(Last Updated On: January 8, 2023)

Cycling can be an excellent method for getting from one spot to another. Be that as it may, here and there, even your bicycle should be shipped someplace new, and furnishing your vehicle with a bicycle rack becomes essential. 

There are various styles of racks, from hitch mount to roof, so you’ll have the option to find one that suits your necessities and style of vehicle.

Finding a hitch bicycle rack that obliges your bicycles, too, as your spending plan, can be a test. Yet, not to stress, we’ve endured many hours of testing and exploring for you! 

Throughout recent years, we’ve tried hitch racks of all styles – hanging racks, stage racks, and vertical racks – to get familiar with the intricate details of each style and brand.

From kid’s bicycles to street bicycles and blazing trail bicycles, we’ve stacked all sizes and styles of bicycles onto every one of these hitch racks. 

We know what makes them incredible, and we likewise know their constraints. Which hitch bicycle rack is best for you will depend on what size and sort of bicycles you’ll convey and the amount you need to spend.

Best Hitch Bike Racks Reviews

Thule T2 Pro XT/XTR - Bike Carrier
4.5/5

Thule’s T2 Pro XTR may be the rack that any remaining hitch racks are contrasted with because of its substantial form and convenience. 

The 52-pound rack can deal with bicycles as much as 60 pounds and has a natural trigger handle that allows you to raise and lower the rack with one hand. 

The arm braces that safe the bicycles to the rack are likewise intended to use with a solitary hand. However, our #1 new component is the coordinated wheel at the foundation of the rack, which makes it simple to move from the carport to the vehicle, which is great to leave the rack on your vehicle constantly. 

The plate is fat-bicycle amicable, taking wheels up to 5 inches wide, yet can likewise deal with bicycles with 20-inch wheels. Furthermore, you can add two additional plates ($450) to the unit to convey a sum of four bicycles on the off chance that you’re bringing the entire team along.

PROS

  • Integrated wheels make moving the rack easy

CONS

  • Over-tire clamps aren’t fender-friendly

Try not to allow the name to trick you; this rack is perfect for pulling your kayak to and from the water. An incredible aspect regarding this rack is that you can, in any case, involve the bed of your truck for other equipment.

The kayak will sit high to give you leeway to get to your back end. This allows space to pull a movement trailer or utility trailer behind your truck.

The stepping stool stops on the rack are movable side to side. You can set those inches separated or the width of the truck bed. This is useful as you can secure your kayak safely regardless of how comprehensive your kayak is. The height isn’t adjustable.

The weight limit is 800 pounds, all needed to convey a kayak or two. Some users have been able to transport more than one kayak or a canoe and a kayak. You might need to utilize elastic padding or pool noodles to safeguard your kayak during transport.

PROS

  • Easy to use
  • Rack locks to hitch, bikes lock to rack

CONS

  • Expensive for a two-bike rack
4.5/5

This rack lays on top of manufacturing plant bars, making it simple to introduce and guaranteeing it doesn’t mess up your vehicle’s paintwork. Flexibility and adaptability can oblige bicycles of various sizes without much stretch.

To introduce, change the rack’s length to get wheels somewhere between 20 and 29 inches, and grow its width to grasp tires up to 3 inches wide. The metal pieces of the rack will touch your bicycle’s tires, so you will not need to stress over scratches or scrapes.

While weighty, the 18-pound rack flaunts extreme strength, so you can have confidence realizing it will uphold your bicycle.

PROS

  • Lightweight
  • Easy to instal

CONS

  • Makes your car significantly taller

KAC

4.5/5

The flexible KAC Overdrive Sports K2 Hitch Mounted Rack joins your hitch and reaches out over a piece of your trunk, taking full advantage of the space behind your vehicle.

The strong rack is created with powder-covered steel, and it’s intended to eliminate wobbling — keeping your bicycles consistent and secure as you drive.

Regardless of the amount you’re conveying, the rack can without much of a stretch overlap or grow to hold a solitary bicycle or different bicycles all at once. Also, on account of the slant away plan, you can without much of a stretch move the rack away from your vehicle when you really want to open up your trunk.

PROS

  • Durable
  • Space efficient

CONS

  • Heavy
  • Expensive

Furnishing cyclists with a spending plan is a cordial method for conveying several bicycles; the Allen Sports 2-Bike Trunk Mount Rack is reduced and lightweight. Since it delivers completely gathered, setting up regardless of your experience is simple.

Put the rack on your trunk, utilize the implicit lashes to get it, and wrap your bicycle over the convey arms. The convey arms come outfitted with supports intended to hold your bicycle set up as you drive safely. To guarantee an exact fit, the supports accompany movable lashes you can use to hold bicycles of any size.

PROS

  • Lightweight
  • Easy to install
  • Space efficient
  • Budget-friendly

CONS

  • May not be as durable as some other options

English Columbia-based Swagman misses the mark on the memorability of Thule or Yakima, yet their XC2 model is a brilliant decision for sporting riders on a careful spending plan. 

