Ready to take your cycling adventures further afield? Our selection of hitch mount bike racks includes models that easily attach to the back of your car or truck and can accommodate cycles of all types, from beach cruisers to fat bikes to high-end carbon fiber models. They come in sizes appropriate for both individuals and whole families, and will have you enjoying new scenery in no time.

There's a beautiful animated series from Japan about a group of young artists trying to find their individual voices as they navigate the waters of art school and fledgling love. In the series, a character named Takemoto takes off on his bicycle after a tragic event causes him to question his direction in life, and he rides the often mountainous 1,500 kilometers to Japan's northernmost point in search of himself.

Now, I know that the journey was the most important part here, but come on, Takemoto, wouldn't it have just been easier to hitch that bike onto one of these nice racks and drive up there? You certainly would have sweat a lot less, and the cycling option isn't even available on Google maps.

There are a lot of ways of transporting a bicycle. You could break it down and ship it, you could sell it and buy another if you're moving, you could ride it like our wacky friend Takemoto did, or you could strap it to a rack and let your vehicle do all the work.

A bike rack will allow you to transport one to four bikes on average, and there should be no question as to their security. Many racks come with straps and locks intended to keep the bikes in place even well above highway speeds, and you can use additional bungee cords or ratchets for added security if you're nervous about it.

What makes a hitch rack superior to its standard cousin, however, is the ease and security you gain from the use of the hitch itself. Other bike racks require you to fumble around with thin nylon straps, asking you to rely on your car's unique infrastructure and on the knot tying skills you barely remember from boy scouts. If any one of those points should prove weak, you could not only lose the bikes you're carrying, but you could cause quite the car accident behind you in the process.

A hitch bike rack secures itself in the hitch bar on the backside of your vehicle, installing in just a coupe of minutes with a level of stability you won't get from regular bike racks. Using the hitch also means that you won't see a dozen loose ends from nylon knots flying all over the place in your rear view. The racks themselves grab your bikes with simple clamp mechanisms for the wheels or the crossbars, further reducing your workload and preventing the bikes from slipping.