I’m putting a hitch on my car so I can take my bike to some state parks in the Spring. UHaul will install a 2" or 1.25" hitch with or without a “hidden crossbar”. I know little about cars and towing.
How badly will I restrict my rack choice by opting for the cheaper 1.25"? I won’t be using this for anything but bikes.
One other thought: in hitch terminology, “tongue weight” is how much weight can be borne straight down on the installed hitch receiver. For hauling bikes, this is an important limit, since all the weight of the bike acts directly down upon the hitch receiver.
So if your car has, say, a 200 lbs (90 kg) tongue weight limit, your bike carrier and your bike must not exceed this limit. Ideally staying under by a comfortable margin. The hitch receiver might have its own tongue weight limit, possibly higher than the car’s limit written in the manual, but you always use the smaller number.
Useful to know, especially since it’s just a bare bones Subaru Impreza and not some kind of vehicle intended for towing. I looked into roof racks, but even with the lightest ebike my money could buy, I’d rather not repeat that lift all summer long!
I do want to be safe about this and do not want to risk my bike going through someone’s windshield.