | 6.280 | 1,15× | Jan 2025 |
| Roof boxes & cargo boxes | roof box, cargo box, roof cargo box, rooftop cargo carrier, car top carrier | 12.792 | 14.687 | 1,15× | Dec 2024 |
| Bike racks (all types) | bike rack, bike rack for car, bike rack for suv | 41.719 | 46.384 | 1,11× | Jan 2025 |
| Truck bike carriers & tailgate pads | truck bed bike rack, bike rack for truck, tailgate pad | 4.906 | 5.362 | 1,09× | Jan 2025 |
| Hitch bike racks | hitch bike rack, bike hitch rack, 2 bike hitch rack, 4 bike rack, platform bike rack, hanging bike rack | 10.099 | 10.529 | 1,04× | Mar 2025 |
| Roof racks & crossbars | roof rack, roof rack cross bars, crossbars | 19.552 | 19.851 | 1,02× | Aug 2026 |
| RV racks & levelling | rv bike rack, rv leveling blocks, rv cargo carrier | 4.122 | 4.175 | 1,01× | Apr 2025 |
| Roof bike racks | roof bike rack | 1.009 | 1.009 | 1,00× | Aug 2026 |
| Ski & snowboard racks | ski rack, snowboard rack | 5.374 | 5.357 | 1,00× | Mar 2025 |
| Trunk bike racks | trunk bike rack | 1.591 | 1.432 | 0,90× | May 2025 |
| Kayak & canoe racks | kayak rack, kayak roof rack, canoe rack, kayak rack for truck | 14.803 | 12.872 | 0,87× | Jan 2025 |
| Roof baskets | roof basket, cargo basket | 2.730 | 2.358 | 0,86× | 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.
| Topic | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bike racks (all types) | 63 | 71 | 100 | 116 | 138 | 155 | 146 | 128 | 93 | 72 | 62 | 58 |
| E-bike racks | 55 | 67 | 92 | 113 | 128 | 136 | 138 | 134 | 108 | 85 | 79 | 66 |
| Roof boxes & cargo boxes | 83 | 84 | 98 | 95 | 118 | 147 | 150 | 110 | 78 | 73 | 79 | 86 |
| Roof racks & crossbars | 88 | 89 | 100 | 99 | 116 | 135 | 135 | 110 | 85 | 79 | 82 | 84 |
| Rooftop tents | 89 | 95 | 103 | 106 | 113 | 122 | 124 | 113 | 99 | 89 | 78 | 69 |
| Kayak & canoe racks | 51 | 59 | 88 | 115 | 172 | 199 | 198 | 125 | 72 | 45 | 38 | 38 |
| Ski & snowboard racks | 195 | 133 | 90 | 59 | 53 | 50 | 56 | 62 | 73 | 87 | 149 | 193 |
| RV racks & levelling | 62 | 74 | 111 | 110 | 138 | 146 | 160 | 126 | 100 | 69 | 57 | 45 |
| Motorcycle carriers | 78 | 88 | 108 | 122 | 125 | 131 | 119 | 113 | 94 | 83 | 72 | 68 |
Bike racks (all types) searches peak in Jun 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.
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.
| Product | United States | Canada | United Kingdom | Australia | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bike racks | 125 | 104 | 238 | 314 | 503 |
| Roof boxes | 16 | 32 | 153 | 49 | 179 |
| Roof racks | 45 | 57 | 110 | 137 | 101 |
| Rooftop tents | 93 | 59 | 182 | 936 | 323 |
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)
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
| kg | E-bikes, by weight (73) | Car racks, by per-bike limit (125) |
|---|---|---|
| 9–13 | 1 | 0 |
| 14–17 | 9 | 37 |
| 18–22 | 11 | 20 |
| 23–26 | 15 | 12 |
| 27–31 | 12 | 31 |
| 32–35 | 14 | 8 |
| 36–40 | 10 | 6 |
| 41+ | 1 | 11 |
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.
| Hitch racks | Racks | List price | Per-bike limit | Rack weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rated for e-bikes | 58 | ~€839 | 27 kg | 23 kg |
| Not rated for e-bikes | 33 | ~€390 | 18 kg | 16 kg |
An e-bike rating adds ~€449 to the median list price (~€839 against ~€390) 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.
