I'm sure this is an old subject, but I have to ask about bike racks.
Here is the situation. I have an Explorer with a 2" trailer hitch. I have my bike and my wife's bike (typical woman's bike). I need to get a bike rack for the Explorer, and would prefer a hitch mount style. The problem is, I see plenty of them that will work for my bike, but not my wife's bike. I'd rather not make this one of those high dollar investments if I can help it. I don't foresee traveling any great distance with the bikes, but any travel would probably be on the interstate. I really don't want them on the roof if possible.
That it is. But ... 30 seconds and the bikes are securely loaded and ready to roll. My wife can confidently use it, so I am now free to ride whatever ride I want. When she wants a shorter ride, we ride a loop together and she can pack up and get there or home with no complaints. That makes it cheap. [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif[/IMG]
Reviews of the universal types are all over the web and as always, use a couple of safety straps in addition to the rack attachment points.
FTA: Menard's sell a 2-bike hitch mount for something like $25 when on sale. It's sturdy, but it's for conventional frames, but with a little effort one of the bike cradles could be altered to level out a women's frame. If you're handy with tools...
I did some searching on ebay, and found this, Yakima Getaway Plus hitch Mount Swing Down, for 2 bikes. so I'm not really supporting the hippies, the first owner did. ;-)
Thanks for the info though, hopefully this rack will do well for me. If not, on to bigger (and more expensive) things.
The tried and true "hang and dangle" design. Should work well - used one like it for a long time. The bikes will bang around a bit unless you pad and bungee them. One caution is if you have a carbon top tube - DO NOT crank down on the clamp or you will hear a very expensive crack and it won't be from the rack. The design also doubles nicely as a makeshift tune up stand when needed.
I got my new bike hauler the other day (went from a 12 mpg truck to a ~30 mpg CUV). Today I have an appointment to get the hitch installed and tomorrow I pick up a Kuat NV rack that I was able to get for a pretty good price (good compared to the usual retail). Still a little over $400 so it is not cheap even with a big discount.
I think I am just about as excited to get this rack as I was getting the new gas efficient vehicle.
I got my new bike hauler the other day (went from a 12 mpg truck to a ~30 mpg CUV). Today I have an appointment to get the hitch installed and tomorrow I pick up a Kuat NV rack that I was able to get for a pretty good price (good compared to the usual retail). Still a little over $400 so it is not cheap even with a big discount.
I think I am just about as excited to get this rack as I was getting the new gas efficient vehicle.
Kuat's are great! Discovered the NV after I bought the Yak - would have preferred the Kuat. At the time (2-3 yrs ago) Kuat offered the Trail Doc separately with an adapter for Thule and Yak. Bought the adapter / Trail Doc and replaced the Yak bottle opener with the TD. Not a heavy duty workstand, but for quick adjustments on the go it works great.
I kind of thought they would be "swinging in the breeze" so to speak. I guess once I get it and put it on the truck, I'll figure out some way to keep the bikes from banging against each other (just gotta love bungee cords).
Yeah, the hippie thing. I make quite a few trips to Seattle, so I get inundated with them constantly. Nothing against them though (as long as they stay on their side of the street ;-) )
"Nothing against them though (as long as they stay on their side of the street ;-) )"
They're usually too stoned to find their way across anyways!
Oh man...Seattle. My condolences, sir. [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/frown.gif[/IMG]
Pipe insulation and those foam blocks ( dsp.imageg.netpDSP1 7240156p275w.jpgOpen ↗ ) sold for bike/canoe padding are mandatory if you value your bikes' paint and decals. A rubbing pedal can destroy a carbon frame all too easily. Foam pipe insulation is inexpensive and can be taped in place during transit or you can secure it with Velcro straps.
If any is interested in a hitch mounted rack that is über easy to use and über secure, look no further than the [rul=http://www.1upusa.com/product-quikracksilver.html]1UpUSA Quick Rack[/url]. Not only is it secure and easy to use, you can buy Quick Rack Add Ons to mount to a Quick Rack and each other to carry at least 4 bikes. It's all aluminum and made in the US (if that sort of thing is important to you). There's a video at the link I gave that's worth watching. Methinks this is the hitch rack non plus ultra.
