VelociRAX is finest recognized for making a few of the finest vertical hitch bike racks available on the market. I lately examined the model’s 412 MAX rack and was very impressed by its stability, excessive weight restrict, and extremely user-friendly loading course of. However to date, the model hasn’t produced any platform-style hitch racks. It seems that’s about to alter, nevertheless, and VelociRAX will quickly offer its model of an e-bike and moto-compatible hitch rack, often known as the RAXzilla.
The model has been teasing the brand new rack on its social media channels for the previous week or so, with quite a few posts exhibiting it in motion. From these posts, the brand new rack seems to be production-ready, though it doesn’t have a product web page on the web site but, only a touchdown web page to join early information and preorder entry. However one factor is evident: VelociRAX has utilized its user-friendly bike-loading design ethos to a heavy-duty tray-style hitch rack.
Since we don’t have all the main points but, right here’s what we’ve gathered based mostly on the social media posts. It is extremely clearly a tray/platform-style hitch bike rack, and there are one-bike and two-bike variations. The trays seem to lock in place within the flat/horizontal/transport place and unlock to tilt down towards the passenger aspect of the automobile. There may be additionally an built-in loading ramp that slides out — and locks in place — from the top of every tray, making it simple to roll the bike up onto the tray. Loads of different e-bike-compatible racks work with loading ramps, however none we’ve seen provide the slide-out comfort seen right here.
Because the bike is rolled into place, its weight tilts the tray again to horizontal, and it locks in place. On the similar time, the entrance wheel prompts a hydraulic piston, which raises a wheel arm that sandwiches the entrance wheel towards the opposing entrance wheel arm. On the different finish of the rack, one other wheel arm, which additionally seems to make use of a hydraulic piston, folds up and secures the rear wheel. We are able to’t say for certain, nevertheless it seems to be like these piston-actuated wheel arms do the work of securing the wheels for you as soon as activated.
The wheel arms additionally seem to have a flexible form and dimension that may deal with something from skinny highway and gravel bike tires as much as huge, beefy filth bike tires. And within the case of the latter, they display the rack with e-motos and gas-powered motos, so we assume it could possibly deal with as much as ~250 kilos — roughly what a 250cc filth bike weighs — however that’s hypothesis. Nonetheless, it ought to be capable of deal with nearly any bike, from highway to eMTB to moto. The one issues that may current compatibility points are very small wheels and/or bikes with fenders, given the clamp-arm-style bike attachment system.
Primarily based on the movies, this seems to be like one of many best loading processes of any bike rack we’ve ever seen. You mainly simply need to tilt the rack, prolong the ramp, then roll the bike into place, and also you’re completed. In reality, one of many movies reveals individuals loading and securing two mountain bikes on the rack in simply 6 seconds. It additionally seems to have a tilt characteristic to fold it flat towards the again of the automobile to scale back its profile when not in use.
VelociRAX RAXzilla: Coming Quickly?
Past the restricted quantity of data we’ve gathered from VelociRAX’s social media posts, there’s much more we don’t know in regards to the RAXzilla. It’s not clear what the rack’s precise weight limits are, how a lot the rack weighs, when it will likely be out there, or how a lot it prices.
But it surely seems to be impressively versatile, and the loading course of seems to be the simplest we’ve seen for any bike, however particularly heavy e-bikes. In the event you’re fascinated with studying extra in regards to the RAXzilla or putting a preorder, head to the VelociRAX web site and join updates.
The publish VelociRAX is Teasing the RAXzilla, a Heavy-Obligation and Person-Pleasant Hitch Rack for Bikes and Motos appeared first on Bikerumor.