For a scratch and dent section of $120 (on Amazon at the hour of distributing), the Swagman XC2 highlights a profoundly customizable plate framework, solid and secure tightening arms, and a strung hitch pin downplays rack development.

Maybe the best part is that the low 32-pound weight is not challenging to eliminate and introduce, and the little impression occupies insignificant room when off your vehicle. 

This rack doesn’t have all of the fancy odds and ends of the more superior choices above and underneath. However, it will move your bicycles from point A to point B.

There will undoubtedly be deficiencies given the low sticker cost, and the Swagman XC2 has its good part. The bicycle closest to the vehicle is tough to stack, contrasted with different racks on this rundown; the delivery system on the tightening arm is hard to draw in, and there are no locks included with your buy.

Also, after around 500 miles of purpose, which had numerous miles of dusty rock streets, the cushioned edge supports figured out how to rub the paint totally off one of our bicycles. 

Assuming you’re ready to spend up, we suggest the $449 Kuat Transfer v2 2 above, which addresses most of these issues.

PROS

  • An inexpensive yet surprisingly reliable way to carry two bikes.

CONS

  • Not the most user-friendly design and the ratcheting arms scuff bike frames.
4.5/5

For those trekking on a tight spending plan, it’d be difficult to show improvement over Retrospec’s hitch mount bicycle rack ($70). At under a fourth of what you’ll pay for the better quality racks, this forfeits a couple of conveniences, yet it’ll get your bicycles to any place you go.

The compound steel outline sports a connector to fit different hitch sizes with little bicycle wobble during transport. The convey arm dispersing obliges a broad scope of bicycles (as much as 35 pounds for each bike) — and keeps them isolated.

The strap supports and lashes work with a broad scope of casing sizes and lock them in, while the support cushions and delicate elastic lashes work to keep your edge sans scratch. The rack permits back access with its tip-down including. However, you’ll need to take the bicycles off first.

Some gathering with apparatuses is expected to assemble it, yet every one of the devices is incorporated, and it collects in minutes. To the extent that security goes, the hitch mount doesn’t have a lock to keep somebody from taking the mount off and taking the entire thing, bicycles included. Yet, there are predrilled openings, so you can purchase a lock independently and secure that rack.

Additionally significant: There’s no wheel security, so you’ll need to lash or bungee your tires to prevent them from turning and knocking against your ride or the other bicycle in the rack.

While it might come up short on elements of $500-600 racks, this $70 jewel packs a lot of utility into a very spending plan, well-disposed bundle.

PROS

  • Price

CONS

  • Front tires swing freely

Perhaps the most incredible agony of racking various bicycles is attempting to pry the handlebars away from the way. Trying to wind around them through different bikes has made us start a generally great riding day with a foul desire for our mouths.

The people at RockyMounts sympathize with our aggravation. The brand’s WestSlope rack ($440) has a “for what reason didn’t I consider that” highlight: a layered arrangement of supports that keeps the handlebars at various levels between bicycles, keeping them far removed from different bikes. Splendid.

The bicycle nearest to the vehicle begins at the minor level, with each following bike hoisting only an undeniably higher than the last. The lash-down tire supports work couple with wheel snares on tightening swing arms, making for a solid and secure hold that keeps your edges liberated from any contact.

The WestSlope three can hold bicycles as much as 40 pounds each, is viable with wheelbases from 34 to 48 inches, and works with street and off-road bicycle tires up to 3 inches wide.

PROS

  • Innovative design
  • Good price point

CONS

  • Bike and hitch locking kits come separately
  • Only works with 2-inch hitches

The Camber 2 is a two-bicycle hanging rack, a fantastic minimal expense option for pricer plate racks. Bicycles are hung by two-level arms that support the top cylinder. 

Elastic sections with lashes hold the bikes back from sliding this way, yet they aren’t stored as secure as plate racks. That is inevitable with this style of rack.

The Camber can be pivoted back to consider simple trunk access, and the arms are effectively collapsed down when not used. Dissimilar to plate racks, which will generally be exceptionally weighty, at just 28 pounds, the Camber 2 is light and straightforward to introduce rapidly, making it a great choice as both a super durable installation on your vehicle or a rack that you put on just when you want it.

Thule suggests a most excellent load of 37.5 pounds for each bicycle, which settles an unfortunate decision to ship electric bicycles. 

It’s additionally not great for bicycles with modern precious stone molded outlines like some entire suspension trail blazing bicycles or bicycles with a venture through outlines.

PROS

  • Price
  • Easy to install
  • Light

CONS

  • Not good for non traditional diamond shaped frame bikes. 