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.
| Rack | Per-bike limit | List price |
|---|---|---|
| Saris MHS Modular Base | 36 kg | ~€216 |
| Allen Sports E-Bike Hitch Rack 2-Bike | 32 kg | ~€294 |
| Saris MHS DUO Tray | 36 kg | ~€390 |
| SeaSucker Mini Bomber 2-Bike Rack | 45 kg | ~€432 |
| 1Up USA Heavy Duty Single | 29 kg | ~€433 |
| 1Up USA Heavy Duty Single | 29 kg | ~€433 |
| Hollywood Racks RV Rider 2-Bike | 36 kg | ~€563 |
| 1Up USA Super Duty Single | 45 kg | ~€584 |
| 1Up USA Super Duty Single | 45 kg | ~€584 |
| Yakima OnRamp | 30 kg | ~€605 |
| Hollywood Racks Destination E 2-Bike (E-Bike) | 32 kg | ~€649 |
| 1Up USA Heavy Duty Double | 29 kg | ~€667 |
| Yakima StageTwo | 32 kg | ~€822 |
| VelociRAX 3X MAX | 45 kg | ~€865 |
| Yakima OnRamp LX 2 | 36 kg | ~€865 |
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 ~€433. 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.
- Rooftop Tents~€2,460 · ~€1,300 – ~€3,890~€2,460~€1,300 – ~€3,89092
- RV Carriers~€559 · ~€126 – ~€1,170~€559~€126 – ~€1,17057
- Truck Racks~€432 · ~€242 – ~€882~€432~€242 – ~€8827
- Cargo Carriers~€432 · ~€77 – ~€952~€432~€77 – ~€952128
- Motorcycle Carriers~€432 · ~€285 – ~€640~€432~€285 – ~€6409
- Bike Racks~€428 · ~€173 – ~€957~€428~€173 – ~€957148
- Ski & Snowboard~€302 · ~€181 – ~€473~€302~€181 – ~€47323
- Kayak & Canoe~€177 · ~€76 – ~€445~€177~€76 – ~€44550
- Snowmobile Racks~€129 · ~€91 – ~€171~€129~€91 – ~€17113
- ATV & UTV Racks~€129 · ~€74 – ~€389~€129~€74 – ~€3897
- Accessories~€100 · ~€20 – ~€204~€100~€20 – ~€20426
- RV Leveling~€69 · ~€17 – ~€323~€69~€17 – ~€32360
- Paddleboard Carriers~€65 · ~€31 – ~€291~€65~€31 – ~€29115
- Surfboard Carriers~€56 · ~€29 – ~€134~€56~€29 – ~€13429
The median list price runs from ~€56 for surfboard carriers to ~€2,460 for rooftop tents. Inside bike racks alone, the middle 80% runs from ~€173 to ~€957.
MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.
View the data
| Category | Products | Low (10th pct.) | Median | High (90th pct.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rooftop Tents | 92 | ~€1,300 | ~€2,460 | ~€3,890 |
| RV Carriers | 57 | ~€126 | ~€559 | ~€1,170 |
| Truck Racks | 7 | ~€242 | ~€432 | ~€882 |
| Cargo Carriers | 128 | ~€77 | ~€432 | ~€952 |
| Motorcycle Carriers | 9 | ~€285 | ~€432 | ~€640 |
| Bike Racks | 148 | ~€173 | ~€428 | ~€957 |
| Ski & Snowboard | 23 | ~€181 | ~€302 | ~€473 |
| Kayak & Canoe | 50 | ~€76 | ~€177 | ~€445 |
| Snowmobile Racks | 13 | ~€91 | ~€129 | ~€171 |
| ATV & UTV Racks | 7 | ~€74 | ~€129 | ~€389 |
| Accessories | 26 | ~€20 | ~€100 | ~€204 |
| RV Leveling | 60 | ~€17 | ~€69 | ~€323 |
| Paddleboard Carriers | 15 | ~€31 | ~€65 | ~€291 |
| Surfboard Carriers | 29 | ~€29 | ~€56 | ~€134 |
How the whole catalogue splits by price
Number of products in each list-price band.
39% of the products we track list under ~€216; 11% list at ~€1,730 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 ~€433. Above ~€1,730 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
Locks bikes to the rack
No frame contact
Rated for e-bikes
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
| List price | Racks | Tilts away from the hatch | Locks bikes to the rack | No frame contact | Rated for e-bikes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under ~€260 | 10 | 90% | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| ~€260 – ~€519 | 29 | 93% | 41% | 45% | 38% |
| ~€519 – ~€779 | 25 | 92% | 68% | 84% | 64% |
| ~€779+ | 33 | 94% | 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.
