missjennieb

I just bought the following accessories on eBay:

Cargo tray (for wet ski boots and the like)
Cargo net (to secure everything)
Cargo organizer (for groceries and miscellaneous things)

My question is, do you prefer using a roof rack or cargo liner for your skis/snowboards? I also might invest in a mountain bike, so I'm contemplating whether to get a hitch, or use the rack or liner.

turboted

The cargo net is the best accessory I have purchased for my RDX.

johnny99

The RDX is a somewhat tall and wide vehicle, so unless you are very tall (or plan to use a ladder), putting bikes on the roof will be difficult. If your bikes are small, you can put 2 of them inside standing up. If the bikes are average sized, however, putting more than one inside will be awkward. A hitch rack is very easy to use.

phoward_15

missjennib - first let me start by saying I'm not an RDX owner yet but plan to be soon. But I believe I do have a recommendation on a really nice bike hitch for you.

My friend has the Lexus RX400h and he has the Thule Parkway 4 Bike 2" Hitch which we've used a ton of times. This is a great bike hitch. Even with the 4 four bikes on the rack it still gives enough clearance for him to open his tailgate without even moving the hitch. But, if you don't have enough clearance with the bikes on the beauty of it is you just push a button and the bike hitch folds down a little giving you more clearance. So you never have to take the bikes off if you need to get into the tailgate. This is a much better option than those bike hitches with the revolving gate which cost twice as much as this one.

I would highly recommend this bike hitch. I'm definitely going to get one when I get my RDX.

missjennieb

Thanks for all your input! I think I'm definitely going to get a hitch for the bikes, but I'm still iffy about putting skis/snowboards into the cargo area. Even with the cargo liner as protection, I'm afraid of putting anything gross in my car (especially the dirty snow that melts off the snowboard ) Maybe I will just go with the roof rack.

steev

I have a Thule Ridgeline which is a 4-bike hitch with tilt-down, i think it is very similar to the parkway. I use the Hidden Hitch that is mentioned in these forums as well as a short hitch extender so there is clearance between the bikes and the car. If I need to open the hatch I just tilt down the bike rack without removing the bikes and the hatch can open freely.

johnny99

If you have nice bicycles, I recommend against the type of bike rack that squeezes the top tube. At best, these will eventually scrape and gouge your bike's paint. At worst, it can dent or crack the super-thin metal or carbon used in high-end bikes. Thule and other companies make hitch racks that attach to the bicycles tires instead of the top tube.

Pacer

>do you prefer using a roof rack or cargo liner for your skis/snowboards? I also might invest in a mountain bike, so I'm contemplating whether to get a hitch, or use the rack or liner.

I have the liner which is very handy. I had a hard time liking it at first as it wasn't what I was expecting, but now I think it's pretty awesome. It's 100% custom to every curve of your RDX. It has a fold-out guard to protect the bumper during loading/unloading and it also has mesh cutouts for the rear audio. Sweet. I also like the clean look of the RDX sans roof rack. Personal preference, really. Plus the roof rack is a permanent addition to the RDX. There are no cutouts for it, unfortunately.

Why not try out the RDX without the roof rack and see if you're happy? That way you have nothing to lose. Then make your decision on liner or rack. Although the liner is just good to have regardless.