Mountain Bike Racks

[Dashome]

Hello all, one consideration I had while shopping was whether my current MTB rack would interfere with the rear hatch. Coming from a GX470 with the atrocious barn door, I was very pleased to see that there was no issue with my Kuat NV 2.0 rack and my primary 29er bike. I was able to open both the top and bottom parts of the hatch when the rack was tilted.

I also saw @BloggerL gave a good review of the 1up rack in their build thread. I only preferred the Kuat to carry up to 4 bikes for my family.

 

[RunTheDistance]

I have the Thule T2 Pro 4 bike rack for our family on my LX in the summer. It works great to get the hatch open with bikes mounted. Very similar to your Kuat.

 

[18Cruiser]

I have the 1up rack with 4 bike mount, very satisfied with it.

 

[40Man]

Hello all, one consideration I had while shopping was whether my current MTB rack would interfere with the rear hatch. Coming from a GX470 with the atrocious barn door, I was very pleased to see that there was no issue with my Kuat NV 2.0 rack and my primary 29er bike. I was able to open both the top and bottom parts of the hatch when the rack was tilted.

I also saw @BloggerL gave a good review of the 1up rack in their build thread. I only preferred the Kuat to carry up to 4 bikes for my family.

View attachment 2562036

I am a big Kuat supporter. They took care of me when someone backed into my rack in a parking lot and took off.

They seem to be a sponsor of every race/event I have gone to, and they ride too. They have also made a lot of contributions for trail building. I have seen 1UP as a sponsor at one race. Guess that is where the 1 comes from in their name.

I am happy to support companies that support my hobbies!

I had the T1 for a decade, and it held up well. Couldn't open the rear gate in the closed position with it. No issues with the Kuat. It also doubles as my winter storage (the 1UP wall mount is quite handy).

 

[MTKID]

I have the recon-racks 5 bike. It isn’t light but it is extremely durable. The fabricator enjoys driving offroad and built it to handle somebody going very fast for shuttles up rough roads. Downside is the wait time since he welds and boxes all of them himself.

 

[Fisher23]

I use one of those hitch extenders.

 

[smeagol]

I had a 4 bike 1UP, but it was too heavy to use on the bumper/hitch on the rear of our travel trailer. So I have two 1UP mounted on the roof rack and will have a two bike 1UP for the hitch. Very happy with the 1UP system, even if loading bikes on the roof is a bit of a PITA.

 

[tincan45]

I am a big Kuat supporter. They took care of me when someone backed into my rack in a parking lot and took off.

They seem to be a sponsor of every race/event I have gone to, and they ride too. They have also made a lot of contributions for trail building. I have seen 1UP as a sponsor at one race. Guess that is where the 1 comes from in their name.

I am happy to support companies that support my hobbies!

I had the T1 for a decade, and it held up well. Couldn't open the rear gate in the closed position with it. No issues with the Kuat. It also doubles as my winter storage (the 1UP wall mount is quite handy).View attachment 2562673

You own a Canfield. You obviously have great judgement when it comes to proper equipment.

 

[Moby]

I have a recon as well, and I fabricated pneumatic struts for it. One hand raise and lower with 4 bikes loaded. Unless I'm on a hill, like this morning. Took a little more effort to get it back up fully loaded when it is facing down the hill but only a little..

I alao have a one up single that I use mostly for travel to races. Very compact, light and easy to deal with when I only need one bike. It also works well on my VW R - hardly feel it back there.

 

[Dashome]

Love all the options posted here. I might look into the 5 bike option in the future, due to the family size. I think 1up is easily the best 1-2 bike option. However, I think the Kuat is better if you get the 4 bike rack like I did, although it's not pictured with the 2 bike add on now. It's a solid, well thought out rack. The mechanic stand saved me from having to buy a stand for my garage since I just work on the bike on the back of the truck.

