Car rack--which brand

hi Alan, I was looking for a good ebike rack for a while till now after 4 years of lifting 2 ebike onto the bike of my truck, with all the banging around, ruined paint jobs and little dents. I looked at tule and hollywood racks.
I ended up buying a kuat rack, yes it pricey.
but what you get is a lifetime warrenty and it feels like a tank the way I figure it the I would never have to replace it, as I would have cheaper racks. plus if you should ever want there are many option also with this rack. just wanted to shout out about this rack. money is tight for me but knowing I would not be replacing this rack was worth the extra $$$ good luck with whatever rack you end up with
 
Just got an Overdrive rack. Reasonable and we'll built.

Overdrive rack
 

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That Buzzrack Approach does look pretty nice for the price. I really like the idea of adding the ramps. My only concern is that the tire troughs look like they are plastic. I would also prefer that that the frame size was for a 2" hitch rather than 1 1/4" frame using an adapter. That said, if I still needed a rack, I would probably go for it.
 
Just got an Overdrive rack. Reasonable and we'll built.

Overdrive rack
@Greencat @billyboy WRT "lifetime warranties" go into the deal with Eyes Wide Open. Don't count too heavily on warranties... they may not cover you when you have a failure - they are basically a telling ethics check for the manufacturer/vendor.

We had a premium Saris/Graber bike carrier (lifetime warranty, USA made) suffer a structural failure and almost dumped $3,000+ in mountain bikes on the highway.

The plastic composite components on the carrier had catastrophic material failures (broke). The carrier was lightly used, not abused, and stored indoors. Saris Customer Service said replacement/repair parts were not available, and said it's unreasonable to expect plastic parts to last more than 10 years. In the end, after some arm twisting, they offered 50% off the purchase of a new rack (do the math at $400 - $500+ retail).

Our recommendation, based upon experience is - buy a carrier/rack as strong/heavy-duty as you can afford with as much steel and quality welds as possible - and as-FEW-as-possible plastic/composite parts as possible. Steel is heavy, old fashioned, and can rust if scratched, but given good welds, it won't fail like plastics (or "lifetime warranties"). Be cautious of aluminum-framed carriers/racks especially if you have heavy e-Bikes, aluminum can be prone to bending or cracking at stress points (as can poor quality steel or overly-plastic racks).

We'd suggest a bike carrier that supports the wheels is better (especially if a Fat Tire e-Bike) but unfortunately heavier, larger, typically requires a receiver mount, and is often more costly than a hanging-type bike carrier. If you have Fat Tires, be sure the carrier/rack can accommodate them NOT all racks can do that.

The photos of the Overdrive Rack ($230-$240) look promising, well designed & made. It's mostly steel which is excellent.

The Buzz Rack ($249) has more plastic but the plastic ramps/wheel holders are supported by steel, should still be good.

The Capstone Carrier ($152) is mostly steel with good welds, similar to the Overdrive Rack, and well made, but has somewhat low (conservative) mgf weight rating that covers ~one e-Bike. Buyer reviews report successfully carrying two e-Bikes in heavy use.

Again - we recommend not counting too much on lifetime warranties...
 
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@nublar @kathik @vincent that (link -->) 1UP USA rack look like a nice rack - thanks for mentioning it

A double bike rack is in $570-$620 range, aluminum or black anodized aluminum finish, rack weight 46 lbs, per bike rating is 50 lbs (ea). Fat Tires require an optional spacer kit. Uses security hex hardware, optional anti-theft locks are available. If interested, there are 1UP USA reviews on YouTube.
 

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Another vote for 1UP-USA. I've had mine since fall of 2014 (so not a newer "super duty" version) and have hauled two regular bikes all over the US on the back of my SUV towed behind our motorhome. When getting ready to buy our e-bikes I called the tech support with their 48-lb weight and was told "no problem". They're very stable on it and no plastic bits to break.


38263
 
Have a Jeep?!?! We have - for many decades... An "off the menu" option from 1UP-USA is "reverse side plates" that lowers the ride height of the rack in case you mount it in a front receiver and don't want the bikes riding too high above the top of the front hood. This might also help if your SUV's rear hatch still doesn't clear when you tip the normal 1UP carrier away from the rear of your vehicle. NOTE: You have to call 1UP-USA to order this special design, it's not on the website. The normal 1UP-USA rack carrier raises the carrier base up from the receiver level, the reverse side plate option lowers it.

This also helps with Jeeps that have custom rear spare tire holders that move oversize tire spares (e.g. 37" and up) away from the Jeep tailgate/bumper. See this video from OVERCLOCK3D Jeeps, for a detailed review of the 1UP-USA carrier with reverse side plate option.

 
1up USA loads and unloads in seconds, nothing touching the frame. Ask for the ramp kit. Ebikes are heavy!
 

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1up USA loads and unloads in seconds, nothing touching the frame. Ask for the ramp kit. Ebikes are heavy!

Wow, have not seen that before. Is there some sort of quick connection between the lock arm and the tire arm, and also at the end where you connect the ramp to the tire arm? Also where does the ramp stow? Thanks for your post - very helpful (and more pics would be even better!).
 
Not sure why they don't show it on the website, you have to email them and ask for it. The cotter pin allows you to drop the bar. The bolt with spacers gives you room to slide the ramp into place.
 

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Not sure why they don't show it on the website, you have to email them and ask for it. The cotter pin allows you to drop the bar. The bolt with spacers gives you room to slide the ramp into place.
Nice! Thanks very much for the additional photos.
 
