1UP Super Duty Rack & RakAttach
Test Locations: Colorado, New Mexico
Test Duration: 4 Months
Mounted to: 2018 Ford F-150
Blister’s Measured Weight:
- Super Duty Rack: 63.9 Ibs / 28.9 kg
- RackAttach: 55.4 lbs / 25.1 kg
MSRP:
- Super Duty single rack: $600 (silver), $650 (black)
- Super Duty double rack: $900 (silver), $950 (black)
- RackAttach: $589
Intro
Many consider 1UP USA to be the brand that ignited the premium hitch rack category, and I don’t disagree. Their first all-aluminum racks featured an innovative dual-arm design and were a game changer in a sea of faded plastic and rusty steel competition. Sure, other brands had decent designs back then too, and I had most of them at one time or another, but none of them are still in use today — they simply weren’t built to last.
By contrast, it’s crazy how many old 1UP racks you see at trailheads. They may look a little tarnished, but they’re never rusty and still ferrying precious bike cargo. To be fair, those early 1UP racks weren’t without their issues, but the all-metal construction and good replacement parts availability have helped keep them going.
Today, the premium hitch rack category that 1UP USA helped establish is a very competitive space, and many brands have ditched plastic in favor of some all-metal (or close to it) racks in their catalogs. 1UP USA racks may look pretty much the same as they did when they first hit the market, but quite a bit has changed to keep pace with the competition.
We’ve been hauling lots of bikes on the Super Duty rack, and we’ve coupled it to the 1UP USA RakAttach swing-away hitch mount for added versatility, so let’s dig into the details of this burly combo.
Design, Features & Impressions
Super Duty Rack
The Super Duty (SD) hitch rack is, unsurprisingly, beefier than the 1UP USA Heavy Duty rack (as well as their Quik and Equip’d racks that fall below the Heavy Duty in weight capacity), and is designed to carry more weight while also being rated for extreme off-road and RV / travel trailer use.
If you’ve ever wondered why there is an RV / travel trailer rating, just take a look at the back of a travel trailer wildly snaking back and forth next time you’re following one on the highway, which puts a ton of stress on the rack and is why the majority of hitch racks are not rated for RV / travel trailer use. Off-roading also puts a lot of extra stress on the rack, and given the popularity of off-roading / overlanding, it’s nice to see the SD get rated for that too. Both the off-road and RV / travel trailer ratings are restricted to carrying two bikes.
I didn’t test the SD on the back of our camper, partly because the camper has a 1 1/4” receiver hitch instead of the necessary 2” receiver, but mostly because I can’t fathom putting bikes completely out of sight while driving. I did, however, do some light off-roading with a couple of eMTBs on the SD, and while it’s kind of hard to tell how well it’s doing because there is a good bit of bike movement going on, I think the main takeaway is that neither the rack nor the bikes suffered any damage.
1UP USA recommends using their accessory wheel chock when venturing off-road. It mounts to the tray and secures the back of the front wheel. It’s easy to take on and off, so I experimented with it back-to-back on some rough sections, and it makes a noticeable difference in how much the bike moves.
The SD has a weight capacity of up to 100 lbs per tray, but it varies depending on where the tray is on the rack and how many trays you have (the SD Single rack is expandable up to three bikes, and the SD Double can handle up to four). Below is 1UP USA’s chart that does a nice job explaining the weight and off-road rating for all their racks.
1UP USA was the first to bring a dual-arm style rack to market, and the SD has a refined version of the original design (although it looks mostly the same). The most significant improvement is the new ratchet system that allows one-handed operation of the arms. The old system required you to keep the ratchet release button pressed while articulating the arm, which was annoyingly clunky, and probably drew the most criticism for the 1UP dual arm design. The new ratchet mechanism pivots up slightly and locks in place in the open position, making pivoting the arms up a one-handed process that is much more intuitive, and also just makes the SD a lot more enjoyable to use in general. Overall, the arm mechanism is lovely to use, and the positive engagement from the metal teeth on the glide arm to the metal ratchet mechanism is a satisfying experience.
One of the key benefits of the dual arm design is that there’s no frame, fork, or wheel contact. And, since the actual wheel locations aren’t fixed, bikes can be offset side-to-side to avoid bike-on-bike contact. Additionally, the SD trays are tiered, with the rearmost tray sitting higher than the tray closest to the vehicle, which creates even more separation between bikes.
1UP says the SD is compatible with 16’’ to 29’’ wheels with up to 5.0’’ wide tires. To get that range of adjustment, the wheel arms have a series of holes for different wheel sizes. To adjust for a different size, you remove the hourglass-shaped wheel chock and reposition it in holes that align with the new size. However, since the holes aren’t marked for a respective wheel size, there is a bit of trial and error involved, plus it does require tools to make the change. The Kuat Piston Pro, for comparison, has a tool-free FastFit Wheel Chock System with arms that are marked for different wheel sizes, and the process is much easier than the SD rack.