The median box costs ~€180 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 ~€433 to ~€952.
MyCargoRacks catalogue, manufacturer list prices and published specifications, as of 20 September 2026.
Price per unit of capacity, best first
| Roof box | Capacity | List price | Per 100 litres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhino-Rack MasterFit Box 440L | 440 L | ~€433 | ~€98 |
| Yakima SkyBox NX 18 | 510 L | ~€735 | ~€144 |
| Thule Pulse 2 L | 450 L | ~€649 | ~€144 |
| Thule Force 3 XXL | 610 L | ~€892 | ~€146 |
| Thule Pulse 2 M | 400 L | ~€606 | ~€151 |
| Yakima SkyBox NX 16 | 453 L | ~€692 | ~€153 |
| Thule Force 3 XL | 500 L | ~€805 | ~€161 |
| Thule Force 3 L | 450 L | ~€762 | ~€169 |
| Thule Force 3 M | 400 L | ~€718 | ~€180 |
| Thule Motion 3 XXL | 600 L | ~€1,080 | ~€180 |
| Thule Motion 3 XXL (Black Glossy) | 600 L | ~€1,080 | ~€180 |
| Thule Motion 3 XL (Black Glossy) | 500 L | ~€995 | ~€199 |
| Thule Motion 3 XL | 500 L | ~€995 | ~€199 |
| Yakima SkyBox NX 12 | 340 L | ~€692 | ~€203 |
| Thule Motion 3 L | 450 L | ~€952 | ~€212 |
| Thule Motion 3 L (Black Glossy) | 450 L | ~€952 | ~€212 |
| Thule Motion 3 XXL Low | 510 L | ~€1,080 | ~€212 |
| Inno BRM660 Shadow 15 Roof Box | 311 L | ~€736 | ~€237 |
| Thule Force 3 L Sport | 300 L | ~€718 | ~€239 |
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
| Type | Tents | Median list price | Median weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardshell | 24 | ~€3,290 | 97 kg |
| Softshell | 14 | ~€1,820 | 69 kg |
The median hardshell lists at ~€3,290 and weighs 97 kg; the median softshell lists at ~€1,820 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).
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
| Material | Racks | Median list price | Median rack weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium | 50 | ~€856 | 23 kg |
| Steel | 48 | ~€402 | 17 kg |
The median aluminium hitch rack lists at ~€856 and weighs 23 kg; the median steel one lists at ~€402 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.
- 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
| Theme | Mentions where a strength | Mentions where a weakness | Strength share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build quality | 12.949 | 413 | 97% |
| Installation | 3.263 | 399 | 89% |
| Ease of use | 3.627 | 437 | 89% |
| Value | 3.530 | 1.282 | 73% |
| Locks & security | 882 | 569 | 61% |
| Fit | 1.588 | 3.180 | 33% |
| Stability | 905 | 3.220 | 22% |
| Durability | 141 | 2.647 | 5% |
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
RV Leveling
45 products · 85K reviews
Cargo Carriers
33 products · 28,1K reviews
RV Carriers
20 products · 5,9K reviews
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
| Theme | Bike Racks | RV Leveling | Cargo Carriers | RV Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 76% | 77% | 79% | 70% |
| Build quality | 99% | 94% | 99% | 81% |
| Fit | 17% | 88% | 62% | 68% |
| Stability | 17% | 93% | 56% | 21% |
| Durability | 4% | 62% | 1% | 100% |
| Installation | 88% | 98% | 100% | 100% |
| Ease of use | 93% | 100% | 98% | 79% |
| Locks & security | 70% | — | 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.
