When you travel with your bike or even rent one and also rent a car at your destination, it’s usually a bit of a pain to figure out the best way to transport your bike around. Not anymore. TrunkMonkey is an inflatable bike carrier that fits in your suitcase and quickly mounts to virtually any car. That means no more wasting time arguing with the car rental agent on why the bike rack extra you requested isn’t actually available at your destination.
Unlike traditional trunk mounted bike racks, TrunkMonkey is made from an inflatable polyvinyl core that is protected by a durable Cordura Kevlar shell. This eliminates any structural friction points that can dent or scratch your vehicle. With its unique cradle design, the inflatable carrier secures your bike using nylon webbing straps and keeps metal fixtures away from your bike frame preventing the risk of any structural damage.
TrunkMonkey’s inflatable design is compatible with any vehicle with a rear trunk or hatch and will secure any traditionally shaped bike frame. The unit comes with a 12v DC pump that connects to the cigarette lighter in any vehicle and inflates in just 90 seconds.
Another travel-friendly bike rack option is the SeaSucker Hornet ($175). It is designed to mount to the back window of any hatchback, SUV, or minivan using two of SeaSucker’s powerful 4 ½” vacuum cups (120 lb. rated pull-strength each) to hold the handlebars and hang a bike weighing not more than 35 lbs from the rear glass. Plastic ladder straps securely hold both road and mountain bike bars to the vacuum cups and can be attached and removed quickly. The Hornet also comes with a safety strap that loops around the bike’s steer tube and into a sewn-in cam buckle. The strap’s tail has a built-in plastic peg that, when closed in the hatchback, secures the strap to the car.
While the TrunkMonkey inflatable bike carrier is portable and convenient, it runs around the same price as a typical trunk mounted bike rack where you can carry two or more bikes–the one drawback of TrunkMonkey is that it carries only one bike for the moment. But for $150, you can order yours today from the company website.