With the Saris Solo, I have found the perfect bike rack for the tiny Toyota iQ. Here’s my review.
Having searched for the smallest possible car that could carry four passengers, I settled on the 2013 Toyota iQ2 (known in the US as the Scion). The car is only slightly larger than a Smart, but has four seats instead of two. It comfortably transports our entire family, and has proven surprisingly fun to drive.
I often like to carry my bike up into the local mountains for rides, so the next thing I looked for was a bike rack that could fit the tiny Toyota. That search led me to a Wisconsin-based rack maker I’d never heard of, called Saris, who make the ideal single-bike rack for the Toyota iQ.
The Saris Solo is made of an strong plastic, is very light weight, and installs in seconds. It has four arms anchored with rubberized feet. Those feet are held in place against the car’s surface by straps and rubberized hooks that connect to the top and bottom of the car’s rear hatch. Built-in zip ties secure the top tube of the bike to the rack and a mid-level strap secures the bike from swaying.
Saris has posted a video on YouTube that demonstrates the installation process.
As you can see from the photos below, the shape of the rack’s arms form a letter “Y”. Interestingly, I can store the rack inside the car, by situating the crook of the “Y” on top of the back seat. Amazing.
The rack’s price is about $60. I’ve been using it for a while now, and am really happy.
A friend of mine was just told by Halfords that there was nothing suitable for her car. Thanks man. EXACTLY what we needed to hear! Heard of Saris but wasn’t sue it’d go on her iQ lol.
Hi Domanic — cool, glad the article helped. I think your friend will love the Saris!
Thank you!
Hi there, we’ve got an iq and need to rack 2 bikes. The SARIS Bones 2 and Bones RS were both mentioned as ‘ok’ for the IQ but I’m not so sure, if they are only being held by the top 2 straps taking the weight of 27kg of bikes and the rack itself without any bumper for the lower arms to rest on… bit of a minefiled so I guess I won’t know till I try.
did you end up buying the saris 2 bike carrier?
I bought one, but that was years ago. I don’t know if it’s version 1 or 2.