Good overland duty hitch racks for bicycles?

[Silver dude]

What are you using? What would you recommend?

I'm currently using a Yakima mast rack. Has been beyond solid for many years. Just starting to get tired of the bikes contacting eachother as they swing on rough trails. I do like the ground clearance and being that the mast is thru the frame it does make it difficult for the bike to fall off.

Traveling to Ouray, CO in a few weeks.

I'm looking at trying a platform rack like the Thule T2 or Yakima Stickup. Sort of nervous about thier abilities to hold up offroad.

I see some racks that make no frame contact and I'm skeptical about how solid it would really be grasping only tires.

I would prefer not to disassemble the bikes in anyway.

I'll be using it to haul two large Yeti 575's.
I've given thought to making my own using roof mounts with a custom box steel welded frame. However, I wouldn't save money and likely loose some of the tilt features.

Ben

 

[Silver dude]

Oh man these are perfect.
http://isi-carriers.com/features.html

Price / USA availability don't know.

 

[Haf-E]

I have a yakima holdup and can recommend it as being robust and worth the money.
Its a receiver type and features a curved tube that gives good clearance and departure angle.
The thule racks have a 90 degree fitting that looks prone to fail or get damaged.

 

[Silver dude]

Thanks after further review it appears the Thule isn't the best option I guess the pad material on the hook rots off and scratches the frame quickly.

I'm beginning to think I should just make my own to get what I want.

 

[GhostRing]

This thing always seemed pretty stout: http://www.tufrack.com/
I think they can also make custom height adapters and such to clear rear spares etc.

Great videos too!

 

[ericvs]

I have the North shore 4 bike rack on my truck and it is pretty sick:
http://www.northshoreracks.com/

My gfs car has the Yakima Holdup. Compared to friends Thule racks, it is superior. The thule rachet in the wheel holder seems to fail early and they start to look much more weathered than the Yakima does.

Here are two threads that will help with inspiration as well:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/35025-Vertical-Bike-Rack-Options

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/44804-Pics-of-your-bike-on-your-vehicle!!

I am loving that iSi rack though. Post up here if you get more information on it OR when you buy one and install it, post pics too.

 

[jh.]

I have to disagree...both my thule ski rack and spare me bike rack have weathered much better than the yakima racks I've had. Love yakima round bars, but prefer the Thule racks (although I do have the newer model yakima powder hound on my Subaru - because of the fit on the round bars, not quality).

That said, I recommend the spare me. I hated my hitch mounted bike rack. If you think the spare tire rack is bouncy - wait until you hit a rough trail with a hitch rack (not to mention the clearance issues). I have the spare me on the Disco and it's perfect (unless you have an incredibly odd frame shape).

 

[Ranchero]

I have the North shore 4 bike rack on my truck and it is pretty sick:
http://www.northshoreracks.com/
.

What he said. I have one and it is fantastic. Far more robust than Thule T2 and doesn't mess the departure angle up too much.

 

[goodtimes]

I use a Yakima Hold-Up - haven't had any problems with it.

I don't go rock crawling any more - or cover any other 'extreme' terrain (other than washboard roads in Mexico), but it's held up fine over the last couple years.

I carry it on the front of the truck (yes - I have receivers at both ends), so the bikes are kind of in the way - but if you mount both of them facing the passenger side & remove both seats, it's not too bad.

 

[aerofab]

I don't know much about these, but they claim to be built for offroad use.

http://www.tufrack.com/

 

[olsen_karl]

Another recommendation here for the North Shore Rack for offroad use.

I sold my Thule T2 and replaced it with two racks -- a Kuat NV for the car, and a NSR-4 for the camper truck. The Kuat is a nicer/fancier T2-type rack. The NSR is simple, crude, and rock solid -- downside: can't hold road bikes.

 

[ericvs]

Another recommendation here for the North Shore Rack for offroad use.

I sold my Thule T2 and replaced it with two racks -- a Kuat NV for the car, and a NSR-4 for the camper truck. The Kuat is a nicer/fancier T2-type rack. The NSR is simple, crude, and rock solid -- downside: can't hold road bikes.

I disagree :sombrero:.


Also, I don't have a picture of it, but the cross bars on the NSR rack happen to be the same diameter as the yakima roof bars. This allows you to mount a yakima bike rack vertically on the back of the NSR rack and carry your road bike that way.

I have also wrapped an old tube around the upper cross bar on my rack (between the NSR bike rack 'forks') and put the road bike on that way by placing the front wheel over the cross bar and resting it at the bottom of the headtube. Then the NSR wheel tie downs can be used and it holds the road bikes perfectly (even with fenders)

 

[catmandu]

1 up usa

www.1upusa.com/‎

don't have one but the next rack I buy will be one.

 

[holaCG]

I second the 1up rack. Had a few others and nothing compares to this one. Simple on and off and holds all sizes of bikes (that we have) very securely.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Swagman Jackknife. No frame to frame contact possible, no frame contact on the bike, rugged and well worth the $$.

http://www.swagman.net/products/vertical-hitch-racks/jackknife-4-63460-new-available-march-2013/