 

[rick312]

I had a 4 bike 1UP, but it was too heavy to use on the bumper/hitch on the rear of our travel trailer. So I have two 1UP mounted on the roof rack and will have a two bike 1UP for the hitch. Very happy with the 1UP system, even if loading bikes on the roof is a bit of a PITA.
View attachment 2563068

How is it getting the bikes on the roof with the tires on? I have a Frontrunner roof rack with their bike mounts that require you to remove the front tire. Not thrilled, I am 6' 1" and have issues while clamping in the bike with through axles. My sons' bike is a lot easier as his doesn't have the through axel. It's just to inconvenient taking on and off the front wheels. Looking at one up site it will attach to the frontrunner roof rack.

 

[Crush 4]

I am a big Kuat supporter. They took care of me when someone backed into my rack in a parking lot and took off.

They seem to be a sponsor of every race/event I have gone to, and they ride too. They have also made a lot of contributions for trail building. I have seen 1UP as a sponsor at one race. Guess that is where the 1 comes from in their name.

I am happy to support companies that support my hobbies!

I had the T1 for a decade, and it held up well. Couldn't open the rear gate in the closed position with it. No issues with the Kuat. It also doubles as my winter storage (the 1UP wall mount is quite handy).View attachment 2562673

I concur, love my Kuat!
Can you show a closer pic on how you have that mounted in your garage?
Thx

 

[40Man]

You own a Canfield. You obviously have great judgement when it comes to proper equipment.

It is a fun bike. They really pioneering the modern geometry. I'm tempted by their new lithium.

I concur, love my Kuat!
Can you show a closer pic on how you have that mounted in your garage?
Thx

Not much else to show. The hoist is just in the way (it is for my fj40 hardtop in summer). It is the 1UP wall mount, directly into the stud. I picked up some extra burly bolt head wood screws to give maximum hold (they don't recommend mounting bikes on the rack when on the wall, but I have seen many that do it successfully). My bikes aren't light, (canfield is 29 lbs and the Santa Cruz is about 28), add 50+ for the rack and bikes. That is about the max I'd want on one stud. I of course could out 2x4s behind it to spread the load, but it seems to work well. I tend to be snowboarding in winter, so it works out keeping the bike setup stored out of the way.

 

[stonepa]

Love my Kuat NV, especially with the 2 bike extension. Absolutely fantastic product and customer service. Here is an older picture on my LX.

I now also use the Yakima Backswing to swing the entire rack to the side. One bit of caution, the tailgate will hit the swing out latch on the Yakima. I put rubber bumpers on mine to prevent too much damage.

 

[terdrocket]

LOLO Racks for me.

LOLO RACK

• terdrocket
• Feb 1, 2020

Vertical position

LOLO RACK 2

• terdrocket
• Feb 1, 2020

Horizontal laid down

 

[FerrisBueller]

LOLO Racks for me.

LOLO RACK

• terdrocket
• Feb 1, 2020

Vertical position

LOLO RACK 2

• terdrocket
• Feb 1, 2020

Horizontal laid down

This looks like it would work great, and not stick like 6 feet beyond the rear of the vehicle like would happen with normal horizontal racks (with 4 or 5 bikes). It looks like you had to use a hitch receiver extension to make it clear the swing-out arm & wheel? Or does the rack just stick out that far to begin with?

 

[terdrocket]

This looks like it would work great, and not stick like 6 feet beyond the rear of the vehicle like would happen with normal horizontal racks (with 4 or 5 bikes). It looks like you had to use a hitch receiver extension to make it clear the swing-out arm & wheel? Or does the rack just stick out that far to begin with?

I use a receiver extension to clear the tire. This way the rack is fully vertical.

 

[Tex68w]

It's hard to go wrong with Kuat or 1Up. Once we move closer to proper mountain bike trails I plan to immerse myself back into the fold, I miss it dearly.

 

[rick312]

It's hard to go wrong with Kuat or 1Up. Once we move closer to proper mountain bike trails I plan to immerse myself back into the fold, I miss it dearly.

I hear you, TX is not great for mountain biking, at least in San Antonio.

 

[Tex68w]

You can at least get by in SA, ATX and Dallas with their DORBA trails but towards the coast it's slim pickings haha.