Avid sports enthusiasts who practice their sport when they travel often need to rent a car with a rack. Skiers need a ski rack, surfers need a surf board rack, and bicyclists need a bike rack.

With rental car companies reluctant to guarantee the type of car you’ll get, don’t hold your breath when trying to rent a car with a specialty rack.

Search for “bike rack” at the Avis Web site, and all you’ll find is that Avis doesn’t rent bike racks. The Budget and Hertz Web sites have no information about bike racks, so in if you’re in Dallas for some bicycling, your best bet is to bring your own bike rack.

Surfers visiting Honolulu get no satisfaction, either. As of this writing, Thrifty and Dollar simply don’t have roof racks on any of their vehicles.

An Avis agent in Hawaii said a few of their SUVs and minivans have roof racks, but they are the linear kind with no cross bars and they can’t guarantee that a rental will have a roof rack, although it’s possible to request one.

Likewise, Budget and Enterprise allow roof rack requests, but there’s no guarantee of getting one. An Enterprise agent in Honolulu said some of their SUVs but none of their minivans have roof racks.

So, traveling surfers bring their own roof racks, which they strap onto the vehicle. But if the rack causes damage, they’re liable for it.

Skiers fare a bit better.

Budget offers, but cannot guarantee, ski racks at some locations.

Avis offers ski racks on selected vehicles in some U.S. locations and includes a free ski rack on ski packages at airports in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Presumably, the rack is guaranteed.