Best hitch-mounted bike rack for me?

May 8, 2022 5:00 PM

I'd like to get a hitch-mounted bike rack, but I have a strange combination of constraints.

I have a car with a 2" hitch and I'd like a hitch-mounted bike rack that can hold 3-4 bikes. My constraints seem to make this quite tricky, as I have
- kids bikes
- bikes with slanted top tubes (step-through)
- a heavy bike (around 40 pounds)
- bikes with fenders

Is there a rack that can work with all of these bikes?

posted by medusa to Shopping (10 answers total)

The Kuat NV 2.0 can do your last three for sure and I don’t know from experience but would imagine it can do kids’ bikes too. It carries my XS step-through with fenders 50-lb bike just fine. I put the hook right over my flexible fender but if they’re metal you could put it just forward of the fender.
posted by HotToddy at 5:09 PM on May 8, 2022

For step-throughs, there are adapter bars like this one to cope with the car-rack problem.
posted by humbug at 5:13 PM on May 8, 2022

If you have a 2" hitch, go for a heavy duty tray-style rack that the bikes sit on top of.

If total weight or spacing is an issue for putting all the bikes on a hitch-mounted rack, remember that you can always get some roof-mounted racks to put the kids bikes on. They're probably lighter and less awkward to lift.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:23 PM on May 8, 2022 [5 favorites]

You want a 1Up tray mount rack. Expensive but very sturdy and easy to replace parts. I’d buy one if I could afford it.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:26 PM on May 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

I have something like this cargo tray/bike rack for 2" receiver hitch mount and I think it would suit your needs. It is heavy, and a pain (or impossible, ymmv) to set up with one person. But it can hold a bunch of different bikes at once securely and other random cargo too, while being nearly indestructible. 500lbs capacity is cool! If your tongue weight can handle it.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:52 PM on May 8, 2022

I've got a Thule bike rack that has an extension so that it can hold 4 bikes total. It does not seem to hold my wife's Dutch bike as securely as I'd like, it has fenders that get in the way, but it's great for my mountain and gravel bikes and for my kids' bikes.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:04 PM on May 8, 2022

It's important to look up for your car the tongue weight capacity. This is something that is specific to your model of car, and is independent of the hitch size. You will need to take the total weight of bikes and rack into account when selecting a rack. We have a 1Up rack and it can handles the first 3 types of bikes for sure, and I think can take bikes with fenders, but you have to be careful not to damage the fenders. However, for our car tongue weight capacity, we can only have a 1Up rack that holds three bikes - but there are only 3 people in my family so it works out.
posted by ice-cream forever at 6:46 PM on May 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I can go up to 600 lbs tongue weight.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
posted by medusa at 8:08 PM on May 8, 2022

I have one of these racks and it's been fine, although my present car has no way to attach the top stabilising strap, so I just don't use it. Seems OK so far. My wife's bike is a step-through, so we use an adaptor bar for that.
posted by dg at 9:05 PM on May 8, 2022

I've done way too much research on this and there are a bewildering amount of options. Questions you need to ask yourself are:

1) How often am I going to remove the rack from the hitch completely? If often, consider prioritizing weight and install/deinstall. For example, most Kuats, Yakimas, and Thules have a toolless install system. Hanging racks are usually much lighter than tray racks, so they're easier to install.
2) How much do you care about dents and dings on your frames? The main draw on a lot of tray racks is that the only points of contacts are the wheels/tires. Hanging racks obviously touch the frame and usually move and sway more, so things like pedals and handlebars are more likely to hit other bikes/the rack.
3) Do you need to be able to access your trunk with the bikes on? Most track racks have a swing down system, and some hanging racks do too, but it's less common.
4) How hard is it to actually put the bikes on the rack? Tray racks are usually easier to put the bikes on than hanging. 1Up is probably the easiest, but they don't work well with fenders (a lot of the tray racks don't, actually)
5) How much do you want to spend? Hanging are less expensive than tray.

I'd say from what you've told us, a hanging bike rack with a couple of step-through adapters is probably the most cost effective. A 40 lb bike is usually at the upper end, but a quick look shows at least one Yakima ridgeback has a 40lb limit.
I personally went with a Saris 4-bike tray rack, but it is quite heavy (even though it's the lightest of the 4-bike tray racks) and it requires a socket wrench to take on and off. I kind of wish I'd gone with a hanging rack because I have cheap bikes. But it's also a bit of future proofing too.
posted by thewumpusisdead at 12:45 PM on May 9, 2022