Bike Rack Review
Choose your toys
It’s a great feeling to find yourself planning an off road trip. Checking your rig, hauling out the gear and checking that all is in order. You must decide what you will need for this particular trip and then the packing . . . One thing that impacts this exercise, of course, is where and how long you will be going and what you plan on doing there.
Will you be hiking, skiing, fishing or maybe biking? While it is good to be like the proverbial boy scout, always prepared, it’s pointless for you to haul a pile of gear along that you will not be using. Today I’ll take a look at bikes (pedal bikes) and how to get them to your intended playground securely and with a minimum of fuss and bother. I will be looking specifically at the rack we use when taking our bikes along on an off road trip.
What kind of rack?
Our choice
After some research and scouting about, we found one at Walmart that seemed to fit the bill nicely. Well OK, the price was good and the picture on the box was kinda cool. The rack we chose is a Reese® Carry Power “Sports Wing” ™ and cost if memory serves, a little under $200. So back home to check it out and we were not disappointed.
Where to get it
First, a few words about where to get these racks. As I mentioned, we picked ours up at Walmart. However, the manufacturers are Reese who manufacture a range of different hitch and towing related products. When checking out there website, I notice that the “Sports Wing” racks (or carriers as they call them) are not listed on their product list. The do have a similar “V” type rack – the NV2™ It is interesting to note that while Reese does not show the Sports Wing™ on their inventory, an outfit called Realtruck does. Their price is $189.99 which makes it much the same as I remember the Walmart price to have been. I do note however, that currently, Walmart only seem to carry the two bike model. I also found a very similar rack sold by Northern Tool + Equipment. Theirs for only $69.99 . . . Still prefer my Sports Wing™, buyers remorse and all you know! 🙂
The basics
The rack is built to carry four bikes. The design is simple – a square tube main shaft that fits straight into the square socket on the tow bar. The main shaft is in two sections so that you can remove a section when only carrying two bikes. Very handy. Each section has an upright “V” frame with padded hooks on bother sides. (See photos below) Here’s where this rack is different to most – and I think this is a great feature – when carrying four bikes, the front section is fitted first and the first two bikes are mounted, then the rear section is fitted and the second pair of bikes are mounted. This makes the loading process a lot easier.
The next feature that is different to most racks is in how the bikes are mounted on the rack. With most racks, the bikes are suspended on a pair of horizontal bars that fit under the cross bar of the bike. Unless all the bikes you are carrying are exactly the same, the different configuration of the frames results in all the bikes hanging at different angles. I find this looks rather untidy. Not that I’m OCD or anything . . . With this rack however, the hooks on the tops of the “V” frame fit between the spokes and the bike wheel hangs on the hook. Thus the bikes are hanging by the wheels and are dead level. You position each bike facing the opposite direction to it’s neighbor and there is no getting peddles and handlebars tangled up. It also makes it look much more tidy.
Security
We have used this rack for four years now. On trips long and short, it has proved to be quick and easy to fit, load, unload and remove. A real pleasure to use.