Ratings run from 4,13 (Saris) to 4,79 (BAL) stars, across brands whose typical price runs from ~€32 to ~€777. 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
| Brand | From | Founded | Products | Categories | Median list price | Owner rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thule | Sweden | 1942 | 99 | 6 | ~€606 | 4,33 ★ (10,5K) |
| Yakima | USA | 1979 | 72 | 6 | ~€311 | 4,41 ★ (8,8K) |
| Overland Vehicle Systems | USA | — | 22 | 1 | ~€1,490 | Too few reviews |
| Malone | USA | 2002 | 20 | 3 | ~€129 | 4,49 ★ (1,5K) |
| Rhino-Rack | Australia | 1992 | 19 | 6 | ~€285 | Too few reviews |
| CURT | USA | 1993 | 17 | 3 | ~€155 | Too few reviews |
| Camco | USA | 1966 | 17 | 2 | ~€41 | 4,52 ★ (21,3K) |
| Saris | USA | 1989 | 16 | 1 | ~€502 | 4,13 ★ (2,9K) |
| Kuat | USA | 2009 | 15 | 1 | ~€777 | 4,73 ★ (3,8K) |
| Allen Sports | USA | 1967 | 14 | 1 | ~€166 | 4,41 ★ (67,4K) |
| Lippert | USA | — | 12 | 2 | ~€487 | 4,51 ★ (2,3K) |
| Tepui | USA | — | 12 | 1 | ~€2,120 | Too few reviews |
| Cascadia Vehicle Tents | USA | — | 11 | 1 | ~€2,940 | Too few reviews |
| Front Runner | South Africa | 1997 | 10 | 3 | ~€194 | Too few reviews |
| DORSAL | USA | — | 10 | 2 | ~€32 | 4,26 ★ (560) |
| Hollywood Racks | USA | 1973 | 10 | 2 | ~€325 | 4,67 ★ (1,7K) |
| Tuff Stuff Overland | USA | — | 10 | 1 | ~€2,960 | Too few reviews |
| 1Up USA | USA | 2012 | 9 | 1 | ~€584 | Too few reviews |
| 23ZERO | Australia | — | 9 | 1 | ~€2,590 | Too few reviews |
| iKamper | South Korea | — | 9 | 1 | ~€3,900 | Too few reviews |
| BAL | USA | — | 8 | 1 | ~€86 | 4,79 ★ (19,8K) |
| Swagman | Canada | 1989 | 8 | 2 | ~€250 | 4,39 ★ (6,1K) |
| Surco Products | USA | 1985 | 8 | 2 | ~€324 | Too few reviews |
| Roofnest | USA | — | 8 | 1 | ~€3,420 | Too few reviews |
| Stromberg Carlson | USA | 1993 | 8 | 1 | ~€185 | Too few reviews |
| EAZ LIFT | USA | — | 8 | 1 | ~€312 | 4,75 ★ (7,4K) |
| Smittybilt | USA | — | 7 | 1 | ~€1,820 | Too few reviews |
| INNO | Japan | 1966 | 7 | 6 | ~€216 | Too few reviews |
| SeaSucker | USA | 2003 | 6 | 3 | ~€302 | Too few reviews |
| VelociRAX | USA | 2018 | 6 | 1 | ~€982 | Too few reviews |
| Roadmaster | USA | — | 6 | 1 | ~€1,080 | Too few reviews |
| Rightline Gear | USA | — | 6 | 2 | ~€81 | Too few reviews |
| B&W Trailer Hitches | USA | — | 5 | 1 | ~€1,210 | Too few reviews |
| Cheetah Factory Racing | USA | — | 5 | 1 | ~€129 | Too few reviews |
| SnapPad | USA | — | 5 | 1 | ~€199 | Too few reviews |
| RockyMounts | USA | 2004 | 5 | 2 | ~€233 | Too few reviews |
| Blue Ox | USA | — | 5 | 1 | ~€1,020 | Too few reviews |
| Kolpin | USA | 1943 | 5 | 1 | ~€86 | 4,52 ★ (1,8K) |
| Carefree of Colorado | USA | — | 5 | 1 | ~€883 | Too 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.
- Thule Apex XT~€43364%~€29364% · 13
- Yakima HoldUp~€51953%~€27753% · 8
- Kuat Sherpa 2.0~€65752%~€34552% · 6
- Kuat NV 2.0~€85651%~€43351% · 6
- Saris Bones~€17336%~€6236% · 17
- Yakima RidgeBack~€37129%~€11729% · 5
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 ~€173 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.
| Product | Units | Reported | Recall |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | 86.209 | Jun 2024 | NHTSA 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 carrier | 7.500 | Nov 2023 | NHTSA 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 carrier | 6.718 | Aug 2024 | NHTSA 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. | 4.759 | Oct 2022 | NHTSA 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 accessory | 3.038 | Sept 2026 | NHTSA 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 carrier | 2.380 | Dec 2025 | NHTSA 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. | 738 | May 2021 | NHTSA 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. | 160 | Feb 2026 | NHTSA 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.
