Bike rack recommendations?

[Gary Fritz]

My wife has offered to buy me a bike rack for my birthday. Unfortunately
I'm not sure what's a good rack for recumbents. Any favorites?

I've got an SWB (V-Rex) but an LWB isn't impossible in the future. For
that matter neither is a trike, but I'm assuming that's out of the question
for a normal rack. I want a hitch-mount rack (NO roof racks please) that's
easy to put on and take off, must swing down to allow a station wagon
tailgate to open. 2" receiver probably. 2 bikes (1 recumbent, 1
currently-child bike) is an absolute minimum, 4 bikes (or expandability) is
a good idea.

A reasonable cost is a must. I don't think she'll spring for a $400-600
gold-plated rack. :-)

Thanks,
Gary

[Michael Plog]

Regarding the hitch mount rack Gary Fritz wants. I use a standard
hitch mount with the two arms that fold down when not in use. It's a
Rhode Gear, maybe. Anyway, I had this rack when I rode the diamond
frame. When I got a recumbent, I went ahead in total ignorance and
used the rack. The bike stuck out past the car on both sides, but not
a whole lot. With two recumbents on (facing opposite ways), the
overlap is balanced. I've ridden on the interstate and narrow
residential streets--never hit anything yet.

There is one problem with this. My wife and I have Tour Easys. The
seat back catches the wind and tends to push the bike at an angle to
the rack. If you get one of these hitch mount racks, one good idea
may be to have permanent holders for the bike rather than the movable
ones I have.

I do not recommend going fast, but then you really should not carrying
any bicycle.

Good luck!

[John Carter]

Gary Fritz > wrote in message >...
> My wife has offered to buy me a bike rack for my birthday. Unfortunately
> I'm not sure what's a good rack for recumbents. Any favorites?
>
> I've got an SWB (V-Rex) but an LWB isn't impossible in the future. For
> that matter neither is a trike, but I'm assuming that's out of the question
> for a normal rack. I want a hitch-mount rack (NO roof racks please) that's
> easy to put on and take off, must swing down to allow a station wagon
> tailgate to open. 2" receiver probably. 2 bikes (1 recumbent, 1
> currently-child bike) is an absolute minimum, 4 bikes (or expandability) is
> a good idea.
>
> A reasonable cost is a must. I don't think she'll spring for a $400-600
> gold-plated rack. :-)
>
> Thanks,
> Gary

I have a V-Rex and my wife has a Terry road bike, I purchased a
Sportworks bike rack and it works great, the best rack I have owned.
It folds up when not in use on a 2" receiver hitch.
John

[Larry Raphael]

Gary, There are more sophisticated racks that probably will be better
suited for a LWB recumbent, however, just to show you how an SWB
recumbent fits on standard trunk and hitch mounted racks, check out my
website below. Both racks are Rhode Gear racks. Note that on my
recumbent, tube curves significantly in the rear but the support
mounts are able to handle it. Also, same goes for the front where the
strap goes over the tube and the RANS seat mount. I generally use my
trunk mount for rides starting relatively close to my house (within 30
miles). Further away or other reasons like my wife is also riding,
then I will either place my bike on the hitch mounted rack on my
minivan or as shown on my website, I just slide the bike standing up
into the minivan (It clears !).

http://olarryr.homestead.com/home.html

Larry Raphael
Barcroft Dakota #2, Metallic Blue
Oakton, VA




Gary Fritz > wrote in message >...
> My wife has offered to buy me a bike rack for my birthday. Unfortunately
> I'm not sure what's a good rack for recumbents. Any favorites?
>
> I've got an SWB (V-Rex) but an LWB isn't impossible in the future. For
> that matter neither is a trike, but I'm assuming that's out of the question
> for a normal rack. I want a hitch-mount rack (NO roof racks please) that's
> easy to put on and take off, must swing down to allow a station wagon
> tailgate to open. 2" receiver probably. 2 bikes (1 recumbent, 1
> currently-child bike) is an absolute minimum, 4 bikes (or expandability) is
> a good idea.
>
> A reasonable cost is a must. I don't think she'll spring for a $400-600
> gold-plated rack. :-)
>
> Thanks,
> Gary

[D Tresenriter]

I also use a Sportworks rack to carry a VRex. In fact, I use the
standard model, not the recumbent model. I carry my V-Rex and my
wife's Trek 5200 easily.

On 28 Sep 2003 09:21:30 -0700, (John Carter) wrote:

>I have a V-Rex and my wife has a Terry road bike, I purchased a
>Sportworks bike rack and it works great, the best rack I have owned.
>It folds up when not in use on a 2" receiver hitch.
>John

[Bill Anton]

I have a SportWorks Recumbent rack designed for a 26/20 bike. It works
great. It was expensive becuase I had to buy the recumbent tray, then the
1-1/4 (class II) folding hitch assembly, then I had to get a class II
receiver installed on my car. But a hitch rack is the only way to go, far
as I'm concerned, even if I never do any towing. Trunk racks will
eventually mar your paint and roof racks usually require drilling the roof.
Plus it just seems better to carry the bike behind rather than above--it's
more protected from road debris and it's less of a drag on your gas mileage.
You just have to hope you don't get rear-ended. The new SportWorks rack
they just came out with looks even better than the one I have, with
ratcheting wheel hold-down bars and flexible enough to easily adapt to
'bents with different wheel sizes. Now that I've gone to a 26" front wheel
this is more of an issue for me.

Bill Anton
2001 Vision R-40 26x26 SWB OSS
Lubbock, TX, USA

"Gary Fritz" > wrote in message
...
> My wife has offered to buy me a bike rack for my birthday. Unfortunately
> I'm not sure what's a good rack for recumbents. Any favorites?
>
> I've got an SWB (V-Rex) but an LWB isn't impossible in the future. For
> that matter neither is a trike, but I'm assuming that's out of the
question
> for a normal rack. I want a hitch-mount rack (NO roof racks please)
that's
> easy to put on and take off, must swing down to allow a station wagon
> tailgate to open. 2" receiver probably. 2 bikes (1 recumbent, 1
> currently-child bike) is an absolute minimum, 4 bikes (or expandability)
is
> a good idea.
>
> A reasonable cost is a must. I don't think she'll spring for a $400-600
> gold-plated rack. :-)
>
> Thanks,
> Gary

[Carl]

In article >, Bill Anton
> wrote:

> Trunk racks will
> eventually mar your paint and roof racks usually require drilling the roof.

Hmm, not familiar with any roof racks that require that. The Yakima &
Thule racks don't, they just clamp on.

> Plus it just seems better to carry the bike behind rather than above--it's
> more protected from road debris and it's less of a drag on your gas mileage.

Another advantage is that the front wheel stays on. Most roof racks
clamp on to the fork. Hitting a bump or crossing tracks can wrench the
bike around and put stresses on the fork it really wasn't designed to
take. Keeping the bike whole eliminates that problem.

I always hated driving across rough roads or crossing tracks with the
bike up there. I got the roof rack because it was cheaper than the
Sportworks + hitch, but finally broke down & switched. My only regret
is that I ever bought the roof rack in the first place.

-Carl