1Up bike rack on a E21

[John in Santa Cruz]

I just mounted our new 1Up 2-bike rack on our E21, and phew, the inner bike holder sure looks close to the spare tire. I can't even fold the rack up flat with the tire mounted.

guess I have to put the bikes on it now and see hwo they fit, heh.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

I just mounted our new 1Up 2-bike rack on our E21, and phew, the inner bike holder sure looks close to the spare tire. I can't even fold the rack up flat with the tire mounted.

guess I have to put the bikes on it now and see hwo they fit, heh.

John,
I use a short receiver extender on my 5.0TA with the 1Up for that very reason.

[rog mich]

I use the 1Up for a single bike. I believe there is enough play in the post to allow positioning away from the spare tire. Mine even came with an aluminum ring that marks the insertion depth you choose. My rack folds up without contacting the spare. Great rack!!

[John in Santa Cruz]

ok, they do fit.

i have the rack inserted the minimum specified, where the slot in the 'tongue' for the lock just barely lines up with the hole in the reciever.

[Bill R]

I have a 2004 1up, which weighs 33 pounds with 2 trays -- it's a different design than what I see in your picture, it cleared the spare and may be heavier than yours. The trailer spare tire on an aluminum rim weighs 40 pounds. When I mounted 2 32-pound bikes on our 1up on our 2018 escape 19, the tongue weight measured over 50 pounds less (yes I really checked it). So I removed the trailer spare and carried it in the back of the tow vehicle, which restored about 20 pounds of tongue weight. Not sure if that was necessary or not.

Bill R

[John in Santa Cruz]

I had a swagman escape2 rack, that was heavier than this 1Up and also not as secure. I had to be careful to front load the trailer to keep the hitch weight reasonable, it was pretty easy to end up with ~400 lb tongue weight with a fully loaded trailer if you weren't careful. my f250 doesn't much mind, but I do for sanity.

[Upfisk]

We initially bought a 7" extension for our 1Up, put the 2 bikes on it and did not like how far out our bikes were. A real example of lever action for weight. We sent the extension back and are happy with the decision that the 1Up cannot fold up against the trailer. If we are not bringing our bikes along there is no reason to bring the 1Up rack along either. The 1Up fits our tow vehicle and our Passat Wagon just fine, folds up on those 2 vehicles, and is used more transporting our bikes to local trail systems.

[John in Santa Cruz]

yeah, I definitely do NOT want to extend the bikes any farther back than I have to. this just works as is, so I'm good.

[LRL]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

I just mounted our new 1Up 2-bike rack on our E21, and phew, the inner bike holder sure looks close to the spare tire. I can't even fold the rack up flat with the tire mounted.

guess I have to put the bikes on it now and see hwo they fit, heh.

I’ve been using the 1Up for our 2 bikes on our 21 for the past year. I love it BUT without an extension (which I don’t use) it cannot be put into the up position. I need to mount it in the extended position. What I love about the 1Up is that the bikes don’t rattle around and rub against each other. It’s a very stable and very straight forward mounting system. Personally, I don’t think I’d want I it sticking further off the back with an extension. I prefer it snug up against the back and can live with not being able to raise it up. Hope you enjoy it!

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by LRL

I’ve been using the 1Up for our 2 bikes on our 21 for the past year. I love it BUT without an extension (which I don’t use) it cannot be put into the up position. I need to mount it in the extended position. What I love about the 1Up is that the bikes don’t rattle around and rub against each other. It’s a very stable and very straight forward mounting system. Personally, I don’t think I’d want I it sticking further off the back with an extension. I prefer it snug up against the back and can live with not being able to raise it up. Hope you enjoy it!

yeah, it worked great this weekend, first trip with it.

[StarvingHyena]

Looks perfect to me!

[casejh]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

yeah, it worked great this weekend, first trip with it.

