janeset123

I am looking for recommendations for a hitch rack that will accommodate my Trek Allant 7+ Stagger. I really like the 1 Up but I am concerned that it will not work with the rear fender. Ideally, I am looking for a rack that will either be light enough to remove when not in use (under 30lbs) or will fold up and not interfere with the liftgate of my 2015 Escape. I looked at the Saris Freedom (which is light) but I don't think I would be able to load my 50+ bike onto that rack without assistance. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My hitch gets installed next week and I am eager to be able to take my bike to some new places!

Cyclist0108

I have a Kuat Sherpa 2.0 that only hooks over the front wheel. (The rear is held in a tray with a strap). Assuming the front fender doesn't project too far out, this might work.

Bluechip

My wife just got a Liv Thrive E bike and we ran into the same issue. It never crossed my mind the fenders would be an issue with the Kuat rack. I just put the arm carefully over the fender and hoped it would hold it securely without damaging the fender. We got home with it and everything was fine but I am still looking for a better solution. Maybe slide some type of firm foam under the fender on top of the tire and another on top of the fender. Anyone have any better ideas? She does not want to give up the fenders.

Cyclist0108

Foam will work, or just put the hook further out on the front wheel. Secure it with a Velcro strap if you want a bit of additional security.

Calsun

The trick is finding a rack that is under 30 lbs that will support a 60+ lb ebike and consider what you may have in the future or whether you ever want to have two bikes on the rack. Fenders are not an issue but racks usually supprt bikes with 3" or narrower tire and may need adapters for wider tires.

Separate problem is finding a rack in stock. Hollywood racks for e-bikes have been out of stock since October of last year. 1up is supposed to have more by June or July.

speedy25

Hollywood TRS style. Works great for all the problems people have with carrying bikes!
Clamp it down on the front wheel in front of the fender.
No adapters needed if you have a low bar or step through.

B2mac

The long rear fenders on some bikes limit the racks which will work for these bikes and most of these racks will clamp onto the bike frame. The Thule Easy Fold comes highly recommended although it is quite expensive. It has a ramp to help in mounting bikes. It does have a clamp that attaches to the bike frame. Yakima also makes a rack that has a ramp. It also clamps down on the frame. I was concerned with damage to the paint by those racks that attach to the frame so I opted for the Saris Superclamp EX2 which clamps on the tires and also has straps to tie the wheels down to the tray. It is also a relatively light rack but can hold 2 54# ebikes. I have used it several times and it seems to hold the bikes securely. I had several dealers tell me that this rack wouldn't work for bikes with long fenders but I talked with Saris representatives and they assured my that it would. I look forward to hearing which rack you choose and if you are happy with the choice.

Calsun

For bikes with fenders the racks from Swagman and Hollywood that have J hooks that clamp onto the frames of the bikes are the best solution. Ones like those from 1up are not going to be able to provides a secure means for transporting e-bikes with fenders.

Read the reviews by owners before buying the Yakima or the Thule e-bike racks as they both have significant shortcomings in actual use with a couple of 65 lb e-bikes mounted.

mpetry912 

I'd echo the comments about the Yakima, it works but it is right at the limit with even one ebike aboard.

The Kuat rack seems very solid.

Its a good idea to put a strap on the front wheel clamp to make sure it doesn't move. Use a toe clip strap.

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA USA

Calsun

Looking at photos of e-bikes with fenders I was struck by how often the fender extended car more than was necessary in the front on the front wheel and how far back on the rear wheel. If it was my bike I woud trim the fenders to retain the protection while getting them out of the way of the rack attachment points.

veganbikes

It seems as if people have missed the rack designed for this purpose: Thule EasyFold XT

I wouldn't trim fenders or just put some foam it is fine. Just get the right rack for the job. Also keep in mind that the per bike weight is the important weight don't worry about total weight because if you are exceeding the per bike weight you are going to have problems. The Thule can handle 65 pounds per bike and can tilt out of the way easily when you need to access the trunk. Let's also not forget about the ramp so you don't need to lift the bike just use the walk assist and walk it up the ramp.

Calsun

There is no "right" rack as all entail compromises. The Thule is not able to properly support two 70 lb e-bikes and the ramp is too short to be of use on an RV or truck. The Yakima has similar issues with a 140 lb load and it ramp is not without its problems. The Swagman E-Spec and the Hollywood HR1700 have no provision for a tramp and so the user with two bikes is going to have to lift a 70 lb bike waist high and lean over the rear most wheel holders to put the first bike in place. The 1up rack has a good ramp but it uses wheel holders that are best used with bikes without fenders. If you really thought this through you would already know this.