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.
- 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.
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”
“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 VeloSpace 3, upgraded bike carrier, adapted for heavier bikes such as electric bikes”
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
| Category | Under ~€87 | ~€87 – ~€216 | ~€216 – ~€433 | ~€433 – ~€866 | ~€866 – ~€1,730 | ~€1,730+ | All |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bike Racks | 4 | 26 | 46 | 50 | 21 | 1 | 148 |
| Cargo Carriers | 24 | 28 | 15 | 43 | 18 | · | 128 |
| Rooftop Tents | · | · | · | · | 26 | 66 | 92 |
| RV Leveling | 37 | 12 | 7 | 1 | · | 3 | 60 |
| RV Carriers | 3 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 19 | · | 57 |
| Kayak & Canoe | 7 | 24 | 14 | 4 | 1 | · | 50 |
| Surfboard Carriers | 21 | 6 | 2 | · | · | · | 29 |
| Accessories | 12 | 12 | 2 | · | · | · | 26 |
| Ski & Snowboard | 1 | 4 | 15 | 3 | · | · | 23 |
| Paddleboard Carriers | 10 | 3 | 2 | · | · | · | 15 |
| Snowmobile Racks | 2 | 10 | 1 | · | · | · | 13 |
| Motorcycle Carriers | · | 1 | 4 | 4 | · | · | 9 |
| Truck Racks | · | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | · | 7 |
| ATV & UTV Racks | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | · | · | 7 |
The busiest cell is Rooftop Tents, ~€1,730+ 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-EU/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 CSVSources
- 1.Ahrefs. Keywords Explorer — monthly search volume history (2026). Search data Accessed 20 September 2026
- 2.Thule Group. Year-end report, fourth quarter 2025 (2026). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
- 3.Thule Group. Year-end and interim reports, FY2019 – Q2 2026 (2026). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
- 4.Thule Group. Interim report, first quarter 2025 (2025). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
- 5.Thule Group. Interim report, second quarter 2026 (2026). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
- 6.Thule Group. Year-end report, fourth quarter 2023 (2024). Company filing Accessed 20 September 2026
- 7.PeopleForBikes. The U.S. E-Bike Market Is Bigger Than the Numbers Show (2026). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
- 8.CONEBI. European Bicycle Industry and Market Profile, 2024 edition (press release) (2024). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
- 9.Outdoor Industry Association. 2025 Outdoor Participation Trends Report (2025). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
- 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.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.ACEA. New car registrations: +1.8% in 2025; battery-electric 17.4% market share (2026). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
- 13.Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Roof Racks a Drag on Fuel Economy (2016). Independent research Accessed 20 September 2026
- 14.ADAC with Stiftung Warentest. Dachboxen im ADAC Test (2020). Independent research Accessed 20 September 2026
- 15.eBay Inc.. 2025 Recommerce Report (2025). Company research Accessed 20 September 2026
- 16.OfferUp. 2025 Recommerce Report (2025). Company research Accessed 20 September 2026
- 17.Trellis. How REI reached a key zero-waste milestone before Target and Walmart (2025). Trade press Accessed 20 September 2026
- 18.Square One Insurance. Bicycle thefts increase by 138% during the summer (2025). Company research Accessed 20 September 2026
- 19.The White House. Fact Sheet: Section 232 Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum increased to 50% (2025). Government Accessed 20 September 2026
- 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.NHTSA. Recalls data — equipment campaigns, 2021–2026 (2026). Government Accessed 20 September 2026
- 22.ISO. ISO 11154:2023 Road vehicles — Roof load carriers (2023). Trade body Accessed 20 September 2026
- 23.Mordor Intelligence. Car Rack Market Size & Share Analysis (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
- 24.Market Research Future. Bike Car Rack Market (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
- 25.DataIntelo. Global Bike Racks Market Research Report (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
- 26.DataIntelo. Rooftop Tents Market Research Report 2034 (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
- 27.Cognitive Market Research. Rooftop Tent Market Report (2026). Unverified estimate Accessed 20 September 2026
- 28.World Bank. Population, total (2024) (2025). Government Accessed 20 September 2026
FAQ