Best Hitch Bike Rack Brands (Top 15 List)
Hitch-style bike racks are definitely booming because of the features and ease of use they offer. This is reflected in the number of companies in this market. With so many different hitch-mounted bike rack brands, it can get overwhelming to filter out the top of the crop.
When you buy a hitch-mounted bike rack you want to make sure you are purchasing quality. There are so many different hitch bike racks out there and some are obviously better than others.
When choosing the bike rack brands to put in this list, we only picked what we believe are the best brands that offer original design, features, reliability, high testing standards, and load capacity. This means the racks have a long lifetime and can withstand some of the abuse from the rough roads you will be driving on.
With this short article, we list only original, high-quality, established, and trustworthy brands to choose from. So, here are the best brands recommended for hitch bike racks in alphabetical order:
For a list of all the best bike rack brands, regardless of rack type, check out this article.
1UP USA
… is a relatively small American company, founded in 2001. They are a bike rack manufacturer through and through with cargo carriers and trainers also in their catalog. But bike transporting gear is their absolute strong suit.
As the name suggests, 1UP USA racks are made in the USA. They are known to be hassle-free yet reliable, and rugged. These properties are also reflected in their recognizable industrial look. Yet the racks are still slim, foldable, and as discreet as a bike rack can be.
If you have ever seen a 1UP bike rack you probably noticed the unique look, the how securely the bikes are attached on both ends. A neat little detail easily overlooked is the wide variety of roof racks the bike racks can attach to.
Allen Sports
… has been around the block a few times. The company, based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (USA) was founded back in 1967 and has been trusted by outdoor enthusiasts around the world since then. Allen Sports products are known and valued for their ease of use, value, and reliability. It all started when the US Apollo aerospace program was cut back and physicist Dick Allen used the opportunity to turn his passion for cycling into an engineering job.
He was tired of hassling with twine and dinging up his car, so he set out to create a better solution — not only for himself but also for the growing market he foresaw. Now, with facilities across the United States and abroad, they are committed to producing the highest quality, easiest to use racks on the market.
Alta Racks
… is based in Utah, USA, and puts their experience in military-grade equipment design to good use making some of the sturdiest racks – putting their bike racks thru rigorous testing in the mountains and deserts of Colorado. Alta Racks sources, and builds all their products in the USA.
They design, develop and create custom solution racks for just about any purpose. Even for when you need to store yourself for the night – with their Alta hammock stand. Their clear stated goal is to provide their customers with the last rack they will ever buy by design and build quality that withstands adventure life. They have created one of the lightest six carrier or four carrier on the market.
Using military-grade development requirements, the ALTA ensures long-term reliability over anything else.
Hollywood Racks
… has its roots back in the 1970s in Hollywood, California, USA. The first Hollywood racks were foldable and designed to fit sports cars with spoilers.
In the 1990s modern hitch rack features were born, like sturdy 4-bike racks, no-wobble systems, rubber bike separators, and the tilt-down feature we now can’t live without.
In the 2000s they were again right on the front of innovation with the first racks that could handle heavy e-bikes. They even built a trike rack in order to get your three-wheeler out to adventures. Until now they have not stopped innovating and improving their trunk and hitch bike racks.
Küat
… are more well known for their hitch and trunk racks, but also have a limited roof bike rack presence. With those the fork axle mount is the only option, so front wheel removal is a must.
Küat Racks began in 2008 with the goal to create better ways to transport bikes. This goal leads them to create high-end, well-engineered hitch racks, roof racks, and bike rack accessories. Their designs are lightweight, stylish, and (mostly) easy to use. At least I would not call the front wheel removing on a roof rack particularly hassle-free.
They also partnered with the US National Forest Foundation as well as other tree planting organizations like One Tree Planted, Trees For The Future, and Trees.org to plant over 600,00 trees in fire-damaged national forests within the US.
LOLO Racks
… was established in Portland, Oregon, the USA in 2016 by a small team of engineers and riders. Their passion for spending long weekends in the mountains with their friends and family lead them to create the accompanying mount to carry their rides in bulk. This is how their well-received vertical 6 bike racks came to be.
LOLO Racks are the designers and creators of American-made bike racks and accessory products. By the way, “lolo” originates from the Chinook tribe and means “to carry”.
MaxxHaul
… is specialized in towing solutions for professional and recreational use. While the corporate office is based in Shanghai, China, the US office and warehouse is located in Oxnard, California to guarantee customer service and fast delivery.
MaxxHaul manufactures their products in-house at their own facilities in Shanghai and Qingdao, China, since 1999. This allows them to influence the entire development process of their products from design, raw material sourcing, tooling, production, packing, and final delivery.
