Many websites cover how to carry a bike or multiple bikes on your car. There are trunk mount options, hitch options, roof racks, etc that allow you to transport your bikes around. Many people who like technology are opting to switch to the Tesla line of cars. Specifically the highly popular Tesla Model 3. However, there are very few guides available on how to transport a bike on a Tesla Model 3. Let’s try to fix that.
First, while there are multiple options out there for buying a roof rack, you should just buy the factory approved option from Tesla. I don’t see any reason to buy a vehicle like the Tesla and then use a 3rd party option, even if there might be a few dollars saved. The Tesla rack is actually made by Yakima, which is relevant to how you should proceed next.
Once you install the Tesla roof rack, you now need a bike carrier. The roof rack simply holds various carrier options above the roof. For a carrier I was looking for a fork mount option that would support both a quick release option and disc brake bikes.
I first tried a RockyMount JetLine, but be forewarned, that option did not come with T-mount or Yakima rounded aero mount options. It only had a round or square mount option, so I had to return it. The Jetline sent to me also had the wrong instructions and appeared to have been a return, so it’s possible I was just missing needed pieces.
Once I discovered Yakima makes the official Tesla Model 3 roof rack, I also purchased the Yakima ForkChop and the Yakima Highspeed.
I love the ForkChop option. I would have even purchased a second one instead of the HighSpeed if that were an option. The issue is the ForkChop carrier does not work on my larger frame bikes on the Tesla Model 3 roof rack. In fairness, Yakima does say on their product page, “Crossbar spread must be ±10” of your bike wheelbase for proper use.” With only 32″ between the crossbars installed on a Model 3, you max out at a bike with a wheelbase of 42″. I either didn’t see or didn’t realize what this meant at the time I was ordering the ForkChops – largely because it’s a limitation of the Tesla Model 3 roof rack’s short crossbar spread. However, I do have bikes this works for and kept this for those bikes.
For larger frame bikes, I went with the Yakima HighSpeed. I liked this option most for its nearly unlimited support for bike types, but also that it was designed for the aero crossbars.
The Yakima Forklift is another option that is slightly cheaper and lighter, however the HighSpeed supports more options for variable bike sizes and is also simpler to install onto the aero crossbars than the Forklift. The Forklift uses a similar system to mount onto the crossbars as the ForkChop – not bad, just more “clunky”. It’s really a matter of preference at this point.
So there you have it. One point to factor is in cost. Transporting bikes on a Model 3 is not cheap. You need the Model 3 roof rack (approx $450) and at least one bike carrier (approx $230). If you buy another bike carrier to add another bike, you’re entering $1,000 territory with taxes and everything.
Hopefully this helps those of you trying to figure out how to find a bike rack and bike carrier for a Tesla Model 3.
