Final 12 months, we introduced the launch of the then-new 1Up Recon 5 and Recon 6 vertical hanging hitch bike racks. After buying Recon Racks in 2021, it didn’t take lengthy for 1Up to develop the brand new Recon fashions based mostly on the unique however with some notable adjustments. Whereas functionally about the identical, they give the impression of being barely completely different with beefy metal wheel baskets and a revised decrease crossbar and rear wheel attachment system. 1Up additionally moved the manufacturing of the Recon racks in-house to their facility in Wisconsin, and they’re made fully within the USA. 

The 1UP Recon racks have been available on the market for over a 12 months now, and I’m slowly however absolutely seeing extra of them within the wild close to my residence within the mountains simply north of Lake Tahoe, CA. Having personally used or examined almost each mid to high-end bike rack available on the market through the years, I used to be desirous to check out the Recon to see the way it compares to related choices and if it lives as much as 1Up’s fame for making a number of the finest and most sturdy racks within the enterprise.

I’ve been utilizing a 1Up Recon 5 for the previous six months for prolonged highway journeys, weekend campouts, shuttle runs, and day by day journeys to and from the trailhead. I’m nicely previous first impressions and I really feel I’ve bought sufficient expertise with the Recon to say that it’s probably the most sturdy and finest vertical carry hitch rack that I’ve ever used to date.

Getting began

1Up USA solely sells their racks direct to the buyer, so that you’ll want to leap on their web site to order one. The primary determination you’ll have to make is whether or not to get the Recon 5 or Recon 6, which carry 5 or 6 bikes and value $1,200 or $1,400, respectively. Whereas ordering, you’re additionally given the choice to decide on between customary, fats bike, and youngsters wheel baskets, so you possibly can combine and match to get the setup you need. The hampers are additionally bought individually for $149 ought to your wants change. A handful of equipment are additionally obtainable, however extra on that later.

The assembled weight of the Recon 5 is a whopping 92 lbs (add about 10 for the Recon 6), so the shipped weight is correct round 100 lbs. Luckily, it is available in two containers, and floor delivery is included within the buy value. Unboxing the Recon reveals a comparatively concerned meeting course of, because it comes fully disassembled, even the wheel baskets are in two items. Sadly, I uncared for to take any footage at this stage, however you’re primarily bolting your entire factor collectively from the hitch bar up.

1Up consists of detailed printed directions, which may also be discovered on their web site, that undergo the method step-by-step. It isn’t essentially troublesome, but it surely does take a little bit of time to get the entire thing collectively. By following the instructions rigorously, nevertheless, it goes easily and ensures you don’t mess up and should do something over once more. I gained’t bore you with the main points however simply know that you just’ll need to put aside a few hours for those who’re placing certainly one of these collectively your self. The excellent news is that the entire holes line up completely and a socket wrench will assist make fast(er) work of all of the bolts that must be tightened, there’s fairly a couple of. Of be aware: there are three holes within the backside of the wheel baskets, two of that are on the identical facet and assist you to mount the hampers straight or at a slight angle. I selected the slight angle for no matter motive, and I’m sticking with it.

As soon as the rack is collectively, you’ve got the choice to make some changes to dial it in for each car and floor clearance. The vertical mast of the rack could be moved up or down so as to add or lower floor clearance to fit your particular car or keep a departure angle for off-road use. The hitch bar additionally has a number of holes drilled in it so you possibly can alter the place of the rack in relation to the again of the car if wanted. I used the Recon on my ’09 Toyota Tacoma that had both a camper shell or my Six-Pac cab over camper on the again (I had simply taken the camper off earlier than these images), and I discovered the middle-height place and the farthest out hitch place labored finest for my wants.

Set up

One of many major challenges with the 1Up Recon, and all racks of this type, is that it may be a bear to put in and take away. At 92 lbs, simply choosing it up is not any easy activity, and once you think about its unwieldy form, it’s fairly awkward to hold from wherever you’re storing it to your car. This isn’t the kind of rack you need to placed on and take off frequently, as a substitute, we’d suggest leaving it on for prolonged intervals at any time when potential.

When you slide the hitch bar into the receiver and line up the holes, a beefy threaded hitch pin must be cranked down tight. In the course of the meeting, an anti-wobble insert was positioned contained in the hitch bar, and the hitch pin threads via it to drag the hitch bar tight towards the facet of the receiver to take away side-to-side wobble. Whereas this truthfully works pretty nicely, we discovered that an inexpensive U-bolt type anti-wobble hitch cam that I already had (like this one on Amazon for $10) was a pleasant addition to fully cease it from wobbling, each facet to facet and up and down. 

