Velocirax Bike Rack is a functional, quality bike rack for your vehicle-based and two-wheeled adventures

I bought my first hitch mount bike rack sometime around 1995. Bikes were suspended by the frame on two spindly horizontal arms and swung wildly back and forth as the vehicle traveled down the road. Loading bikes was an exercise in problem solving and it was unlikely that you’d ever load your bike the same way twice. Those racks are still around today and even more surprisingly, people still use them. I, however, have moved on.

My wife and I used tray style racks for well over a decade. Yakima, Thule, Kuat, Saris, Rocky Mount…we’d had them all. Some worked reasonably well. Others, well…suffice it to say that we were always pleasantly surprised to arrive at a trailhead with our bikes still in tow. We were about to plunk down a few hundred dollars on a Recon Rack when we stumbled upon the Velocirax at Outerbike last year. We were so impressed we bought one on the spot. I am not at all mechanically inclined and despite this shortcoming I found the assembly process to be a piece of cake, completing it in about half an hour.

The Velocirax carries bikes vertically with the front wheel supported in a hoop, the rear wheel resting against a lower bar and both secured by thick rubber straps. The smallest rack carries three bikes, the largest one seven. Let that sink in. Seven bikes, in the same space normally occupied by a two-bike tray style rack. The entire rack is constructed of powder coated steel. Featherweight it is not, but that burliness is what contributes to a nearly indestructible rack. A vertical mast reclines on hydraulic dampers to allow bikes to be loaded and unloaded with ease, even by smaller statured riders. Bikes are loaded by rolling them into the rack and unloaded by rolling them out. There’s no need to lift them off the ground, so even my 11 year old son can easily load and unload bikes. And, because the bikes are secured by the front wheel rather than the fork or handlebars, paint scuffing isn’t an issue. The Velocirax mounts to a 2” vehicle hitch with an included locking pin and utilizes an anti-rattle cam that effectively minimizes movement, even during aggressive off-road use. A redundant system including a secure pin and spring loaded latch prevent the vertical mast from reclining at the wrong time, i.e. at highway speeds or when rallying down a dirt road.

We originally purchased a Velocirax designed to carry five bikes, even though we only need to carry three. On our first trip with the new rack, we were disappointed to discover that the wheel hoop on the outside passenger side had become deformed after two hours on a very rough four-wheel drive road. It didn’t appear to compromise performance but it was concerning enough that we moved the bike occupying that spot to a different position on the rack. I contacted Velocirax to complain about the issue and they immediately sent out a new wheel hoop.

Back home, I installed the new hoop and on our next trip we experienced another failure of the same hoop. This time, Velocirax offered to send us their new three bike rack that utilized a new, stronger material for construction of the wheel hoop. A few days later the new rack arrived and I installed it on our truck, where it has remained now for eleven months. In that time it’s lived an adventurous life – including being backed into a tree in the Sawtooths – and it’s shrugged off all of the abuse. After some trial and error, Velocirax totally nailed it.

We’ve logged thousands of miles on our Velocirax and aside from the deformed wheel hoops, the only other issue we’ve observed are occasional wear marks on the front tire sidewall where it contacts the wheel hoop. This is only an issue on multi-day trips when the bikes are left in the rack for hundreds of consecutive miles, during which time the front tires continuously rub against the same spot. We’ve reported this issue to Velocirax and they provided us with a hard rubber liner to install on the wheel hoop where the front tire rests against the hoop. I’ve installed them but haven’t used the rack sufficiently since to determine if they’ll resolve the issue.

We’ve been impressed with the rack, but also the customer service we’ve received from Velocirax. Being a small Utah-based company, they genuinely care about their customers. They listen to feedback and actively look for ways to resolve issues. Though their racks aren’t cheap, they’re not priced any higher than similar racks, many of which are inferior in either design or quality.

Do I recommend the Velocirax? Yep. Without hesitation. It’s the best rack we’ve ever used and knowing that we’re supporting a small, local business who provides outstanding customer service makes it even easier to recommend their product.

PROS

• Easy and fast to load/unload bikes for riders of all statures
• Virtually indestructible build quality
• Compact design allows more bikes to be carried in smaller space
• Almost no movement within hitch because of locking cam system
• Reclines to allow access to rear of vehicle
• Secure carrying system that doesn’t damage paint or frames
• Easy to assemble
• Outstanding customer service

CONS

• Wheel hoops may rub raw spots on front tires during extended trips
• Only available for 2” hitches

Prices range from $699 for the 3 bike rack to $889 for the 7 bike rack. Visit the Velocirax site to learn more:
www.velocirax.com

OutdoorX4 Magazine – Promoting responsible vehicle-based adventure travel and outdoors adventure