enzo
Explorer
Do want.
Good overland duty hitch racks for bicycles?
- Thread starter Silver dude
- Start date
Do want.
XploreBaja
Observer
Agree this rack appears to be top shelf. I've emailed them about availability. Will let you know
Stubbs
New member
I've been looking for a rack for my pathfinder as well. I use it mainly for shuttling DH bikes. We quite often run into problems with the departure angle most the racks out there give you. My GF has a NSR-4 on the back of her Liberty thats seen a lot of use the last few years. I've never been 100% happy with it for a couple of reasons. You can't carry road bikes or bmx very easily and it wobbles around a lot on the service roads.
Now that we've picked up a pathfinder I've been looking for a rack that may be an upgrade over the NSR. And quickly discovered there's not much out there at the same price point that's capable of carrying four dh bikes. I ended up grabbing a Softride Hang5 http://www.softride.com/rack-products/specifications/softride_hang5_bike_rackto try out. I've only tested it out once on pavement but it seems to have the same problems the NSR has. Plus is giant and doesn't really fold down. I'm going to give it good few test runs and then decide if I want to keep it or try something else.
There is one problem I've encountered with the pathy though. The spare tire is mounted underneath and when you try to insert the rack into the hitch receiver it hits the tire before it reaches the second bolt hole. So the rack sticks out even further. Anyone have a remedy for this?
Now that we've picked up a pathfinder I've been looking for a rack that may be an upgrade over the NSR. And quickly discovered there's not much out there at the same price point that's capable of carrying four dh bikes. I ended up grabbing a Softride Hang5 http://www.softride.com/rack-products/specifications/softride_hang5_bike_rackto try out. I've only tested it out once on pavement but it seems to have the same problems the NSR has. Plus is giant and doesn't really fold down. I'm going to give it good few test runs and then decide if I want to keep it or try something else.
There is one problem I've encountered with the pathy though. The spare tire is mounted underneath and when you try to insert the rack into the hitch receiver it hits the tire before it reaches the second bolt hole. So the rack sticks out even further. Anyone have a remedy for this?
enzo
Explorer
Thanks!
ericvs
Active member
What if you trimmed the end of the bar that sticks through the hitch. You are probably pretty close and I don't think cutting a bit of that bar will affect the rack.
PetitFrereArmada
Explorer
Wow, I clicked on the link and I can say this does look perfect.
My Thule T2 has been holding up well. All though, I haven't taken it on any serious offroading adventures.
If I had to do it over again I would of probably gone with the 1up USA receiver hitch rack. At the time I got the T2, the 1up was nowhere in my price range and I got a ridiculous deal on the T2.
I had the 1up rack for the top of my previous car. That was the only rack on the market that would hold my fatbike
Good luck on the search!
ericvs
Active member
Justs to tack onto this thread for future use. I have discovered a new rack system out of Bellingham, Wa. I have met the owner and he is harder on bike rack than anyone I have met. He designed these racks to handle the abuse that he can dole out. I have seen him jump his truck with the bike rack full, what?. They are burly! If he can't break it, nobody can.
http://recon-racks.com/
http://recon-racks.com/
Nice, simple, burly design. If the 4 bike version was in stock, I'd be tempted. Thanks for the link...
ericvs
Active member
From my experience (I own a 6-bike NSR, and have used multiple friends Recon racks during shuttle days) the racks look similar in the sense that they carry bikes vertically on the back of your truck, but they perform quite differently.
The main difference is that it holds the wheel instead of the fork crown. This allows you to carry any type of bike, not just bikes with suspension forks. The NSR is limited to bikes with suspension forks and even then there are also some bikes that just don't fit the NSR. Some smaller frames with 1 1/2" headtubes don't fit due to clearance issues. Recon doesn't have this issue.
On the Recon, the way the bikes are loaded, the rack sits vertically up and down instead of tipped back slightly (on my truck, I have to tip it back so the wheels clear the back door when the bikes are loaded. This leads to more bouncing on the trail. The vertical mounting on the Recon reduces this bouncing effect.
Recon main tube straight up and down:
NSR leaned back for clearance:
The mounting point on the Recon allows you to still have the 2" hitch, so you can tow or add a hitch basket.
The way the bikes are carried in the Recon doesn't allow them to touch. On the NSR, if you load all sorts of different bikes, they can sort of rotate and contact each other. This doesn't happen on the Recon from what I have seen.
That being said, I am happy with my NSR. It actually works out really well for my rear door, if there are not bikes loaded but the rack is on the truck, I can still open the door enough to climb in or grab something. With the wheel trays on the Recon, they block the door more, so I can't open it as far. I think he is working on something, however, that will allow the rack to be tipped out of the way much quicker, so this might not be an issue.
This is the 4-bike, but same idea.
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paranoid56
Adventurer
the only thing i wonder about with that rack is that you are putting a lot of pressure on the forks like that. now does that cause more wear? who knows, but just something i wonder compared to the north shore