To assist preserve your costly rack safe, the Recon additionally comes with a hitch pin lock. The lock pod is made from steel and has a rubber mud cowl to maintain highway particles and moisture from jamming up the works. Not like most hitch pin locks, this one threads onto the tip of the hitch pin as you flip the important thing, and it has a really sturdy and safe really feel.

Loading

Loading bikes onto the Recon is kind of easy with massive, open-wheel baskets that cradle the entrance wheel and solely make contact with the tire. In fact, it’s worthwhile to raise the entrance finish of the bike excessive sufficient to get the entrance wheel into the basket, however they simply slot proper in there, and in contrast to related racks that maintain bikes by the fork crown, there’s no lining up the crown into slender slots, and the basket design accommodates bikes with inflexible forks (gravel, highway, and so on.) with out the necessity for adaptors. 

Like different vertical racks, there’s a really brief studying curve to loading them for those who’ve by no means accomplished it earlier than but it surely rapidly turns into second nature. It helps to have one hand on the fork and the opposite on the seat tube as you raise the entrance finish and place the entrance wheel within the basket. It additionally helps to load the bikes from left to proper (and unload proper to left) to keep away from handlebar interference in the course of the loading and unloading course of. Relying on the variety of bikes you’re carrying, you’ll additionally want to contemplate their place on the rack. If, for instance, you’re solely carrying two bikes, it’s finest to place them within the cradles closest to the vertical mast.

The place the Recon differs from most different vertical racks available on the market is the rear wheel attachment system. Most different manufacturers have a bungee, rubber strap, or brief size of rope that holds the rear wheel tight towards the decrease crossbar, however the Recon makes use of a webbing cam strap that captures each the wheel and the pedal. The strap loops over the drive facet pedal (it additionally works simply nice on the non-drive facet in our expertise) and all the way down to the rear wheel “cradle” the place it passes over the rear rim to connection factors on each side earlier than cinching it tight. After some preliminary skepticism, I grew to understand this method, but it surely has advantages and disadvantages, which I’ll clarify.

The first advantage of the Recon’s distinctive rear wheel attachment is the spectacular safety and stability of the bikes in transit. It holds the rear wheel firmly towards the rear wheel cradle whereas concurrently retaining downward pressure on the bikes. This primarily eliminates the potential of the bikes getting bounced off the rack for those who hit a velocity bump going too quick otherwise you’re clambering up some tough dust highway. It additionally ensures that your cranks and pedals don’t transfer and intervene with one another, or worse, scratch up your buddy’s body. Cam straps like these are additionally straightforward to seek out at {hardware} or sporting items shops, so that they’re simply changed in the event that they put on out otherwise you occur to lose one.

Now for the drawbacks. Looping the strap across the pedal and rear wheel cradle takes somewhat extra time than merely stretching a bungee over the wheel. Realistically, it’s just a few additional seconds when you get your system down, but it surely isn’t almost as fast and simple. There’s a “proper means” to do it that 1Up particulars on this brief educational video, but it surely nonetheless takes somewhat getting used to earlier than you’ve bought it completely dialed. Plus, your pals will likely be tremendous confused once they attempt to do it the primary few occasions. The opposite, and maybe extra evident, downside to this method is that the straps aren’t hooked up to the rack in any means and there’s no apparent option to retailer them on the rack itself. This implies you’ve bought 5 or 6 straps to stash someplace in your car, preserve observe of, and fish out each time you utilize the rack.

On the Highway

In use, the 1Up Recon 5 is impressively steady and conjures up confidence in its means to carry the bikes securely regardless of the place you determine to go. It’s a vertical rack, in fact, so there’s a tiny little bit of side-to-side motion seen however lower than I’m used to seeing with different fashions. Moreover, the bikes are held onto the rack higher because the rear wheel strap system actually locks them down. The bikes themselves hardly transfer facet to facet they usually don’t bounce vertically in anyway. 

The 1Up Recon racks are rated for off-road use, and whereas I haven’t accomplished any correct rock crawling with mine, I’ve taken it down some dust and gravel roads starting from washboard to reasonably tough. It has dealt with that very nicely, and, once more, the rack and the bikes seem like extra steady than different vertical racks I’ve used. As talked about beforehand, the vertical mast could be adjusted for extra clearance must you want it, though this does require instruments and somewhat little bit of time. And for those who’re driving off-road with any regularity, you’ll most likely need to examine your bolts somewhat extra incessantly.