I hav been using the 1UP on the rear of our E21 for three years now. I works well but I noticed in the trailer's rear view camera that when going over bumps or RR tracks that the bikes wiggle back and forth a fair bit. They don't rub or hit anything but I wondered if that would fatigue the metal over time. When I have the 1UP on the back of my truck the bikes don't have so much wiggle fore and aft. It is a much great wiggle on the back of the trailer

Now I take a short piece of rope and tie to the bike or the bike rack arm, loop around the spare tire and then tie pretty snug to the same bike again on the other side of the spare tire. It pulls the bike and the spare tire a little closer together. This limits the bike wiggle in the direction away from the trailer and prevents most of the wiggle. I can watch it in the rear view camera and it makes a big difference. I do it with each bike (two short pieces of rope) and I like it much better this way. I suspect the bike rack metal likes it better too. And if the rope ever comes loose I know it because I see that bike start to wiggle much more in the camera.

[daniel108]

Do your bikes have suspension (mountain bikes)? I always have the rack pressed into the tires hard enough that there is no movement possible, but with mountain bikes the frame is always floating.

When mounting the rack into the hitch, I always lift the rack as I'm tightening the bolt, which allows the bolt to tighten further. I always use the velcro strap to secure the rack in case to bolt were to loosen, but furthermore, I also run at least a cable lock, if not a full chain, through the bikes and rack and the trailer frame. This is for security when parking and for stops at stop lights....just in case someone were to notice a high end bike on my rack and realize it could be removed in about 20 seconds without me even seeing it or being able to do anything about it if I did. Seems like your rope tie might help accomplish the same.

[John in Santa Cruz]

i have a 5 foot very-hard-to-cut bike chain (10mm thick hexagonal links of maganese steel), but it weighs like 9-10 lbs, and just barely goes around two bikes and their wheels, but its not long enough to go around the bumper, and if it was it would weigh 20 lbs or more.

most any steel cable can be snipped in seconds with a hydraulic hand sized cable cutter.

[daniel108]

It's all a matter of scaling the deterrent to the risk. I have a 16mm 6' chain that will go through 2 bike frames plus the rack. That gets used when I have high end bikes and go in to a restaurant or something, but I still want to be in sight of the bikes if at all possible. If I'm going someplace even riskier (e.g a Walmart, Home Depot, etc) the bikes go inside the vehicle or someone stays with them. A thick chain can stop bolt cutters but generally not an angle grinder. I have a pretty long (maybe 20') 9/16" hardened square chain that can secure 4 bikes, but I consider it medium security.

[John in Santa Cruz]

my chain is this one, https://www.kryptonitelock.com/en/pr...ey/000815.html and it will give even an angle grinder a hard time. yes, eventually anything can be cut, but not quickily, quietly, or easily. the lock is also pretty secure, and there's no weak links at the end, the chain goes right into the lock cylinder which is thick steel.

[soundings]

We have a bike rack that we use for both our 4runner and our trailer.
Just be aware that it puts alot of weight at the back and can cause trailer sway unless you compensate by moving weight from the under bed storage to the front while traveling...
We had some scary experiences until we learned,,,

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by soundings

We have a bike rack that we use for both our 4runner and our trailer.

It would be helpful to others if you would fill in your profile so they will know which model trailer you are talking about.

[richardr]

I also have a 1up bike rack with a mountain bike and a recumbent on it full time. I cover the bikes with a Formosa cover that completely encloses the bikes. It does a great job of keeping them clean and dry. The cover lasts about 2 years since it is being used all the time. I'm on my second cover. 1up sells a license plate holder with brake/tail and turn signal lights. It plugs into a 4 prong trailer plug I had ETI run to the back of the trailer. It's a little pricey, but I feel it enhances the trailer visibility significantly.

I see a little bike cover movement but no significant sway in my rear-view camera while traveling.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by richardr

I also have a 1up bike rack with a mountain bike and a recumbent on it full time. I cover the bikes with a Formosa cover that completely encloses the bikes. It does a great job of keeping them clean and dry. The cover lasts about 2 years since it is being used all the time. I'm on my second cover. ...

is that Formosa(?) cover home made or something you bought ? pictures and/or details?


? Formosa is an old name for Taiwan... Did you mean Formica or something else ?