BIKE RACKS AND CARRIERS FOR CARS MEGATHREAD - all questions asked and answered here

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Single Trails prices have gone up between when I ordered mine last Friday and when I looked just then. $350 more for a 4 bike, and $50 more for the powered number plate board.
Bloody expensive now :oops:

I paid approx $1400 back in May 2019 so that makes my V1 over 3 yrs old.

At one stage Mitch did a 20% off code for a race, might have been the Otway Odyssey or similar which dropped the price of his 5 bike to around $1100.

With the rack flipped down, it makes an awesome foot stool when sitting on the tailgate, Mrs George will approve.
 

Sheepie

Likes Bikes
Jebus. I know materials have gone up. Surprised they hadn’t already gone up. It’s a chunk dearer than most competitors, and totally understand why people buy one of the numerous knock offs at 1/2 the price, but I haven’t seen any others I’d buy instead. Not for everyone though. I used mine daily, without fail, and it never comes off the Ute.
If you’re calling the other racks in the Australian market “knock offs” I hate to break it to you but under that definition so is theirs… they’re all based off a concept popularized in the US (the first record of an upright rack is an Australian patent that was never commercialized though). I will say that although I was presented the brief to create a vertical rack our rack was designed from scratch with all the R&D done in house.
 

bmar560

Likes Dirt
Looking for a 5 bike vertical rack for the car.
I currently have the Yakima holdup which I can extend by getting the 2 bike extension but, I think it will make parking a nightmare.

I was saving up for the single trail rack, but they've increased their prices by a good chunk and it's getting hard to justify getting it.

I came across the SPOTX rack on google last night, are they any good ?
Looking at the TA-X5 model if anyone have a photo of theirs ?
How are the wheels secured? looks like just using bungee cords.
What about the anti-wobble on the hitch tongue ?
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
They all have increased in price.

$1699 for the Pigdog X5, I would be going the extra $250 for the Singletrail.

The bicycle tiedown system, foot released 'no wobble' pivot and tongue stabiliser are three things that make it stand out.

There are also a few positions that it can go in when upright. This was good on our vehicles as mine can swing right in but the missus car has a tyre on the back, so goes in pos 2.

I have a gen 1 SingleTrail rack with a similar tiedown as the Shingleback and SpotX but mine is over 3yrs old and things have advanced since then.
 

oliosky

Likes Bikes and Dirt
if there was concern for knock-offs muscling their way into the market, why would you increase the price?...going to price yourself right out of the market.
they do look like a quality piece of kit, but were these the ones that were recalled earlier in the year?..release to market and let the consumer do your R&D for you.
Meanwhile in a town far far away< I am still doing the prep on my DIY kit that I got off Deathrig Fabrications.... all pieces are laser cut and quite precise but still requires a fair bit of grinding and tidying up the cut edges. will try to finish off on the linisher over the next few days as I am off with kids again due to the schools panicking about covid and closing them 2 days after reopening!
where did you land with all this?
 

Sheepie

Likes Bikes
Looking for a 5 bike vertical rack for the car.
I currently have the Yakima holdup which I can extend by getting the 2 bike extension but, I think it will make parking a nightmare.

I was saving up for the single trail rack, but they've increased their prices by a good chunk and it's getting hard to justify getting it.

I came across the SPOTX rack on google last night, are they any good ?
Looking at the TA-X5 model if anyone have a photo of theirs ?
How are the wheels secured? looks like just using bungee cords.
What about the anti-wobble on the hitch tongue ?
SpotX are a nice rack, they do come standard with bungees on the bottom but they have an upgrade strap to go on your crank with a similar mechanism to Dirty Possum’s.

Straight up SingleTrail is objectively the best shuttle rack on the market - but you pay for it.

Every Australian manufacturer will have a price rise in the near future if they haven’t already, I had brought what I thought was enough steel to get us through to April, but it looks like we’ll be through it before Christmas shutdown at this stage. The other thing to note is demand is through the roof - so there are long lead times from a lot of manufacturers, some of my retailers have some stock at the moment but we can’t keep anything on the shelf, pretty much as soon as it comes back from powder coating at the moment it is out the door.
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
SpotX are a nice rack, they do come standard with bungees on the bottom but they have an upgrade strap to go on your crank with a similar mechanism to Dirty Possum’s.

Straight up SingleTrail is objectively the best shuttle rack on the market - but you pay for it.

