Paradigm Shift

Since I started riding I have always uses some type of pickup truck to get to a ride. First is was my Ford Ranger then is was the Baja. It each case I had a rack in the bed of the pickup that I would mount the bike to. It was a fork mount rack meaning I would take the front wheel off the bike and attach the front fork of the bike to the rack. Like shown below in my Baja

 

It worked well and even when I got a thru axle bike all I had to do is get a different fork mount to put on the rack. The new car is an SUV which means I don't have a bed for my normal rack so I had to switch to a hitch mounted rack. I didn't have to do much research on which hitch rack to get as everybody I know has a 1Up rack and loves it.  It's a sturdy rack that attaches the bike by securing the wheels so you don't have to worry about scratching or bending the frame. 

 

Of course this requires a hitch to be installed on the car so I had that done this past Wednesday. I had the Stealth Hitch installed. I chose this hitch because the other hitches I looked out required a piece of the bumper to be cut out and I didn't want to cut up a brand new car. The Stealth Hitch does require a small hole to be cut underneath the car so that the hitch receiver can be attached but it is not visible and the hitch receiver can be removed when I don't need the bike rack so you won't even know that a hitch has been installed. 

As with any rack you always worry that the bike will fall off. With the old bike rack in the bed of the Baja I didn't worry much because worst case the bike will just fall into the bed of the car and I won't lose the bike. With a hitch rack if it falls out of the rack its going to be bouncing down the road. 

I will say the 1Up rack is very secure. As long as you attach it properly to the hitch and make sure the bike is locked in, there is no possibility of losing the bike. When I loaded the bike for this Saturday's ride I left my house then stopped in a parking lot about a mile from my house just to make sure the bike was secure after a few bumps in the road. The new car uses a camera at the back of the car for the rear view mirror and when the bike is in the rack I can just see the rear seat in the mirror so I can monitor the bike as I drive along. 

The rack was really steady and the bike didn't seem to move much driving along. The new car and bike rack are a lot different than the Baja so it is going to take a while to get use to everything. I like the new set up and know the new car, bike rack should be able to take me on any ride I want to go on.