North Shore Racks
… are as grass-roots as mountain bike racks get. These guys and girls designing the racks are pure mountain bikers making some of the fastest loading, most lightweight vertical bike racks.
North Shore Racks are manufactured in small batches locally in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This is why as of now this is a direct-to-consumer company, only selling directly through their website.
Their patented design carries 2 or up to 6 bikes quickly, easily, and contact-free, in the least amount of space possible. Doing all that while keeping the vehicle tail lights free – which is seldom the case.
While mountain biking is their focus, NSR got you covered with a road bike adapter, security accessories to keep your bikes safe on the rack and of course replacement parts.
QuikR Stuff
Made in the USA
These guys definitely bring the start-up mentality! QuikrStuff was founded in 2020 by two devoted cyclists, hikers, skiers, rafters, and campers. Their mission: Deliver high-quality, innovative, outdoor products that are 100% invented and manufactured in the US. At QuikrStuff’s HQ in Grand Junction, Colorado to be exact. All those qualities are easily reflected in their distinct design.
As a startup business, they acquired a whole host of local business partners and inventors to patent new gear. They consider themselves a part of their rural ecosystem to support America’s most innovative equipment designers. As of 2022, they got 14 patents. You can check their progress right there on their site.
RockyMounts
… operates under one principle since 1993: When you absolutely cannot ride your bike to your destination yourself, they’ve got you covered. They are known for manufacturing solid, well-designed, and dependable racks to get you to the next ride, or big adventure. To this day RockyMounts has been owned and operated by founder Bobby Noyes.
As you would assume, RockyMounts is based in the USA – Colorado to be exact. The first RockyMounts racks were made with material sourced entirely from within the US: plastic from Boulder, trays from Indiana, paint from Lyons and packaging from Denver. Now, much of RockyMounts’ manufacturing is done in China and Taiwan since 2005.
Saris
… is on the path of making the world more “bike-able”. This is why you might find a quite interesting combination of biking products in their line-up like indoor bike trainers and bike racks for outdoor adventures.
Saris bike racks are built by hand in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. In fact, the entire process from product design to engineering to manufacturing is owned by Saris. Materials are sourced locally through long-standing partnerships. Their durable plastic materials are what puts them apart from other brands – in a good way as they can offer affordably priced bike racks.
Creating the best possible user experience is what Saris is all about. And they do it by making their racks as easy to use as possible. This starts with finding the correct bike rack for you with their Bike rack fit guide.
Swagman
What in the world even is a “swagman”? It sure sounds fancy and stylish. Far from it. It is actually an Australian term describing someone who travels from farm to farm on foot seeking work – and carrying all of their belongings in a swag.
While the bike rack manufacturer Swagman is in search of adventure, not work, packing up and going is in their vision. They consider themselves the enablers of fun.
Whether your swag of fun outdoor toys includes bikes, kayaks, or anything else they could use to explore the beautiful nature, Swagman can help you mount it to your car.
They are based in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, and were one of the first companies worldwide to design and market a hitch-style bike rack. Since then they have branched out to RV-approved bike racks, hitch-mounts, and roof racks for cars and trucks.
Thule
… the juggernaut of the car rack industry. Thule (pronounced “too-le”) was founded back in 1942 in Småland, Sweden, and has acquired the reputation of producing high-quality, well-designed, safe, and durable car racks.
The first product designed to carry sports gear by car was a ski rack. Followed by many other roof-mounted carriers. Finally, in 1992 the first hitch-mounted bike rack was introduced. All the major car rack products are still sold and improved upon by Thule.
Relatively new addictions are roof tents and truck tailgate pads, among other types of truck bed bike racks.
No matter the product, you can be sure it has been thoroughly shock- and crash-tested at the in-house testing facility in Hillerstorp, Sweden. Thule is known for its high test standards that far exceed regulatory requirements.
VelociRAX
… is a family business through and through, established in 2018 when two brothers solved their bike storage and transportation problems – by designing a vertical bike rack that can do both: garage bike storage and bike travel.
VelociRAX is located in Alpine, Utah, USA right in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Their mission is to engineer, build and test the strongest, most functional bike racks out there. And there truly are not many other 7-bike racks available besides VelociRAX.
Need help with rack sizing? They got you covered.
Yakima
… started as a small machine shop in Yakima, Washington State, USA. In 1979 it was acquired by two kayakers and cyclists who saw the need to create a better way to transport their outdoor gear.
Now, Yakima stands for high-quality and reliable specialized car racks to carry all kinds of equipment like bikes, kayaks and canoes, fishing rods, skis and snowboards, surfboards, cargo boxes, and roof tents.
With that catalog of carriers, they have something for every season and every outdoor adventure.
