Hot!
- Extremely well-made, sturdy, rugged
- Max weight of 75 lbs per bike, sturdy enough for an eBike
- Small footprint for storage
- The arms secure the wheels and don’t touch the suspension fork or frame
- Minimal rocking or movement, even at highway speeds
- Comes fully assembled
- Reflective elements are visible when the rack is in an up or down position
- 100% made in the USA
Not!
- Heavy and awkward to carry
- It is awkward/challenging to reach the release bar to lower or raise the rack
- The release lever sometimes sticks
- Blue levers were extremely rigid, and needed a screwdriver or Allen key for leverage to pivot open/closed
- Sometimes, it required three hands to release the arms and keep the bike from falling
- When mounted on some sedans, it bottoms out at the end of driveways (no issues with SUVs)
Price: $680 (silver), $730 (black)
Rack weight: 47 lbs
Max bike weight: Total carrying capacity of up to 225 lb (50-75 lb per bike spot)
# of bikes: 2 (Increase bike capacity to 3 bikes (50 – 75 lb) or 4 bikes (50 lb or less) with additional Add-Ons — sold separately)
Max wheelbase: 54”
Wheel sizes: Fits 16-29” wheels, up to 3.1” wide (optional spacer kit for fat tire bikes)
Receiver size: 2”
Rated for off-road use: Yes
Colors: Silver or Black
Accessories: Fat tire spacer kit, Wheel saver kit, Wheel lock, license plate holder with LED lights
Availability: Online
Obtained by: Company sample
RBR advertiser: No
Made in the USA, 1Up Heavy-duty Bike Racks
Pull into the parking lot at any gravel event or MTB trailhead and look at which brand of hitch rack is the most popular. Until a couple of years ago, I had never heard of 1Up. But the 1Up racks are 100% made in the USA and ideal for hauling your gravel, MTB, fattie, cruiser, or eBike.
As part of my review, I chatted with several 1Up owners to get a feel for what they liked or disliked about the design. The responses all seemed universal. Not one owner disliked their rack, but they all had similar comments.
Unboxing the Super Duty Double Bike Rack
The rack arrives fully assembled in a single cardboard box. Lifting it out of the box was difficult and awkward for me. Upper body strength is a must. Once out of the box, figuring out how to expand the trays was difficult. The blue unlocking lever bolts were tightened with such force I needed to grab a hex wrench to put through the slot and move the lever. Three out of four levers, I couldn’t budge.
The 1Up rack arrives fully assembled in one box.
Also, the lack of instructions included in the box was an issue. I’d suggest having a QR code so when unpacking, you can view an instructional video like this one.
Installing the Super Duty Rack
My first attempt at installing the rack was awkward at best. Once I learned that you should rotate the trays out 90 degrees, it made it easier to handle and mount to my car. Note that this rack is only available for a 2” receiver.
As an anti-theft feature, a unique security bolt and wrench tighten the anti-wobble mechanism built into the hitch arm.
The 1Up is unique because it has a slot instead of a hole for the hitch pin. So you don’t have to fiddle with the hitch bar to line up the holes with those on the receiver. Once installed, use the security wrench to tighten the expander ball, which is the built-in anti-wobble mechanism. Even on the highway at 70 mph, the bikes remained secure, and the rack moved very little.
After installing the rack, lower it horizontally using the black release lever, tighten the gold bar knob, and start loading bikes. I found reaching the black bar and the gold bar knob awkward and challenging. Sometimes, with the black bar, one side would release and not the other. The company offers an EZ-Pull accessory for $82, which addresses the problem of reaching under the rack to pull the lever. Why don’t they make this lever standard to avoid this problem?
Optional EZ-Pull lever makes it easier to activate the release lever and lower/raise the rack.
Loading and Hauling Bikes of all Sizes
Open the ratcheting arms to the sides and place your bike on the tray. Then, pull the arms up over the wheel until firmly securing the bike. A unique feature of the 1Up rack is the arms secure the bike only by the tire and never touch the fork or frame (refer to pictures later in this review). The rack’s design is especially beneficial for bikes with front suspension forks, as racks with J-arms always scratch and scrape them.