1UP USA offers wheel locks that go into the unused wheel chock holes, which I think offer a low level of security, but they’re definitely better than nothing. In general, I think most of the built-in locking systems that are available for many of the racks currently on the market are a deterrent at best. I wouldn’t leave bikes out of sight with anything short of an electric barbed wire fence around them these days, so I’m not sure it really matters anyway.
The SD pivots up to 90º when not in use, and can also pivot down from level, which is pretty common for most hitch mount racks. The SD’s pivot mechanism is a bit awkward, though, and sometimes requires two hands to get it to disengage, which means you’re likely using another part of your body to stabilize the rack while trying to pull the release bar. I’ve gotten used to it now, and it’s easier, but it’s still not great. Other rack brands, like Kuat with the Piston Pro, do a better job with their pivot mechanisms.
Thanks to a lot of time spent working in bike shops, I’ve built plenty of racks over the years, and I have to say the SD is one of the easiest to build and goes together quickly and intuitively. When mounting into the receiver hitch, the SD’s anti-wobble corner expanding ball does a nice job of eliminating slop, but it required a significant amount of bolt torque to get it to a point I was happy with. Additionally, the hitch bar has a machined slot that allows for 3 inches of fore/aft movement to accommodate different vehicle clearance requirements.
I’ve had the rack (in the black color) out in the high-altitude sun for four months, and so far it hasn’t shown any signs of fading; overall, it still looks pretty much brand new. Should anything fail during regular use, the SD is covered by 1UP USA’s Lifetime warranty.
RakAttach Swing-out Hitch Mount
The 1UP USA RakAttach swing-out hitch mount, like the SD rack, is a burly bit of kit. It has a weight capacity of 275 lbs, which, even when you subtract the weight of the SD rack, still leaves you over 200 lbs of bike capacity to work with. The RakAttach features a quick-release clasp and magnetic pin system that makes opening and closing it fast and easy. The clasp is adjustable to allow for wear of the components, but so far, it has been set and forget. The RakAttach can be mounted so the swing-out either opens to the driver’s or passenger side – just pull it out and flip it 180º should you want to change directions.
Mounted to my full-size truck, the RakAttach pivots out 100º, and there’s enough length to allow the SD rack to clear the back of the truck with two bikes on it. The RakAttach also adds to the amount of distance between the rack and the vehicle, which, for my setup, is a good thing. The extra distance means I can open the tailgate with bikes on the rack (without using the swingout), which is super handy. It also means there is enough room for bikes to be on a tailgate pad without interfering with bikes on the rack. Which is huge, because now I can theoretically carry eight bikes. If I add two more SD trays, that number goes up to ten — six on the tailgate pad, and four on the SD rack. The versatility to carry that many bikes is an unexpected bonus, and makes for an ideal shuttle setup; it’s just a wee bit tight in the cab.
I think a swing-out hitch mount for your bike rack is something you might not know you need til you try one, but once you do, it’s hard to go back. The RakAttach is a well-designed and seemingly overbuilt option that is easy to use and does its job exceedingly well. We have a swing-out round-up in the works, so stay tuned to see how it compares to some other popular swing-out hitch mounts.
The RakAttach is also designed to integrate with 1UP USA’s Accessory Panel System (APS), which uses molle boards to provide gear carrying capacity for things like jerry cans and hi-lift jacks, etc. 1UP USA is currently working on a revision to the APS system, which will allow the tail gate on full-sized trucks to open when the APS system is installed.
Bottom Line
The 1UP USA Super Duty rack is a burly take on the dual-arm tray-style rack category. It can carry heavy eMTBs, as well as being rated for extreme off-road use (and RV / travel trailer use), which isn’t very common. If taking your bikes on overlanding trips is in the cards, the SD is a compelling option — but since the SD is built so tough, that alone makes it worthy of consideration even if your rig doesn’t have a snorkel.
The RakAttach adds a ton of versatility to the SD rack, and besides adding another 50-plus lbs to the back of your vehicle, I can’t think of any other drawbacks for my setup (mounted to a full-size truck). However, if installing on a smaller vehicle, I think the added length is something to keep in mind since it likely will be more noticeable. The RakAtttach is built like a tank, and I can’t detect any additional movement from the rack, even when standing on it. Unless you’re towing something, it pretty much allows you to leave your rack installed all the time. The unimpeded access to the back of the vehicle is something I don’t think I can live without, and if you have a truck, you can swing your rack out of the way to sit on your tailgate for the all-important post-ride beers.