Thing's you need to keep in mind while purchasing a hitch bike rack

Most vehicles with a hitch beneficiary can oblige a hitch mount bicycle rack. If your vehicle doesn’t have a hitch collector, this can be introduced for the most part. EZ Travel and Reese Towpower 81378 are a portion of our best suggestions here. 

They are painful areas of strength for good up to 2 bicycles and are simple to introduce. Expecting that your vehicle as of now has a hitch, you’ll have to find whether your ideal bicycle rack will squeeze into it.

Hitches usually are divided into classes as per every vehicle’s towing limit. They range from Class I (fits any vehicle, tows as much as 2,000 pounds) through Class V (fits standard size pickups and vans with a towing limit of 10,000 pounds or more).

The Correct Hitch Size

Hitch mount bicycle racks typically just fit hitches from Class II and up, with a couple of exceptional cases. The “tongues” of Class I hitches can’t convey weighty burdens. 

To see what hitch your vehicle has, really look at the proprietor’s manual if you have a production line introduced hitch, or on the other hand. 

If you have a post-retail hitch, look at the actual hitch for documentation, sticker, or stamp with the characterization. On the other hand, contact the hitch creator straightforwardly.

Vehicle Design and Clearance

As you continue looking for a trailer hitch bicycle rack, you want to think about your vehicle’s plan to guarantee you pick one that is viable with your arrangement.

If your vehicle has a back-mounted spare tire, you might require a bicycle rack with a more drawn-out knife (the square metal cylinder that slides into the hitch collector) to forestall harm to your vehicle or bicycles. 

Measure the separation from the center of the hitch’s pinhole to the extra tire’s peripheral edge to get the base required length for the knife. On the other hand, you can add an expansion like the Heininger 6000 Advantage to get more leeway. In any case, do realize that extenders slice the weight limit of your hitch considerably.

If you have a vehicle with low leeway, you should make sure that the hitch rack you select is sufficiently high from the beginning to forestall harm to the bicycles and the actual rack when you roll over knocks.

Vehicle Accessibility

With hitch-mounted bicycle racks, openness to the freight region of the vehicle might turn into an issue, particularly with a portion of the less expensive, more shortsighted models.

Fixed-position hitch bicycle racks generally stay set up, and you want to eliminate them to get to the rear of your vehicle.

When you pull a switch or eliminate a pin, shifting hitch bicycle racks will shift down at the rack’s base. These racks allow you to open the back entryway or portal. However, you should eliminate the bicycles to shift the rack.

Swing-away racks will swing the bicycles away from the vehicle, giving you limitless access while the bicycles stay on the rack. They, as a rule, work by eliminating a clasp or a pin.

Bike Wheel Size And Tire Width

You should genuinely check to assume there are any particulars concerning wheel size and tire width before purchasing your bicycle rack. 

Most bicycle racks accompany details about wheel size and tire width. A genuine model is how the upward hitch bicycle racks are viable with 20 to 29-inch standard haggles to 29-inch mid to fat-tire bicycles.

Weight

The heaviness of the bicycle rack itself likewise matters. A bicycle rack that is too weighty may harm your vehicle. The heaviness of the bicycle rack vigorously relies upon various factors. The heaviness of the bicycle rack will generally impact its ability. 

Most bicycle racks weigh around 45-pounds, and each part won’t weigh more than 18-pounds. The higher the limit of the bicycle rack, the more it will gauge. Heavier bicycles will require a heavier bicycle rack, and lighter bicycles will require a lighter bicycle rack.

One of the lightest hitch mount bicycle racks that you can find available is the Thule Helium Pro 2, which weighs just 19 lbs. This is because it is made from aluminum, which is lightweight. There are many other lightweight bicycle rack choices that you can pick from. Remember that a lightweight bicycle rack can not oblige heavier bicycles.

Material and build

The material utilized for making bicycle racks ought to be strong, tastefully adequate, and exceptionally practical. Instead, you would not pick a material that isn’t climate-safe when you realize that your bicycle rack will be presented entirely to the climate during transportation. 

Significant decisions incorporate tempered steel or thermoplastic. Bicycle racks can likewise be produced using titanium, yet those would be more expensive. Every decision on bicycle rack material has its advantages and disadvantages. Steel is reasonable and has high protection from cutting and twisting, which settles on it an ideal decision.

Conclusion

Assuming you need a hitch bicycle rack that is not difficult to utilize, the Kuat Sherpa 2.0 is your smartest choice. The foot-helped, sans hands turn switch, will save you time in your movements. On the off chance that you’re searching for something more spending plan cordial, the Thule Camber 2-Bike Hitch Rack will address your issues.

 

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Author

Ornaldo has been working in the Marine Industry for over a decade and holds certifications for Yamaha and Mercury Marine. It is not uncommon for him to own and be working on at least three different boats at any given point in time! Ornaldo is a person who lives an outdoor life to a great extent. He is more interested in mountaineering and boating. And now he is co-creator and author of this blog

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