And by the way the Thule and Yakima and Hollywood and 1up e-bike racks have been out of stock for many months. The only rack at this time that will hold two 70 lb e-bikes and is available to buy is the Swagman E-Spec (if one searches diligently as they are scarce) and that means no ramp.

josephvman

I just bought the Thule EasyFold XT 2 and that was the ramp I was going to suggest. It does have a total capacity of 130lbs, which is plenty for me since I've got a Specialized Turbo Vado SL that's only around 36lbs, and doubt any second bike I put on it will cause me to exceed that. I think most ebikes are closer to 50lbs, so still plenty of capacity. The issue you might run into with a heavier rack and heavier bikes is pushing the weight limit of a 1.25" hitch, which is what a lot of us with cars and smaller crossovers have. The EasyFold is fairly lightweight and very compact and easy to wheel around when folded, and fits in the back of my GTI.

My bike has fenders and the EasyFold works well. It took me a minute to install it on the car, but took a little fiddling to figure out where on the frame to grab the bike with the "claw", which was a bit more difficult with a bottle cage and lock mounted to the frame. Next time I mount it it's going to be a breeze now that I know the drill.

I looked at the Swagman and Hollywood rack, which both seemed decidedly cheaply made to me compared to Thule, Yakima, and Kuat racks, and in terms of price they are much cheaper. I wasn't looking at saving a few hundred dollars on a rack when it's going to be used to carry $15k in bicycles on it.

BTW, I found the Thule in stock on Amazon last week, and received it the day after I ordered it. This surprised me, because it does appear to be sold out most everywhere else, including the Thule website.

YMMV

B2mac

Not sure why you are stuck on needing a rack for a 70# bike. The person who started the thread has a Trek Allant 7 which weighs 54#. She is also looking for as light a rack as she needs to handle that bike. I'm not sure if she will be hauling a second bike. The Thule Easy Fold has a longer ramp available which should work for a pickup or RV.

Calsun

I have two 70 lb bikes and reading reviews by owners of the Thule and the Yakima racks it was evident that even with a 120 lb load they are not very stable. The same with the Thule EasyFold XT which is rated for 130 lbs but in real world use it would be best to stick with 55 lb or lighter bikes and then there are these reviews on REI.com for this rack:

"Once on the rack it is held down very securely. However, the length of the ramp is so short that the angle is very steep making it very hard to roll the bikes up the ramp. Further, once you have the first bike secured, getting the second bike on is difficult because both the handles and the petals run into each other as they pass by. One other issue, at least for us, is the height of the deck is quite high making it very hard to lift up a heavy ebike. If you have a car that is low to the ground this might work for you. We ended up returning it for another model"
"Nice bike rack - but in the fine print at the end of the manual it states not to be used on a Fifth Wheel or Trailer - that's ok I'm using it on an RV. But when I called Thule to ask why I mentioned that it was going on my RV, he says don't do that it's the same as a Fifth Wheel etc"
"If you travel on smooth pavement this works well. We have been on gravel roads and also had to traverse road construction with small bumps. Twice the bikes have come free from the C clamps fortunately due to bungy cord the bikes did not fall off carrier."
"The good is the rack is sturdy and easy for this 67 year old to hook up to the hitch also the wheels do make it easy to move around. Bad is the ramp that comes with it was useless for the height of my SUV, which means I need to lift and hold. Not easy! Not sure it’s really designed for ebikes since the grab arm clamps have to be positioned just right on some part of the ebike frames or it will not hold ( ebike frames tend to be bulkier) it would be a trick to secure 2 bikes!!!"
"I have had the bike rack for a few months now, and taken it on several trips with my 2 e-bikes weighing about 120 lbs together. I like the design, weight, and ease of use of the rack. However I have 2 issues: the first is that there is too much play in the connection to the receiver on my van. No matter how tight I get the knob, even wiggling the rack up and down and side to side, the rack still bounces the bikes up and down when I hit a bump or a pothole. This problem is aggravated by the fact that the folding mechanism for the arm that connects to the hitch also has play in it, even when "locked" in place. The two of these combined let the bikes bounce so much that I am concerned something is going to break.
The second issue has a been mentioned by others - the bikes can come loose from the clamp arms when you go over a large bump (see problem #1). Be sure to use a safety strap of some kind to keep them from falling off you vehicle. I have not yet decided to keep the rack. I am looking at alternatives for e-bikes with fenders."

For the Yakima:
"The rack is not particularly easy to use. For the bike closest to the car, the pole is in the way of the handlebars if you roll the bike forward onto the tray. Or the pole is in the way of the pedal if you roll the bike backward. If the rack is in its normal driving position, you can't tilt the bike away from the pole because the bars hit the car. If the rack is tilted down, you can't use the loading tray. So I load the bike with the pole down, but another person is required to raise the pole since releasing the locking pin and raising the pole needs two hands."

