After your bike and essential riding gear, a bike rack can be the next most significant investment for any rider. Even if you mostly ride to the trails, with so many great riding areas around Australia you’re still likely to get away and take your bike with you. A good bike rack should last you for years, so it pays to make sure it suits your vehicle, bikes and use.
Vertical bike racks have grown in popularity thanks to how easily they can carry lots of bikes. The past two years have seen a boom in people riding off road. Whether it’s families, colleagues, groups of mates or school groups, the need to easily transport more bikes has never been greater. With models that can carry up to 7 bikes available, a vertical bike rack is one of the most efficient ways to get a bunch of bikes to the trail head, if riding there isn’t feasible.
Vertical bike racks aren’t the cheapest items out there, and we wouldn’t want them to be given they need to carry bikes on shuttle roads, or on busy high-speed roads. So we reached out to nine different vertical bike rack manufacturers in order to test their racks back-to-back, uncover the ins and outs of each rack, and help you find the one that suits you. Here are a few key things you need to consider first.
LIGHTS AND PLATES
You’ll need to check what the legal requirements are in your state and territory for visibility of your lights and number plate. Most brands have options for plate mounting and some have inbuilt lights in the model tested or within their range. Light and plate boards are also compatible across brands. You do need to get an accessory plate – something homemade won’t cut it! And remember, it’s not about whether you think the lights and plate are visible enough, that decision will be made by the highway patrol.
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH OVERHANG?
Your loaded rack can only sit within 60% of your wheelbase length beyond the rear axle. In the case of our Isuzu MU-X, the 2855mm wheelbase dictates 1713mm maximum from the centre of the rear axle to whatever is outermost on the rack. This is why vertical bike racks have different mounting locations on the base bar, and options to tilt inwards. Some manufacturers have base options to suit different vehicles, so it is worth getting in touch with them directly about the best fit. While some companies have options to make it work, or do custom racks, it is up to you to check that your combination is compliant. The legislation is meant to prevent anything on overhanging your vehicle (canoes, ladders, timber) pushing into an opposing lane when turning sharply, given your car’s pivot point is at the rear wheels. Many feel this needs review, especially to help better the uptake of cycling. We reached out the the national peak body for cycling and advocacy, AusCycling, as to whether they are in a position to lobby for change:
‘AusCycling is aware of some concerns that have been raised about the compliance of certain combinations of bike racks and vehicles. We are not in a position to determine compliance on these matters, and we encourage anyone who has concerns about the suitability of specific products to raise these with the relevant manufacturer.’ Executive General Manager of Government Strategy, Nick Hannan. In short, it is up to drivers and riders to check that their vehicle and rack combination checks out.
HOW MUCH CAN THEY CARRY?
Assuming you have a 50mm Hayman Reese hitch, your download limit is 10% of the towing limit of your vehicle. For each rack we have noted the total weight limit of the rack and the limit per cradle. We have also listed the true weight of the rack we have tested. Our Isuzu MU-X has a download limit of 350kg, but some racks had a limit of as little as 64kg. The rack limit is the one to stick to, and the loaded weight of bikes and rack (and any accessories) needs to stay within the download limit. We weighed each rack with its attachment hardware, so you can compare the rack weights.
WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP IT?
Vertical bike racks take up a bit of real estate at home. Many states don’t allow you to keep an unloaded rack on the car, so can you store it at home? And how easily can you fit it solo? Most brands have garage storage mounts or trolleys. If you have the
