Thanks for all the great info.

I guess I should choose struts that work best for my most common use
cases: zero bikes and one bike.  Best would be that the hatch stays up
with one bike on it, and doesn't fly open too fast and isn't too hard to
close with zero bikes on it.  (Leave it closed for the rare trips with
two or three bikes.)

Anyway, it's often impractical to open the hatch with the bike rack
folded out, because it requires a lot of overhead space.

On 6/23/2019 10:28 AM, Dan N wrote:
> it would be nice if someone design hatch struts that can be adjusted on the
> fly...

I think I read something about how to install adjustable struts to the
pop top by adding a second ball fitting.  I'll have to look for that and
think about how it might be applied to the hatch.