Hollywood Racks has been in the bike rack business for decades with designs for every kind of bicycle. Now, they’ve come up with a new hitch-mount rack for e-bikes that makes it easy to load two bikes with a weight capacity of 70 pounds each. Given that most e-bike-rated racks limit bike weight to 60–65 pounds max, that is quite the payload! Additionally, the rack can handle any tire size up to 4.5 inches, which means any fat bike will fit as easily as a narrow road tire.
Assembling the rack took about 20 minutes from the easy-to-follow visual directions in the manual. Folding it up required first releasing and tilting down the back bar with the bike grabbers on it, then folding the entire rack up. They’ve engineered it really well as it tilts around its own center, so tilting it either way is easy. It can tilt back, even with bikes on it, to allow access to the rear door of a vehicle. There’s a lever on the back that snugs up an internal bolt to keep the rack more stable in the hitch receiver.
The ramp has a trough to keep your wheels straight, and there are rails that act as guides across the entire ramp, making loading very easy. The first bike we loaded on was a compact cargo bike with a low step-through frame and 4-inch tires. This required that we attach the locking clamp to the seatpost, which worked perfectly. If it accommodates a bike like that, it will handle most any bike easily.
The second arm is 11 inches longer to reach a second bike, which will load from the other side. Both the clamps and the hitch-receiver pin have locks that are keyed the same, so you only need to have one key with you to lock the bikes in place and/or remove the rack when you don’t need it. The kit comes with two keys. When you lock one of the clamps, it will freely spin instead of tightening or loosening the clamp. There are Velcro straps that you can use to keep the arms from bouncing around, but also as an extra layer of security to strap around the bike frame just in case one of the clamps somehow pops off.
We’ve been using a more traditional Hollywood Racks Sport Rider rack for quite a while. It’s very easy to configure, especially if you have the same bikes to carry all the time. Since we’re constantly shuttling bikes, this isn’t ideal, as the wheel holders sometimes have to be taken off and reconfigured, depending on the bike we want to carry. This is a non-issue with the Destination e-bike rack. The lockable clamps are easy to move around, and the straps fit every bike we’ve tried it with so far, with one strap for the back wheel and two for the front to keep it more stable, and pads to protect your rims.
It would be easy to add a cable lock or even a U-lock for even more security. At $700, the Destination rack isn’t cheap, but we’re really impressed with the build quality, versatility, ease of loading and the feeling of security with the bikes locked on. The ease with which it allows heavy bikes to be loaded should be a boon for many e-bike riders concerned with straining their backs.
Price: $699.99
Contact: www.hollywoodracks.com
PROS:
• Curved shape and ramp make loading easy
• Locking clamps
• Multiple attachment points for wheels
• Fits virtually all e-bikes
CONS:
• A bit pricey
• Folding takes several steps
* This article originated here
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