MTB Bike Rack Recommendation

[Cheburator mk2]

Now that Junior is really gotten into riding with me and I bought him his first proper bike, I have realised that we need a bigger rack to accommodate our bikes. I ride a Nukeproof Mega RS in XL (1305mm wheel base) and he is on an Orange Alpine 6 in medium. The current Decathlon tow bar mounted rack is too narrow for our boost bikes. The front forks and chain stays clash no matter how I try and offset the bikes. I also have a Specialized Fuze in XL which I sometimes take along for the variety...

I tried Gemini and ChatGPT and the answers were full of ifs and buts, thus I am hoping the learned community on here would come up with real life examples.

Ideally it would be for a three/four bike carrier.

Many thanks!

[Dog Star]

I use a Thule Velocompact and it holds our two size L eMTBs no problem. I do have little foam pads taped to the bottom of the fork legs though.

[RizzoTheRat]

You don't mention what car it's for, but check the nose weight of your tow hitch, some cars seem ridiculously low these day, my NX is 60kg which restricts my choice of bike rack a bit.

[AshyS4]

I have a Buzzrack E Scorpion 2

Takes 2 E-MTB's (will handle 60kg)

Literally 30 seconds to load the bikes and its solid as a rock, it folds too and also has wheels to drag it around.

[Cheburator mk2]

It's going on a X5 with a detachable factory Oris towbar with max nose weight of 150kg, so we are safe there...

[AshyS4]

Cheburator mk2 said:

It's going on a X5 with a detachable factory Oris towbar with max nose weight of 150kg, so we are safe there...

https://buzzrack.com/products/e-hornet-3/

[Liamjrhodes]

I use the Halfords advanced 3 bike carrier, its good for the price as it was on sale at £150 but its inconvenient that it doesn't fold so takes up lots of space in the garage

[benny.c]

I’ve generally gone with Buzzrack. Decent quality and a good saving over Thule etc. Another thing I like about Buzzrack is every single part is available separately should the need arise to replace anything.

[happybiker]

I have the Buzzrack eScorpion too, I purposely searched for a rack with the biggest space between bikes to avoid contact. The 2 has wider spacing than the 3 but you can fit an attachment for a third bike. Much cheaper than Thule too.

[STe_rsv4]

another vote for Buzzrack scorpion 2. easy to use and can be folded up and put in the boot if required. great bit of kit

[Cheburator mk2]

Looks like it will be a buzzrack...

Thank you very much for the recommendations!

I now need to compare the 2 and 4 bike carriers spacing wise - My wife isn't into MTB at all and neither is my daughter, but they still like cycling on the flat bits, so it kind of has to be a 4-bike rack or 3+1 ...

Thanks again

[GravelBen]

Vertical style racks are by far the favourite among my riding buddies.



Quick and straightforward to load and unload, bikes don't touch each other, the only contact points between bike and rack are the tyres.

Edited by GravelBen on Friday 16th October 03:52

[aterribleusername]

Those vertical racks aren't legal in the UK as they don't have provision for lights or a number plate so be careful going that route, same for anyone using a tailgate pad style one too.

Another vote for Buzzrack, solid things for a good price. Roofbox.com is the go-to place to get them and any spares.

[GravelBen]

aterribleusername said:

Those vertical racks aren't legal in the UK as they don't have provision for lights or a number plate so be careful going that route, same for anyone using a tailgate pad style one too.

Interesting, never knew that - they are fully legal here in NZ.

Some do have attachments for lights and a supplementary number plate on the back, or accessory boards with lights and plate just tied /bungeed to the bike wheels - but pretty rare for anyone to bother, the bikes don't fully obstruct the plate or lights anyway.

Edited by GravelBen on Friday 16th October 07:10

[RizzoTheRat]

Anyone using a Buzzrack with a step through frame bike? The Buzzrack Scorpion Lite 2 looks decent for lightish foldable rack, and half the price of the Uebler i21 that also glooks good. But I can't find any photos of how it would attach a step through and a cross bar bike at the same time

[Tim Cognito]

Another vote for buzz rack. We got the scorpion pro 3 which is also folding.

These bikes are both XL.

[benny.c]

RizzoTheRat said:

Anyone using a Buzzrack with a step through frame bike? The Buzzrack Scorpion Lite 2 looks decent for lightish foldable rack, and half the price of the Uebler i21 that also glooks good. But I can't find any photos of how it would attach a step through and a cross bar bike at the same time

I assume you could just move one of the clamps to the bottom of the square shaped frame they are attached too - they slide and are removable. If it still didn't reach or wasn't stable enough then a false top tube is easy enough to add.

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-racks/bike-r...

Edited by benny.c on Friday 16th October 08:28