As the title says. I can't find a wheel-holding hitch rack for less than ~$350. I have a plan to make my own for much cheaper, but if an off the shelf option existed for ~$175, i'd probably be interested. Anyone know of a decent one?
As the title says. I can't find a wheel-holding hitch rack for less than ~$350. I have a plan to make my own for much cheaper, but if an off the shelf option existed for ~$175, i'd probably be interested. Anyone know of a decent one?
Best place to buy racks in our town is the used sporting equipment store.
What Keith said, with a side order of used rack specialists (rerack, rack attack) but those are usually less discounted than one would hope (though they can often turn used bits shopping into a one-stop affair, with new examples of whatever missing parts/adapters/gubbins you need).
FBM, CL, and if your area has an active bike racing community, see if they've got any sort of public forum where buying/selling happens?
Quality bike racks are kind of staggeringly expensive.
Having had a bike fall off a rack once - they're cheaper than bikes are.
I got one like this for $40 or so off fbm. They seem to come up for sale fairly often around here.
In reply to EvanB :
i don't like these as-purchased because that hook still contacts the frame and will wear the paint off over time. ive been watching my local used market for a while and even used, nice racks are still selling for upwards of $350. Sadness
In reply to Jesse Ransom :
i pulled up some random Yakima rack on Backcountry.com and saw that it was over $700. that's insanity
EvanB said:I got one like this for $40 or so off fbm. They seem to come up for sale fairly often around here.
I used one of those for many years with my bike. A bit clunky, but worked really well. You'd probably have to use it for many decades before you saw any frame wear - the hook that contacts the frame is well protected by padding. Its also nice that you can compress the suspension and before securing the hook.
In reply to TravisTheHuman :
not to be a contrarian, but my wife has one. I put my MTB on it once and already can see clearcoat wearing off. Perhaps my bike is just poorly painted, but i'd like to keep it as nice as I can
Once? Wow. I hope you never actually ride your bike, the clearcoat will never survive :)
If you can build a 1up style rack on the cheap - do it! They are awesome. I went in a very different direction 
I was imagining one of these adapted to a trailer hitch.
The 1up racks are not cheap but are 100% worth the money if you want something to keep your bike safe and have something that is easy to use.
I've had an inexpensive Swagman (https://www.amazon.com/Swagman-Cross-Country-2-Bike-2-Inch-Receiver/dp/B0001VO1YY/ref=sr_1_4) for five years now, and it's been fine. No complaints. I take a section of pool noodle, split lengthwise, and put it over the top tube so the hook doesn't chafe the paint.
Have had my Kuat NV2 for years now, works great.
budget_bandit said:As the title says. I can't find a wheel-holding hitch rack for less than ~$350. I have a plan to make my own for much cheaper, but if an off the shelf option existed for ~$175, i'd probably be interested. Anyone know of a decent one?
If you're anywhere near the MS coast I'd take $100 for this one.
It's worked well for me & has built-in locks, but I upgraded to a 4-bike Kuat this year & don't need this one anymore.
If you are worried about the paint, maybe get a piece of the 3M paint protection film to apply where the rack clamps down on the frame?
I just sold one of these on FBM for $150, so they are out there but not as common as the hanging style. It worked well when I was taking both kids with me. It was easy to load and secure, but was heavy/awkward to install on the minivan and a pain to access the rear hatch:
I replaced it with an older version of this off FBM for $75 which was lighter and the swing feature made it easier to access the rear cargo area:
Tim Baxter said:I've had an inexpensive Swagman (https://www.amazon.com/Swagman-Cross-Country-2-Bike-2-Inch-Receiver/dp/B0001VO1YY/ref=sr_1_4) for five years now, and it's been fine. No complaints. I take a section of pool noodle, split lengthwise, and put it over the top tube so the hook doesn't chafe the paint.
Here's your answer! And that price is less than I paid ~15 years ago. Small and easy to store, you can get a set of fat bike wheel trays if needed.
I think one of these and a little GRM ingenuity and you're in business!
No Time said:If you are worried about the paint, maybe get a piece of the 3M paint protection film to apply where the rack clamps down on the frame?
That's what I did for our bikes using a rack that contacts the frame, it's handy to have around to protect other parts of the frame from cable or heal rub as well.
For those with the very nice Kuat racks I recommend you take a picture of your serial number in case you ever need to use their lifetime warranty. A friend had one these racks for many years and it started to deteriorate so they contacted Kuat about the warranty, they needed the serial number and without it wouldn't do anything for them. The serial number is on a sticker, turns out the lifetime warranty is only for the lifetime of that sticker which was long gone.
Tim Baxter said:I've had an inexpensive Swagman (https://www.amazon.com/Swagman-Cross-Country-2-Bike-2-Inch-Receiver/dp/B0001VO1YY/ref=sr_1_4) for five years now, and it's been fine. No complaints. I take a section of pool noodle, split lengthwise, and put it over the top tube so the hook doesn't chafe the paint.
To be frank, that style of rack isn't going anywhere near any of my bikes. That is not a "wheel rack" like a 1up.
Keep an eye on FBMP and you may see one of the 1Up, Kuat, or similar brands for sale, but they tend to sell fast so don't waffle if you see one you want.
I ended up just buying a 1up new and I'll concede it's not a cheap option. But it's USA-made, repairable with good parts availability, and a lot of my friends have them,
so there's a lot of common knowledge.
And just to chuck one more into the "answers you weren't looking for," consider something like Invisiframe paint protection (or similar) over contact areas of your existing or whatever's obtainable rack to avoid paint damage? Has the added advantage of protecting paint from things besides your bike rack.
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