9 Best Hitch Bike Racks, Tested and Reviewed
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Hitch bike racks are one of the easiest ways to transport road bikes, mountain bikes, gravel bikes, and even e-bikes. There’s no need to lift your rig overhead onto the roof of the car, which is obviously easier on your arms. Most hitch racks swing away from the trunk of your car so you can still access gear inside, and some have side benefits like carrying cargo. And, because bikes are positioned behind the car, they don’t impact gas mileage as much as bikes on the roof.
The cons of hitch bike racks are they tend to be heavier, more expensive, and bikes on the back of the car are subjected to more road dirt and grime than bikes mounted on the roof of the car.
We reviewed an assortment of hitch bike racks from leading brands to find the top choices. The best hitch bike rack we tested is the Kuat Piston Pro. It’s dead-simple to assemble and beefy enough to carry up to four bikes, and comes with sturdy security cable locks to keep your precious cargo safe.
Why You Should Trust Me
I’m a Vermont-based writer, photographer, and outdoor adventurer, who reports on gear, adventure travel, and environmental issues. I also serve on the board of Richmond Mountain Trails, Vermont Mountain Bike Association, and Vermont Huts. I’ve developed and guided hiking and cycling trips in the U.S. and South America, and biked across the U.S. I ride bikes most days and I’ve reviewed dozens of bike racks on the market with road, gravel, mountain, fat, touring, commuter, e-, and kids’ bikes. Not only do I review gear for Men’s Journal, but for multiple endemic bike magazines.
The Best Hitch Bike Racks of 2023
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If you loved the look and functionality of Kuat’s Piston Pro X, but couldn’t swing the price or didn’t feel like adding a wiring harness to your SUV, Piston Pro should be your next purchase. We love this bike rack because it assembles with two bolts and is easy to use.
Bikes can easily be offset so handlebars and saddles don’t collide. Many racks have some kind of cable lock deterrent. This one has a beefy cable that inserts into a port in the rack to lock. It’s a much more substantial security system than many other racks. Choose among three positions: lowered, carry, and raised. A hand lever allows you to easily move between them, whether loaded or unloaded.
It took me less than 10 minutes to set up. Each side of the two wheel trays clicks into the base, and each set of wheel trails are attached with one nut and bolt. Piston Pro is also exceptionally easy to get on and off the car. The rack comes with a locking hitch bolt that slides in, and the rack tightens onto the car using Kuat’s special theft-proof tool, which is included with the rack, as well as knotted ropes to secure the rear wheels.
How to Use
The rack uses hydraulic heel holders. Press a lever on the side of the tray (there’s one for each wheel holder, so two per bike) and the wheel holder releases to give you space on the rack to set your bike. Once your bike is positioned on the tray, press the wheel holders in from each side to lock the bike in place. Each wheel holder can be adjusted to fit bikes from 18 to 29 inches with up to 5-inch-wide tires and up to a 57-inch wheelbase.
Capacity: 2 to 4 bikes
Weight: 63 pounds
Load: 67 pounds for 2-inch hitch, 60 pounds for 1.25-inch hitch
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
One-hand operable | Still expensive |
Robust security cable locks into the rack | |
Easy to assemble |
Berne Broudy
Hitch racks are typically large. If storage space is preventing you from investing, Thule Epos might be the rack for you. Epos carries three bikes with the stability and security of other high-end wheel tray three-bike hitch racks, and plenty of space in between the bikes to prevent damage. When you remove the rack from the car, the wheel trays fold in so the rack takes up less space in storage. Better yet, the rack rolls on small wheels for easy transport.
Most racks need to be unloaded in the reverse order they were loaded. So if you want to get to the first bike you put on the rack, you have to take all the bikes off. And when it’s mounted on your car and you need to get into your trunk, it releases down loaded or unloaded for access. The rack comes in several configurations. A folding e-bike ramp and tail lights are sold separately, and so is a burly lock.
The rack holds any standard type or size bike, including e-bikes, mountain bikes, and gravel bikes, including bikes with racks and fenders, with up to 29-inch wheels. It’s particularly good for carrying long wheelbase bikes.
How to Use
When it’s time to put the rack on or off, it’s a tool-free process. Bikes mount to the rack with wheel straps and a strap attached to a telescoping arm that can be shifted to attach to the frame or the rear wheel.
Capacity: 3 bikes
Weight: 51.4 pounds
Load: 66 pounds per bike
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Trays fold in for more compact storage | Lock sold separately |
Tool-free mounting | Rolls best on paved surfaces |
Fits all size bikes and long wheelbase bikes, too |
Berne Broudy
Thule T2 Pro XTR is solid, dependable, and all-around awesome. Nothing beats the durability and time-tested ruggedness of this rack. It’s also one of the easiest racks to get to your car, and back to storage. It has an extremely heavy-duty hitch mount system, with robust trays that can easily be expanded from two to four bikes. The rack rolls from garage to car on two rollerblade wheels that we found were rugged enough to handle a gravel driveway.