The rack arms only touch the tires, not the frame or fork. Thus, never damaging suspension forks or scraping an expensive frame.
Other users have reported that if the bike tire goes flat or loses significant amounts of air, the bike becomes loose and moves around. I’ve had a similar experience when using a rack with J-arms. So it’s par for the course.
The Super Duty rack can accommodate bikes up to a 54” wheelbase and 16-29” wheels up to 3.1” wide. For fat tire bikes, there’s a spacer kit available as an accessory item. See the section below on Additional Accessories.
The Super Duty rack accommodated the wide wheelbase of this eFat bike.
The trays are set as stadium, meaning one is slightly higher than the other. During testing, I loaded a gravel bike, an MTB, and an eFat bike. They all loaded fine, only with tall frames. I had to offset the bikes slightly since the handlebars of one bike would hit the seat of the other bike. This is less of an issue if you have bikes with dropper posts.
Securing your bike
1Up made it easy to secure your bike against theft while on the rack. The optional wheel lock costs $24 and comes in 2 lengths (longer for fat bikes). The pin slides through the machined holes in the arm and the spokes (does not touch the wheel). The company admits this is a deterrent to opportunistic thieves and does not replace a heavy-duty lock and chain.
Optional wheel lock is an excellent deterrent for opportunistic thieves.
Additional Accessories
In addition to the accessories mentioned above, 1Up offers a few others to customize the rack to fit your needs.
Fat Tire Spacer Kit – The standard rack can accommodate up to a 3.1” tire. For fat bikes, you’ll need the spacer kit for $38, including the front and back, and it works with tires as wide as 4.9”. The instructions didn’t mention torque specs or suggestion to use lock tight on the bolts.
Left, standard spacer. Right, fat bike tire spacer.
LED Light Bar Plate Holder 2.0 – This optional item is $212 and allows your license plate to be visible when the rack is up or down. Some states will ticket a driver if the bikes and/or rack obscure the plate or rear lights. An LED light bar activates with a turn signal or braking, which is also helpful when the bikes conceal the rear lights. There’s also an option for just the plate holder for $58.
Tray add-ons – To convert a 2-bike rack to carry 3 or 4 bikes, select an add-on for $245 for each additional bike.
Bottom Line
The 1Up Super Duty Double Bike Rack is a solid, sturdy bike rack that you can be confident hauling your valuable two-wheel steed. It is a popular rack for gravel, fat bikers, and MTBers. This rack is off-road, RV, and travel trailer-rated for campers (only for the two bike model).
My one caution is the rack’s weight. Be sure you are physically able to lift 47 pounds comfortably.
Sheri Rosenbaum regularly contributes articles and reviews products for RBR. She’s an avid recreational roadie who lives in the Chicago area and a major advocate for women’s cycling, serving on the board of directors and volunteering with the Dare2tri Paratriathlon Club. Click to read Sheri’s full bio or visit her web site sunflowersandpedals.com.
If you are a cyclist and see the need for a hitch rack AND a new vehicle, currently Subaru is not an option. They currently (unless this has changed very recently) do not offer a 2-inch hitch receiver.
I have 2020 Subaru Outback with a 2” receiver that was added as an option
Richard, an adapter is an option, too.
An adapter works, too.
Richard my vehicle’s hitch rack is the smaller inch and a quarter. I than run a 2 inch adapter for the hitch rack and it works great. The original mount was too far under the bumper so even when I used a 1 1/4 rack I used a extender. You would think Subaru would be aimed at the towing market ????
Awesome rack. I own one. Regarding dismounting the bike, I use my foot to push up levers and then I can have can hold bike and pull up on n the arm. I also zip tied a laptop bag strap to the release bar so it’s easier than reaching down to pull on the bar
Ben,
Thanks for sharing this tip.