On the rare occasions that I actually make it out west, I'm sure as hell not going to do it without a mountain bike... Has anyone found an off road worthy hitch rack? I used my high quality Thule top tube mount rack (forget the exact model, but it's about 8 years old) with a hi-lo hitch adapter to raise it up and not entirely destroy my already poor departure angle. I also used one of the bolt on hitch stabilizers to stop it from bouncing around. The rack came with a bolt style pin that held plenty sturdy. It worked reasonably well in terms of driveability. I whacked the hitch adapter on rocks about a thousand times, but it help up just fine, and kept the bikes 'wheels high enough not to get hurt. Well mostly.. I backed mine into a rock turning around and knocked it pretty out of true...
The rack absolutely died over the trip though. Everywhere it had pivots wore loose. The main top swivel completely stripped out and the rack is now almost unusable.
So.. TL;DR: Who's found a good bike rack that can hold up to off road use and keep the bikes as out of the way of driving as possible? Roof racks aren't really an option. My rig is tall enough already, and I will always have either other gear or a tent on top. Storing inside is unlikely due to gear or sleeping room if I'm without a tent. That pretty much leaves me with hitch racks. I work at a bike shop, so something that is distributed in the US would be nice, as I pay basically cost for anything we can order.
The rack absolutely died over the trip though. Everywhere it had pivots wore loose. The main top swivel completely stripped out and the rack is now almost unusable.
So.. TL;DR: Who's found a good bike rack that can hold up to off road use and keep the bikes as out of the way of driving as possible? Roof racks aren't really an option. My rig is tall enough already, and I will always have either other gear or a tent on top. Storing inside is unlikely due to gear or sleeping room if I'm without a tent. That pretty much leaves me with hitch racks. I work at a bike shop, so something that is distributed in the US would be nice, as I pay basically cost for anything we can order.