@nublar @kathik @vincent that (link -->) 1UP USA rack look like a nice rack - thanks for mentioning it

A double bike rack is in $570-$620 range, aluminum or black anodized aluminum finish, rack weight 46 lbs, per bike rating is 50 lbs (ea). Fat Tires require an optional spacer kit. Uses security hex hardware, optional anti-theft locks are available. If interested, there are 1UP USA reviews on YouTube.
Are you using a hitch extender to get beyond the spare tire?
 
Not sure why they don't show it on the website, you have to email them and ask for it. The cotter pin allows you to drop the bar. The bolt with spacers gives you room to slide the ramp into place.

1-UP Ramp (for the Super-Duty rack) is here.

I just set up my new 1Up Super-Duty today, and I have to say I'm not impressed. The wheels aren't so much held down as they're pushed towards each other. I think racks that let the front and/or rear tire sink into two depressions, or a wheel well, (like the Overdrive shown above) will be more stable. Although the Overdrive has the issue that it does clamp to the frame, which for carbon fiber frame owners like myself is something to be avoided. My old Saris rack with wheel wells seems to hold the bikes more firmly - and I'd still be using it today if it were compatible with Boost frame bikes.

Removing the 1UP hold-down arms from the bike isn't so easy. You just can't lift the release knob, you have to push the bike away from the arm you want to release and then you can lift the release knob. That whole ratcheting release thing has to be operated not just from the knob, but from the whole little arm on which the knob is located since it's dependent on some pivot action. And the notched track onto which the locking arm locks is just aluminum and after just a few mounts/dismounts it's already a bit disfigured. No way that's going to last a decade.

As for the ramp part, the cotter pin thing is really kludgy. You have to be careful not to lose pieces you remove to lower the arm (I reassemble the pin on the detached arm), and you have to remember to first place the opposite wheel holder in its approximate holding position so that when you wheel the bike up it can hold the bike somewhat while you remove the ramp and place it aside (somewhere), and then reassemble the locking bar with cotter pin (assuming you haven't dropped the washer in the meantime), and then you can push the other holder into place.

And the ramp stores at the end of the rack. It uses those "security" hex bolts, which is really just a hex wrench with a hole in it - not too hard to find. They sell locks that connect the two arms on either side of the wheels through the wheels, but the arms themselves are just bolted to the platform and are easily removed with ½" wrenches, so thieves can just take the bike with the arms away to hacksaw through the soft aluminum later. And, you're using that "special" hex wrench every time you use the ramp. So, security is minimal, even with the locks they sell.

I also bought the release handle extension for folding the rack. Without the extension, you're reaching under all the bikes to get at the handle. Not too bad for a 1-bike rack, but hard for a 2-bike rack and I'd say just about impossible if you add the 3 or 4 bike add-ons. The extension thing (not cheap) is a whole lot of aluminum just to extend a handle, and again it's a bit kludgy and doesn't operate smoothly since it's all aluminum against aluminum. A dab of grease helped, but you would think they could design in some delrin bushings to guide the arm while still retaining the metal to metal lock. The Kuat foot-operated release looks much better.

BTW, you can't mount both the 1Up license plate holder and the ramp. And the license plate holder gets in the way of the release handle extension. And the license plate pivot mechanism is really lousy, takes 2 hands, and squeaks, and it's just crazy bad. That's going back.

Also, while the spec for the normal rack size is 'up to 3.1" tires,' my 3.0" tires (measuring 2.95", btw) are a really tight fit on both the ramp and in the locking hold-downs. They do sell a fat tire spacer kit for up to 4.9" tires, but I didn't want to go that route for just 3" tires. And besides, the ramp doesn't come any wider than 3". BTW, when you roll up the ramp, the ramp itself has deep enough side walls to keep the tires on it, but the rack platform does not, so as you're wheeling the bike up, you have to watch the leading wheel to be sure it doesn't roll off the platform!

If it seems like I'm whining, remember that this is a $1k rack all in with the ramp, release handle, locks and tax.


BTW, I had looked at the Thule EasyFold XT 2, but it's got a frame arm and the arm to the second bike has to feed through the first bike, which would be impossible given my big batteried bike (Luna Apollo). The Kuat NV2.0 has arms to hold down the front wheels - the same setup sa my Saris, and is what made carrying two Boost bikes difficult. I notice in Kuat's video they show one fat bike and one super thin road bike - I'd be interested to see if two fat bikes fit without hitting the first bike's arm. Anyway, even the non-base is limited to bikes with 50" wheelbases (the 1Up handles 54", but my 49" wheelbase bikes are a tight fit since you have to position one arm ahead of time and if you position it too far in the back tire is off the platform and if you position the arm too far out the front then the front tire is off the platform. That may not be a problem for the Kuat since it has the wheel wells I was lamenting missing, but I hate cutting things so close (see my notes on 3" tires on the 1Up's 3.1" tire width claim). And I don't think there's a ramp for the Kuat.

I got the 1-Up due to multiple mentions here, and last weekend I saw someone with the rack and asked them how they liked it and he said he loves his rack. I don't get the love for this rack at all. I'd return it in a heartbeat if there was something better. I will admit that it's pretty light for its strength and that holding by the wheels is the way to go for carbon fiber frames, but I was expecting more for a grand.

Sigh. Loading bikes on my old Saris Cycle-On Pro is so quick and easy. Put the bike on the platform (the front wheel sits in a well that holds the bike up and push the self-ratching arm onto the front tire, and then flip the rear tire hold-down over the rear rim. No strap feeding/fiddling. No two arms to adjust to just the right angle. No contact with the bike frame or fork at all. If it handled two Boost bikes I'd still be using it.

(BTW, since EBR's search facility throws away words of 3 characters or less, you're going to have a hard time searching for 1Up racks. :( )
 
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