"Once I loaded the bike and it was time to unload it, it was discovered it was impossible to roll it forward, as the instructions stated, because the pedal can’t clear the center stabilizer pole, nor can the pole be folded down with a bike in place, again because of the pedal. That means you have to roll the bike backwards.

Then I decided to see if I could lift the bike and load it without the ramp in the event there wasn’t room for the ramp. I’m an older woman with limited strength, which is precisely why this rack appealed to me. I managed to lift it and even reached the inside base of the rack. But once the bike was in place, it was impossible to raise the stabilizer pole. Okay, take two. Removed it, raised the pole, tried to lift it and place it around the pole. While perhaps not impossible for somebody, it was for me because I didn’t have the strength to maneuver around the pole. It was quite awkward. My wife, who is a bike enthusiast and does have adequate strength, wasn’t able to maneuver the bike around the pole either.

A less important but annoying feature is the way you fold the rack down to gain access to the hatch is by pulling a knob out which is located behind and under the rack. I found the location to be awkward compared to other racks I’ve used."

The Hollywood and the Swagman racks are not as pretty but they work with very heavy bikes. That said I am on the waiting list for the 1up Super Duty double rack where with the addition of their ramp should allow for rolling the bikes into place. With lighter bikes there are many good options but with our 70# bikes it comes down to the Swagman E-Spec, the Hollywood HR1700, or the 1up Super Duty double rack.

veganbikes

I mean 70 pounds is pretty damn heavy and probably with batteries or something and generally batteries can be removed or if not the bike is usually lighter than that.

True that the ramp may not work well on an RV but I don't believe that was an issue here on a Ford Escape.

Thule is in high demand because it is such a great rack but I know our shop has had some stock and I am sure other shops have some stock so it might require a touch of digging but that is the landscape for a lot of things these days.

Hollywood racks are OK for some specialty purposes but the quality isn't there. I hear good things about 1up for regular stuff but haven't really seen much usage for e-bikes.

B2mac

Janeset, did you buy a rack yet? As you can see it is hard to find a bike rack that meets your requirements of lightweight, easy installation and easy loading. If you could answer a couple of questions it might help us find the best choice. Do you have any plans to haul a 2nd bike? If so, is it an e-bike? A one bike rack would probably be lighter and easier to load than a 2 bike rack. What size hitch did you have installed, a 1.25" or a 2" hitch? If I understood correctly, you may be willing to go with a heavier rack than you would like if it folded down to allow access to your hatch, is that correct? Just trying to get as much information as we can so we can help with your decision. Thanks

MillCreek

My Yakima HoldUp, in a two inch hitch, would work except that the rack weighs more than 30 pounds. The rear wheel goes in a tray with a retention strap, and the front wheel is held by a retention harm.

Cdbh12

Just got a Buzzrack Scorpion H rack. It is 38 lbs. You can also get a ramp for it.

gadgetadam 

How about this? It holds the bikes on the top of the rims.

MoTow Double eBike / Bicycle Carrier - MOTOW (motowus.com)

gleeloyd

The 1Up Heavy Duty Double is rated up to 200 lbs. I've been carrying my wife's e-bike with fenders using a piece of pipe insulation to protect the rear fender. Front fender does not interfere with the rack. Everything is held very securely. See them at 1up-usa dot com. They sell an accessory called "Fender Cushion." I called about that. They said it's nothing more that a piece of pipe insulation with a Velcro closure added!

josephvman

I checked that out on their website and didn't care for it at all. It uses velcro closures to secure the wheels, and from what I can see there's nothing to stop someone with a wrench or set of pliers from unbolting the arms and just pulling the bike off, arms and all. There is nothing supporting the frame of the bike, which is pretty much hanging from the wheels and kind of supported from the bottom. You would think for that kind of money they would at least powder coat it and make some effort so it doesn't look like a weekend project that someone made in their garage.

klevin

I use a Kuat NV 2.0 to hold our 2 Allant 8s. The rack is heavier than the Sherpa I had for our analog bikes, but we don't take it off that often, and I can still take it off single handed. I'm 71 and not a muscle man. The front fenders feel very solid on this bike, and the downward force from the clamp isn't that much anyway, since the weight of the bike largely holds it in place. The clamp seems to keep the bike from bouncing out of the tray and to keep it upright. If the fenders do ever get damaged, I'll just take them off.

To me, it makes much more sense to hold the bike high up than to have a clampdown by the motor.

Drillsalter

foam

gleeloyd

I agree. Here is my solution with the 1Up rack: