Best Bicycle Rack for Tow Hitch?

[hellobye]

Lots of good suggestions here thank you. Am I crazy but that 1up looks terrible?? That kuat looks pretty good. Educate me on the pin and lock portion?
Note for all: I want to fit 2 bikes.

Not at all. It's very utilitarian. I went with 1UP myself, primarily due to weight, size when not in use, and the ability to expand to 3/4 bikes as needed.

Quick R Racks is another take. Don't fully understand the history, but there is some beef between 1UP and QuickR racks, disgruntled ex employees and such.

I was also looking at Innoracks and Saris.

This shows a lot of them in quick overview:

14 Awesome Hitch Racks That Make Bike-Hauling Easier

These are our best-tested hitch-mounted bicycle racks for carrying road, gravel, mountain, and e-bikes to your riding destinations.

www.bicycling.com

 

[RemusBlack]

I have the Kuat NV2.0 rack and have found it to be excellent. View attachment 667977View attachment 667978

Completely agree. I was looking to purchase a Thule rack for e-bikes and saw the NV2.0 With Trail Doc and bought it For my PM3. Just one of the features I love about it is the ability to tighten the hitch in the receiver with the simple turn of the knob so it doesn’t wobble like most other racks out there.

 

[Watts_Up]

I am curious if there is a suggestions as to what the best bike rack is to attach to the tow hitch? Any recommendations?

I have a road bike and I always remove the from wheel when I carry it.

But I cannot find any bike rack where I can attach directly the fork to the bike rack except in the case of roof bike racks.
But I park in a garage so using a roof rack this is not a practical solution.

 

[LionelHutz]

Lots of good suggestions here thank you. Am I crazy but that 1up looks terrible?? That kuat looks pretty good. Educate me on the pin and lock portion?
Note for all: I want to fit 2 bikes.

I had the same feeling as you on the build quality between the two racks. 1up looks like it was made with Home Depot parts and seems to ride *really* close to the bumper and hatch when folded.

Re: Kuat, it sounds like people are having varying experiences on the locking pin. The Kuat pin locks from the side. On my December '20 build Y, it is impossible to fit the original Kuat lock past the trailer electrical hookup. I use this one instead and it works great: Amazon.com . I think Kuat also makes its own pin that locks from the front.

 

[DanDi58]

I had the same feeling as you on the build quality between the two racks. 1up looks like it was made with Home Depot parts and seems to ride *really* close to the bumper and hatch when folded.

Re: Kuat, it sounds like people are having varying experiences on the locking pin. The Kuat pin locks from the side. On my December '20 build Y, it is impossible to fit the original Kuat lock past the trailer electrical hookup. I use this one instead and it works great: Amazon.com . I think Kuat also makes its own pin that locks from the front.

Yes, my son got a locking pin from Amazon for use on his Xterra, but only because the hole in his hitch and on the rack are not aligned 100%, so he needed a thinner pin. If I were doing trips where I had the rack on constantly, I'd probably get a locking pin. But the action to tighten the internal pad against the inside of the hitch to eliminate shaking requires a specially-sized Allen key to tighten it, so unless someone has one in their pocket, the rack isn't going anywhere.

 

[NewbieScoobie]

I had the same feeling as you on the build quality between the two racks. 1up looks like it was made with Home Depot parts and seems to ride *really* close to the bumper and hatch when folded.

Re: Kuat, it sounds like people are having varying experiences on the locking pin. The Kuat pin locks from the side. On my December '20 build Y, it is impossible to fit the original Kuat lock past the trailer electrical hookup. I use this one instead and it works great: Amazon.com . I think Kuat also makes its own pin that locks from the front.

THANK YOU! Great timing. Just assembled my Kuat and could not for the life of me get the included pin through to lock given the placement of the electrical connection socket.

 

[DanDi58]

THANK YOU! Great timing. Just assembled my Kuat and could not for the life of me get the included pin through to lock given the placement of the electrical connection socket.

I am able to thread it in from the passenger's side, so that the clip is next to the electrical connection. No issue.

 

[Daekwan]

Recently bought a 1UP Quik rack single for my Y.

Now that its been delivered looking to sell my 1UP Heavy Duty Double. Im located in the Washington, DC area.

IMO.. 1UP makes the best bike racks period. Once you use one, you will not even consider any other brand.

 

[ALAN Z]

Has anyone had any experience with the "Thule EasyFold XT 2 Hitch Bike Rack"?? A bit pricey/hard to find but thought I'd see if any of you Tesla Y owners have had any experience w/this product...thanks for any feedback!

​

 

[ALAN Z]

I have the Thule 2 bike rack and it's worked well for years. I like that you can easily put it on and off and lock it to the receiver with a key.

is it the Thule EasyFold XT 2?

 

[Watts_Up]

is it the Thule EasyFold XT 2?

This model seems very popular in Europe:

 

[davraker]

The Thule above seems to have a strap on each wheel and a connection to the bike by clasping the frame. Most likely this would be a solid rack, but the connection to the frame would be understandable to me. Most other examples discussed in this thread avoid this.

 

[DanDi58]

This model seems very popular in Europe:

View attachment 669433

Are they required to have lights in Europe? That's a pretty cool feature for those that keep their racks on the car.

 

[kindofblue]

is it the Thule EasyFold XT 2?

No, ours is the Aero model where the bikes hang on a straight bar. Note the second pic there that shows the attachment to the hitch receiver. On and off in a flash and the round knob has a keyed lock.

 

[jhams]

Thanks to everybody for the replies. I looked into the racks on the 1up site and am fairly confused as to the differences. I need 2 slots, but it seems like even the singles have the ability to expand to doubles. Then there is Quick Rack, heavy duty, super duty and equip D and the descriptions and images look nearly identical. Any info on the differences?

Edit: It's a miracle. As I posted this I got a popup on their website with a PDF to compare them. Here is a direct link for others.

https://www.1up-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/55107_1UP_Product_Flyer_17x11_FNL.pdf

Edit 2: Still not seeing significant differences other than the weight of the bikes. Equip D is the most expensive with the least features?
Heavy Duty and Super duty are the same except 75 lbs vs 50 lbs.

 

[Watts_Up]

Are they required to have lights in Europe? That's a pretty cool feature for those that keep their racks on the car.

There is even a little ramp to help with the loading: Platform bike rack

 

[NJX3tomY]

I have a 1 Up that only carries one bike. Love it. Does anybody know if I can fit another bike inside the MY with the back seats folded?

I can fit my road bike back there no problem

 

[Wennfred]

This is the one I got, works great, very secured and a lot less in price then most, I paid around $315.00 at REI. Review with pictures below.

Yakima Ridgeback 2 Bike Rack

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[Mickey11]

Recently bought a 1UP Quik rack single for my Y.

Now that its been delivered looking to sell my 1UP Heavy Duty Double. Im located in the Washington, DC area.

IMO.. 1UP makes the best bike racks period. Once you use one, you will not even consider any other brand.

Is the rack still for sale assume not but just thought I would ask.

 

[POCH]

Coming out next spring by Kuat Piston Pro X - Küat Racks