Trays are wide enough for fat bikes, and the rear ratcheting straps are long enough that they can also accommodate fat bikes. That said, the straps aren’t too floppy for carrying road bikes and gravel bikes. Thule provides two positions for the straps—one for narrow-wheel bikes and one for wide-wheel bikes. And bike trays have theft-deterrent cable locks that, while not the most robust, are thick enough to be meaningful.
How to Use
This rack holds a bike using a front-wheel hook and a rear-ratchet strap. It’s extremely easy to get on and off the car. Tighten the camming tongue by twisting it with your hand. Once tight, lock the knob with the rack key; it spins freely without loosening or tightening the rack until you unlock it. A hook clamps into the hitch receiver hole to position the rack appropriately on the car. It’s tool-free, and much easier to attach than a rack with a hitch pin.
Capacity: 2 to 4 bikes
Weight: 52 pounds
Load: 60 pounds per bike
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Extremely durable | Other racks have more visual appeal |
Can be expanded from two to four bikes | No three-bike option |
Tried-and-true design |
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If you need more from your hitch rack than just carrying a couple bikes, this is the system for you. The Yakima EXO SwingBase is built on a swing-away base that can take numerous carriers, including a two-bike attachment called DoubleUp, cargo boxes, a tray that converts to a cart, and even a modular kitchen. If you want to carry multiple things at once, the system lets you add an upper deck, called TopShelf, for a second rack or carrier.
I used this rack with the bike attachment mounted on the SwingBase, and also with the EXO TopShelf with the GearLocker on the base. This was a great place to store a helmet, shoes, bike clothing, tools, a pump, and more. I loved the swing-away function, which let me get bikes and other accessories away from the vehicle for easy access to gear inside the car.
When loaded, Yakima recommends you use an included support underneath the base when it’s swung away. The biggest downside of the EXO System is it’s heavy, so not suitable for all cars. But it is ideal for vans, trucks, and SUVs. With the right accessories, EXO significantly expands a vehicle’s cargo carrying capacity, while also allowing it to carry bikes. And with the bike carrier on the TopShelf, bikes get covered with less road grime during long drives.
How to Use
Yakima SwingBase (pictured) is the foundation of the system. It has dual arms with slots to receive the system’s various attachments. Place the two-bike rack on top of the arms, then screw the knobs on the ends of the arms to secure the mount in place. The tightening knobs lock with the same key the rack uses to lock onto the car. The bike rack has front-wheel hooks that clamp over the front tires and ratchet down. The rear wheel is held by a ratcheting strap.
Capacity: 2 bikes
Weight: 139 pounds (SwingBase: 68.5 pounds; TopShelf: 33.5 pounds; DoubleUp: 37 pounds)
Load: 50 pounds per bike
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Comes with a swing-away | Expensive |
Modular system | Heavy |
Can be expanded to carry cargo, too | Carries two bikes max |
Berne Broudy
For cars with low clearance, or anyone who wants their bikes to ride a little high and away from road grime, 1Up’s tiered Heavy Duty Double positions bike mounts so each is slightly higher than the one before it as they extend away from the car.
I love this rack for its lightweight construction, compared to other racks, ease of installation, and because it was also quick and simple to expand to carry three or four bikes. Instead of big, breakable reflectors on the back, 1Up uses reflective stickers. Folded, the rack sits close to the car, which also makes parallel parking easier.
This is the only rack I tested with a cable lock that doesn’t touch the frame of the bike, so I didn’t worry about leaving bikes locked for long drives. Cable locks rubbing on a frame can damage carbon bikes, so on other racks I removed the cable lock until parked.
How to Use
There’s no need to line the rack up with the hole in your hitch. The rack secures with an expander ball in the rack tongue that presses against the sides of your hitch when you twist the hitch-tightening knob with 1Up’s custom hex wrench. The expanded ball removes play in the rack. It also lets you position the rack anywhere in the receiver. If you do choose to position the rack to line up with the hole in your hitch, you can use 1Up’s locking hitch pin to further secure it.
Bikes sit in trays on the rack and lock in with ratcheting holders that clamp securely over the tops of the tires. The bike holders release by pressing an anodized lever next to the tray holder that releases the tension. The ratcheting bike wheel holders have holes drilled along their full length. Slide 1Up’s locking skewers through any set of those holes, front and back, and the skewer also passes through the bike’s wheel to lock your bike to the rack.
Capacity: 2 to 4 bikes
Weight: 46 pounds
Load: 50 pounds per bike
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Rated for RV, off-road, and trailer use | Some assembly required |
Bikes are tiered for clearance | Poor assembly directions |
Holds any size bike | Ratcheting mechanism can require a little fiddling to release |