Safety

Aside from the locking hitch pin, the Recon racks don’t include some other locks. There’s a massive metal lock loop welded to the vertical mast the place you possibly can connect some other aftermarket lock you want. 1Up sells a Recon-specific cable lock ($52) that integrates comparatively properly with the rack. If you are going to buy the cable lock along with your rack, then the hitch pin and the cable lock pods will come keyed alike, which is good.

The lock is a nine-foot-long, 12mm diameter (together with the coating) cable with a stopper on one finish and the lock pod on the opposite, and it feeds via holes on each ends of the higher crossbar. Slide the cable during certainly one of these holes, move it via the bike frames, and slide the lock pod finish (with the lock pod off, clearly) via the opening on the opposite finish. Connect the lock pod, a steel thread-on lock the identical because the hitch pin, to the tip of the cable and also you’re accomplished. In fact, no lock is infallible, however this thick cable will do wonders to discourage opportunistic thieves from a straightforward grab-and-run. I discovered one of the best ways to retailer the lock when not in use was to simply go away it locked on the rack. By passing it via the lock loop, it stays out of the best way even when it doesn’t have the cleanest look.

Tilt

1Up stored the Clean Pivot Operation of the unique Recon racks and the outsized pivot level that kinds the junction between the hitch bar and the vertical mast. And, given the 6mm thick metal plates on both facet of this pivot, it’s tremendous sturdy and one of many causes this rack is so steady. Pulling up on the small black knob on the prime of the pivot releases a thick steel bar from the metal facet plates and permits the rack to tilt away from the car at roughly a 40-degree angle. This permits entry to the rear of the car whether or not it’s worthwhile to open your tailgate or trunk, or in my case, open the rear door on my previous camper. 

The pivoting motion of the Clean Pivot is, in truth, very clean. You may tilt it down with bikes on the rack, simply be able to assist the load once you achieve this, and make certain you’ve got enough clearance for the rear tires. I personally solely used this characteristic with none bikes loaded because the lengthy enduro bike I’ve been using most incessantly would make contact with the bottom when tilted. Regardless, the lean characteristic works fairly nicely and supplies loads of area for rifling round in your trunk whereas searching for the gloves you unintentionally left at residence.

Versatility

The design of the Recon racks, and the wheel baskets specifically, make it very versatile by way of bike match. The usual baskets match wheel sizes between 24 and 29 inches and tires as much as 3 inches extensive. This implies you possibly can carry not simply mountain bikes, however gravel or highway bikes too, one thing the fork-hold fashions can’t usually do. As talked about beforehand, you even have the choice to combine and match between customary (tires as much as 5.1 inches extensive) and Youngsters (wheel sizes 20 to 24 inches as much as 3 inches extensive) baskets when trying out, or you should purchase them individually in case your carrying wants change seasonally or over time. 

The Recon Racks have a forty five lbs per bike weight restrict and a complete weight capability of 225 or 270 lbs for the Recon 5 and Recon 6, respectively. That’s simply sufficient to deal with nearly all non-electric bikes and light-weight eMTBs, though most full-power eMTBs will likely be barely over that restrict. That stated, it definitely feels greater than able to dealing with heavier bikes, although we’d suggest staying inside its claimed limits. 

Given the load of the rack itself and the leverage exerted on the hitch bar, the Recon racks solely come within the 2-inch receiver measurement.

Storage

A problem that plagues most hitch bike racks however particularly vertical carry fashions is their measurement and storability. Off the car, the Recon 5 is 62 inches tall, 58 inches extensive, and 34 inches deep. It doesn’t rise up by itself and it takes up lots of area wherever you select to retailer it. A wall-mounted rack dock or one thing like 1Up’s Rack Stand is fairly essential to maintain the Recon out of the best way and your space for storing tidy. 

I had the prospect to make use of the 1Up Rack Stand ($310) which supplies a steady base to carry the rack upright, whereas additionally serving as a system to roll the rack throughout clean surfaces to get it nearer to the car or reposition it in your storage. Though 1Up doesn’t particularly say it may do it, I discovered you can too use the rack within the Rack Stand to carry a motorbike or two, possibly three relying on their weight, however I discovered it might get somewhat tippy with three 30+ lb mountain bikes loaded. Both means, it’s an superior accent to have, albeit somewhat costly.

Equipment

I discussed a number of of the equipment obtainable for the Recon racks already, however right here’s somewhat recap, plus a couple of extra. The entire wheel baskets, customary, fats bike, and youngsters, could be bought individually for $149. The nine-foot-long Recon cable lock sells for $52 and integrates comparatively nicely with the rack. The Rack Stand will set you again $310, but it surely’s an effective way to retailer the rack when not in use and it makes transferring the rack round a heck of quite a bit simpler. In addition they promote a Bottle Holder for $22 that mounts to the again of the decrease crossbar and has a bottle opener for these post-ride drinks. 