Every Australian manufacturer will have a price rise in the near future if they haven’t already, I had brought what I thought was enough steel to get us through to April, but it looks like we’ll be through it before Christmas shutdown at this stage. The other thing to note is demand is through the roof - so there are long lead times from a lot of manufacturers, some of my retailers have some stock at the moment but we can’t keep anything on the shelf, pretty much as soon as it comes back from powder coating at the moment it is out the door.
I did a fair bit of research in all the vertical racks around when I was looking for mine, and the Single Trail was the winner with the convenience of the foot pedal tilt, the longevity of the electroplating over powder coating and the built in anti wobble mechanism. The only other rack that has a similar tilt system is the Yakama Hangover but it attaches by the fork crown and has a heap of straps.
If I still had my ute I would have probably just kept the tail gate pad or made my own simple vertical rack, but with the RAV4, I didn't want the hassle of getting into the back.
Sure glad I got mine before the price rise though :eek:,
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
I see that Shingleback have a new “Sport” rack where you can put your snow boards on it, as well and a new “Boost” rack that has an assisted tilt.
The tilt would be handy for short people and with Ebikes.
383210

383211
 

Mooman

Squid
Single Trail also have a new EZLOAD model being released. It allows you to roll the bike in from ground level on the back wheel without having to lift it at all. It will be great for ebikes and vertically challenged people like my wife.

383212
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
Single Trail also have a new EZLOAD model being released. It allows you to roll the bike in from ground level on the back wheel without having to lift it at all. It will be great for ebikes and vertically challenged people like my wife.

View attachment 383212
Nice!
I hired and Ebike the other day, and to save my back, I tilted my Single Trail back so I could roll the bike into the hoop and my wife, who suffers from Ducks Disease (short legs) does the same thing when she loads her bike by herself.
I added and extra notch in the locking plate so it has and extra tilt index.
The only thing it lacks it a helper strut to push it back up. Not an issue with one bike but with two or more it is a bit of an effort. Most of the time if you have more than one bike you also have more than one person to help too.
 

Sheepie

Likes Bikes
I see that Shingleback have a new “Sport” rack where you can put your snow boards on it, as well and a new “Boost” rack that has an assisted tilt.
The tilt would be handy for short people and with Ebikes.
It looks like an amalgamation of a few racks here and in the US - the hoops look similar to SingleTrail / Spot X, the adjustment of the hoops is like Velocirax / Alta Racks, the gas strut tilt is like velocirax, and Dirty Possum released a few different board holder attachments months ago.
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
It looks like an amalgamation of a few racks here and in the US - the hoops look similar to SingleTrail / Spot X, the adjustment of the hoops is like Velocirax / Alta Racks, the gas strut tilt is like velocirax, and Dirty Possum released a few different board holder attachments months ago.
Ah, yes there's a lot of variations of everyone's racks in all the brands for sure, but that does lead to a better rack as a whole. The Velocirax does have a helper strut but it only dampens the hinging out of the rack. To tilt back upright you need to lift the weight of the bikes AND the force of the strut.
Shingleback's new design looks to assist in both directions.
 

Sheepie

Likes Bikes
Ah, yes there's a lot of variations of everyone's racks in all the brands for sure, but that does lead to a better rack as a whole. The Velocirax does have a helper strut but it only dampens the hinging out of the rack. To tilt back upright you need to lift the weight of the bikes AND the force of the strut.
Shingleback's new design looks to assist in both directions.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with innovation on others’ ideas and overall improvement, I was just a bit confused as I don’t really see what would warrant the patent that they have “pending”.
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with innovation on others’ ideas and overall improvement, I was just a bit confused as I don’t really see what would warrant the patent that they have “pending”.
They wouldn't have a patent on the whole rack, just a certain unique feature. Looking at the design, I would assume it's the assisted tilting mechanism. It's significantly different to the other racks I've seen out there.
Edit: In saying that, Shingleback only have two Australian Patents, one current one for a trailer and a rack patent which has lapsed.
 
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moorey

call me Mia
They wouldn't have a patent on the whole rack, just a certain unique feature. Looking at the design, I would assume it's the assisted tilting mechanism. It's significantly different to the other racks I've seen out there.
It’s all about what you can get away with I guess. Single Trail borrowed and adapted (then improved, IMHO) on a Canadian tilt mechanism. SpotX then borrowed the Single Trail design, and found themselves in a legal situation and had to stop production of that mechanism…as I understand it.
It’s lead to all the bad blood on the socials when someone or another recommends one or the other…
SpotX are a solid rack. Would probably be my second choice. I’m not the biggest shingleback fan, based on a few mates that have a lot of sway, but they’re popular, and I hear no complaints from users.
Any of the racks that require the clamp on the hitch are of no interest to me personally, regardless of other features.
There’s a ton of great racks out there, most seem like solid kit. Whichever people buy, they’ll swear it’s the best on the market and recommend it to everyone, so anyone who asks for recommendations might as well just ask ‘which did you buy’.
I’m frugal (aka filthy poor if you ask @Oddjob), but a rack is something I haven’t and wouldn’t skimp on. I do cringe at the new pricing of some racks though, but material have gone through the roof and will probably continue to.
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
You'd want a bit of help with that EZLOAD idea, fair bit of weight tilting back, 5 x 20kg e-bikes is 100kg+

I have been caught out once... I'll just tilt these... and they came down on top of me, that was 4 normal bikes so possibly up to 60kg and there is no way to stop them but a set of handlebars in your face.
 
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