frito

Your not the first and this is a big reason I go with hitch mounts. I like the ones that the bike tires sit in a cradle like on the front of a bus.

I had one of these on my SF and like it. Someone backed into it and bent it all up but saved my car
SportRack 2 Bike Hitch Mounted Rack w Wheel Mount Cradles for 1-1/4" or 2" Hitch SportRack Hitch Bike Racks A30901

__________________
2010 XT Limited, 2004 XT, 1999 X All Sold

Pitcrew

Those racks looks awesome, and ive been interested in them. Just spent the money on the bike rather than a new bike rack.

Id post up a few pics, but i dont have enough posts yet...but i think 43lbs is one of the lightest BMWin the northeast!

rjones35

What do you guys think of the MPG aspect of a roof rack? Does it make that much difference? I'm in the process of doing either a roof or hitch mount rack, and am torn between the gas mileage part of the roof rack and the being rear ended part of the hitch mount one. I've worked in a bike shop as well, and have heard horror stories about both. Crashing into the garage or drive through and being rear ended and squashing the bikes!! To make it even more of a dilemma for me is that I already have the bars and trays for the roof rack, just need the towers! I've had roof racks in the past and they worked great, but I was never concerned with MPG in the past, but now it's always in the back of my mind, nagging at me!!

Eggs

Thread Starter

note to self , do not move to San Jose lol
lightest race link maybe ... and i can get it down to 41.5-42 but i bre3ak to much stuff then . lol sr-8 is next ! bohhh yeahhhlol

hofcat

For 50 lbs mountain bike I think you might find a hitch rack more easy than a roof rack. For myself, I think it is highly likely that at some point I would forget the bikes are on the roof before I enter my garage.
I looked at a number of folding hitch racks that did not contact the frame and only the tires. I found that my mountain bike frame with the rear shock on the top tube would not fit on many of the other style hitch racks. I bought the 1-UP rack found in the link below. It is made in the USA by a small manufacture in Wisconsin and is only available through internet sales. Customer support is supposed to be good. It does not come from a big maker like Thule or Yakima. It is also not cheap but after you see the rack you see that you get what you pay for. The quality is much higher than Yakima or Thule. It has been rated the #1 hitch rack by Mountain Bike Forums for a number of years. I think the Kuat racks are also very good and would have been my second choice. Advantages of 1 Up that led me to go with it:

1) The base unit is for a single bike. Add on units can be ordered that can increase the capacity to 2 or 3 bikes for a 1.25" hitch. No other rack I found can be expanded to 3 bike capacity on a 1.25" hitch.

2) I often only need to carry one bike, not two. With the 1 bike base unit I can fold the rack up and still open the tail gate on my Forester. The 1 bike 1-UP unit does not stick out as far as the 2 bike Thule 916 ,917 racks or Yakima Hold UP.

3) The 1 UP unit is held into the hitch by a ball wedges itself into the hitch wall holding the rack in by friction and eliminating wobble of the rack at the hitch. This style of mounting may been seen as a weakness as there is not bolt that positively locks the rack into the hitch but there has been no reported instances on the internet of a 1-UP rack coming out of the hitch. I believe the Kuat also has a mechanism to wedge the rack into the hitch to prevent wobble and also as a bolt to secure the hitch to the rack.

4) The 1-UP base unit rack weighs about 25 lbs and can easily be folded up to be stored in the trunk of even a small car. That cannot be done with the Thule 916,917 or Yakima Hold Up hitch rack.

5) The 1-UP unit can be used on both 1.25" and 2" receivers, it comes with an adaptor.

1up USA Ultra Rack

Something to think about before buying a Thule 916 or 917.

Video: Another Thule T2 catastrophic failure | Bike Intelligencer

Eggs

Thread Starter

that t2 video is scary l... that ones off the list

im defiantly going hitch ,now i just have to figure what brand hitch

FLfrstr

Allen Sports USA

That is the one I use for my cheapie bikes, not high dollar but works well for me and easily swings down to open the hatch.

BAC5.2

I LOVE the B.M.W. I almost got one of those, but pulled the trigger on a Banshee Scream instead. B.M.W was still making pedals back then, and hadn't really developed their frames. I got one of the very first production of the new design Screams. My first build was 38lbs with a prototype Manitou Slider. The fork wasn't really ideal for the frame, and I changed a bunch of things around and finally worked out a prototype Marzocchi Shiver. It was the very first one off the line. For an 8x8, it pedaled HORRIBLY, but it was BUTTER going down. It weighed something like 41lbs with the Shiver.

I sold it years ago to pay for my Turbo Legacy. When I would take it to the local DH spots, I had it on the roof and never had a problem.

__________________
09 SWP Outback 2.5XT 5MT 263whp, 337 lb-ft