1Up additionally says that the Recon racks can be utilized with their hitch extenders, hitch bar cease, and the RakAttach swing-away attachment.

Sturdiness

1Up bike racks are famend for his or her sturdiness and that continues with the Recon racks. The complete factor is constructed from metal and it feels completely bomb-proof. The metal facet plates on the pivot junction are 6mm thick and held along with beefy {hardware}. Even the wheel baskets are reduce from 3mm thick metal plates. The entire steel can also be coated with a sturdy, black powder-coat end to guard it from corrosion and the {hardware} is all customary sizes that needs to be straightforward to seek out at your native {hardware} must you ever want to interchange it. 

Should you’re driving off-road frequently, you may be subjecting the rack to further stress, however given the supplies utilized in its building, I don’t see it being an issue in any respect. With the extra bouncing and jostling of tough roads, nevertheless, you’ll need to examine the bolts somewhat extra usually to ensure every part stays good and tight.

Worth

There’s no wanting previous the value of the 1Up Recon racks. At $1,200 for the Recon 5 and $1,400 for the Recon 6 (costs embody floor delivery), there’s no denying that they’re fairly costly. However when you think about the value of tray racks plus the add-ons wanted to hold 4 bikes, it begins to look extra affordable. Take, for instance, the Thule T2 Professional XTR ($800) and the 2-bike add-on ($550), and also you’re taking a look at $1,350 and also you’re maxed out at 4 bikes. The costs of different tray rack fashions that may use add-ons are fairly just like the Thule, apart from the Kuat Piston Professional X which is considerably costlier.

Maybe a greater value comparability is towards the VelociRAX vertical hitch racks. The VelociRAX are available 3, 4, 5, 6, and seven bike variations, with retail costs ranging between $799 and $985. Wanting on the 5-bike model particularly, it goes for $885, and customary delivery is one other $120, give or take, bringing the value earlier than tax as much as simply over $1,000. So, you possibly can positively save somewhat cash by going with the VelociRAX, the hydraulic tilt help operate is a fairly cool characteristic, and the 55 lbs per bike weight restrict can deal with full-power e-bikes. I personally don’t personal any electrical bikes, don’t notably look after the pink shade, and the dearth of mast peak adjustability could also be a limiting issue for some individuals. Regardless, the VelociRAX work very nicely, are tremendous versatile, and are arguably the most effective worth for this type of rack.

Last Ideas

The Recon Racks carry 1Up’s legendary sturdiness to the vertical carry design. With a sturdy metal building and front-wheel baskets with a flexible bike match, you possibly can load up the entire household’s bikes for weekend getaways or rally the crew up janky dust roads for shuttle laps. Assuming you don’t want to move full-power electrical bikes, the Recon is tremendous steady, holds bikes very securely, and the off-road ranking means you possibly can take it on any journey you select. Sure, it’s costly, however the Recon’s sturdy building and lifelong guarantee make it a stable funding that’ll be paying dividends for years to return.

The Recon Racks include 1Up’s 100% lifetime guarantee safety.

1Up Recon Rack Specs

• Suits 2” receiver
• Black powder coat end
• Normal Wheel Baskets maintain 24”-29” wheels, as much as 3” extensive tires
• Fats Bike Wheel Baskets maintain 24”-29” wheels, as much as 5.1” extensive tires
• Youngsters Bike Wheel Baskets maintain 20”-24” wheels, as much as 3” extensive tires
• Recon 5 carrying capability of 225 lbs (45 lbs per bike spot)
• Recon 6 carrying Capability of 270 lbs (45 lbs per bike spot)
• Highway ranking: Pavement, Gravel, and Off-road
• Car ranking: Passenger Car
• Wheel Basket Design holds tires safely and securely with no bike body contact
• Appropriate with suspension and inflexible forks
• Built-in adjustability for straightforward attain and floor clearance tuning
• Clean Pivot Operation for straightforward entry to rear of auto
• RakAttach, Hitch Extenders and Hitch Bar Stops are acceptable
• Transport Dimensions: Tubing Field 64″ x 13″ x 4.5″ / Basket and Pivot Field 30.5″ x 18″ x 8″
• Recon 5 Transport Weight: Tubing Field 39 lbs / Basket and Pivot Field: 55 lbs
• Recon 6 Transport Weight: Tubing Field 43 lbs / Basket and Pivot Field: 61 lbs

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