Ahh what a good feeling to know that my bike transportation worries are over.  Ever since my Volvo and I parted ways, I have been left without a convenient way of moving my bike from place to place.  My old racking solution was a Yakima King Joe strap rack. 

    Nothing against the Yakima, it was one of the most secure and easy to use strap racks I have ever dealt with.  It was always solid on the car, and never once did I have a concern that it might come loose.  The biggest downfall to it however was the same as all strap racks.  It touched the paint of the car.  No matter what the manufactures do, all strap racks will eventually leave a mark on the car.  In the case of the Yakima, most of the damage came from the close proximity of the bikes to the trunk, rather than the rack itself.  Scratches were simply unavoidable using the rack, which was its only downfall. When I bought the new car, I decided I better not start using the Yakima, just simply to avoid scratching the trunk all to hell.

   So ever since July I've had to resort to the tedious practice of tearing my bike down and jamming it into the trunk.  Luckily the Fusion has a trunk that is large enough to accommodate a mountain bike with the wheels removed.  Needless to say, it becomes a bit of a pain to have to pull the bike apart and reassemble every time you want to move the bike.  So a solution had to be found.

    The best and easiest way was to purchase a hitch mount rack.  A Hitch itself has a low footprint on the car, and if anything increases the value.  My only criteria for the rack was that it be a platform rack, so that little to no contact is possible between the bike and the car.  The rack of my choice was the Saris Thelma.

    Just this evening I received the rack, and I'm here to say, so far so good! It is light, and easy to mount and dismount.  It holds the bikes securely when mounted, and it holds the bikes nice and clear of the back of the car.  The only problem I have found so far is that due to the mounting of my hitch, the Thelma is located too close for comfort when in its folded up stowed position.  It is literally millimeters away from the bumper, and there just is not enough clearance to avoid paint damage due to rack movement (such as when hitting a bump).  This is mostly due to the fact that the hitch on the fusion is located about 2 inches behind the bumper.  This is no fault of Saris, and when in the down position, there is tons of clearance for the bikes. I will simply have to avoid driving with it in the stowed position whenever possible.

    Oh well that's my update for now, Ride on!