Bike rack and hitch success/joy/elation

Todd H. · 2005-06-11T23:51:56+00:00

Many moons ago, I was shopping for alternatives for carrying bikes onmy 01 Outback Wagon and posted in these groups for advice.I'm thrilled to post success based on info gleaned from thenewsgroups. I have a few happy joy joy dances to toss out into the1) is way cool. I ordered a Hidden Hitch Class 2, 1 1/4" receiver hitch from them my Outback wagon. A big honkin box with the fully assembled hitch receiver arrived at my house. As promised, it went on remarkably easily. Now, I don't fancy myself a terribly gifted mechanical sort, and I have to say it was a low-risk, very high-satisfaction couple of hours I spent putting that hitch on. The only rough spot in that installation was loosening up the bracket for the carbon canister enough to let the hitch bracket slide between it and gas tank (the cannister bracket's bolts were getting a bit rusty after 3 Chicago winters), but other than that it was remarkably easy. Having done it once now, I could probably put another on a similar Outback in under 30 min. I had no idea putting a hitch on a car would be this friggin easy. All this fun for a whopping $125 plus $17 shipping. ) Sportworks (now owned by Thule) hitch mounted bike racks are a joy. Literally, I can mount my bike on one of these in all of 30 seconds. One pressure bar, and one strap, and off ya go. I managed to find a used Mod series 2-bike system for sale locally and it was in great shape. It was a 2" receiver model, but a $60 part from Thule later (which my bike shop had in stock locally) and voila--it now fits my 1.25" receiver and gives me "flip up" functionality to boot. It's easily removable from the hitch as well, and the bikes are quite stable on it. It's remarkably satisfying to watching them in the rear view mirror. Cost was $175 (used, like-new condition), $60 for the replacement folding receiver. The new equivalent is the Thule Sportworks Transport T2...

Jun 11, 2005 21 Replies

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Carl 1 Lucky Texan 21 years ago

I know it says in won't hold recumbents - but I wonder what the max wheelbase is it WILL hold when adjusted to max lenght?

Carl

Rich wrote:

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Carl 1 Lucky Texan 21 years ago

Many roof racks have skewers for the front - so you must consider disconnecting the brake cable and dismounting the front tire.

Still, they both work and most roof systems are cheaper and probably more 'adaptable' to other uses.

personal choice. As a recumbent rider, I may not need to also remove the seat using a hitch rack - so I definitely have a bias.

Carl

snipped-for-privacy@backpacker.com wrote:

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