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First look at North Shore Racks’ four-bike receiver-hitch rack
North Shore Racks is a family-owned business that was born and bred on the forested slopes of North Vancouver, BC. The company’s owners are avid riders who spend plenty of time moving their bikes around the Shore and to places like Whistler and Squamish.
When I arrived at North Shore Racks’ headquarters, located at the base of Mount Fromme, I was greeted by Malcolm, the company’s owner / designer, who had just finished a ride.
Specs
The North Shore Racks’ four-bike racks are designed to fit onto most vehicles that are equipped with a 2-inch receiver-style hitch. Make sure you contact the company with your vehicle type before ordering to ensure that you have a compatible truck or van. Also, bikes must be equipped with suspension forks, which means that most road bikes are incompatible with the rack; bikes with fork-mounted fenders aren’t likely to fit on the rack either.
The racks use an innovative system to keep your bikes fastened to the back of your vehicle — each bike is hung vertically and secured at the rear wheel by a single ‘j-hook’ and a hand-tightened knob assembly.
You can also tilt the rack away from your vehicle to access a hatch or rear door, fold it in close to your vehicle when it’s not loaded with bikes, and slide it into position by yourself.
The good
After I’d arrived and we’d got down to business, the whole process of installation and the explanation of features was so quick that I didn’t even have the time to get a decent photo. However, I could pick up the rack on my own, and it weighs about the same as my mountain bike, which puts it about 44lbs.
Once installed, bikes are loaded quickly and fastened down using a simple, effective bolting system. When loaded, the rack is fully capable of holding four big bikes and, when unloaded, is easy to move around and fold away.
I’ve had many different styles of bike racks, for a variety of different vehicles, and I’ve usually found particular flaws with each one. These flaws were things that I had to adapt to and work around during my rides. So far, the North Shore Rack is one of the best systems I’ve ever used and it’s really easy to use. At this point, I haven’t had to make any changes to the rack at all.
The not-so-good
If you want a North Shore Rack you’ll need a large vehicle, equipped with a 2-inch receiver-style hitch. The company is working on a smaller version of their rack that can slide into a 1.25″ receiver but a release date hasn’t yet been given. Also, you can’t mount your road bike or cruiser on the rack, so it’s not the most versatile rack out there.
Summary
My early impressions of the North Shore Rack are positive. It’s easy to install, holds four bikes securely, and folds in towards the vehicle when it’s not being used. Although you can’t mount it on cars with smaller receiver hitches and some drivers might find it a bit long (which creates a clearance issue), the bike rack is a high quality product that performs as advertised.
Check back in a couple weeks for a full review to see if I can uncover that flaw that most racking systems seem to have.
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1. Posted by North Shore Racks hitch mount rack review » The Biking Hub: Mountain | 2:15 pm, 24 April 2006
[…] Back in early March, I posted up my first impressions of North Shore Racks’ four-bike receiver-hitch mount rack. I really liked how easy it was to load and unload bikes, and that any bikes loaded onto the rack were held firmly in place while my vehicle was moving down the road. Since that first writeup, I’ve had a bunch of time to use the rack in all conditions and to get a feel for its strengths and its limitations. […]