Sportworks TranSport Series Bike Rack
Review & Photos: Dave Tolnai

I hate roof racks. After years and years of lugging crap around on my roof, I bought a new car and I thought that it was time for a change. Swagman style racks are stupid. Slapping a $50 Canadian Tire special onto my trunk didn't seem right. So, I decided to check out the Sportworks system. This is what I found:

Assembly/Installation
If you can't figure out how to put this thing together out of the box, you shouldn't be riding a bike. Your time would be better spent learning to do things like read or make toast. Simple, simple stuff.

The tricky part comes once you want to attach this sucker onto the back of your car. The actual installation of this rack isn't all that difficult. You simply slide the rack into your trailer hitch receiver (hopefully you thought about installing one of these before you bought this rack) and bolt it into place. However, the sheer mass and awkward shape of this thing makes moving it anywhere a chore. My neighbors must hold parties and laugh at me once they sense I am getting ready to go for a bike ride. "Look at that Jackass struggling with that stupid bike rack again! It looks like his eyes are going to pop out of his head and his pants are going to fall down!" I'd make fun of somebody if I saw them going to that much effort to haul their bike around.

It wasn't supposed to be that difficult. My plan when I purchased this rack was to store it in my trunk when I wasn't using it. The first time I was installing it, I tried to put it in my trunk and I was maybe able to get it half way in. It's really big. Really, really big. "Why don't you leave it on the back of your car?" you say. The whole point of going away from roof racks was so that I wouldn't have 3000 pounds of hardware following me wherever I went. Call me stubborn, but that sucker is coming off when I'm not hauling a bike. It does fold up flush with the back of your car when you're not using it, but people might start asking you why you've installed a rack for your Grandma's motorized scooter.

Please Sportworks. Make the thing smaller. Make it lighter. Make it fold-up. Make it so that it either fits in my trunk or so that it's not incredibly heavy and awkward to carry. And come up with a quick-release system that locks.

Hauling a Bike
Once you have this rack on the back of your car, you couldn't ask for a finer way to haul a bicycle. It takes about 10 seconds to load a bike. Flip the arm out of the way and jam the ratchety gizmo to the top. Place your front wheel in the hoop and your back wheel in the tray. Rotate the arm over your tire. Jam the ratchety gizmo down. Rotate the lock-ring over your back tire and you're good to go. Very easy.

And I think hauling bikes on the back of the car is a very good idea. No wrestling your 60 pound "freeride" bike onto the roof. No McDonald's Drive Thru fiascos. No car blown sideways off the road at the slightest cross wind. Just pure, off-the-back hauling enjoyment.

Another beautiful thing about this rack is that it will haul just about any bike. You might be in a bit of trouble if you're running super wide tires, but I've had no problem with 2.7's. The "Mad Phat" hoops will fit tires up to 3-inches wide, and that's probably an accessory that anybody reading this site will want to purchase. The lock-ring that holds the back tire on definitely isn't designed for large tires and you may struggle with this a bit. Sport Works should design a ring to compliment the "Mad Phat" hoops.

One negative about the system that I have is that it is only rated for 40 pounds per bike. They do have a burlier rack designed for bigger bikes that is rated for 50 pounds per bike, but it is only available for 2" receivers (larger cars, trucks, SUV's etc.).

Price
Yikes. Last time I checked, this sucker was about $550 Canadian. I'm not sure if that includes any of the necessary accessories (Mad Phat hoops, locking bolt, etc.). This is pretty steep. About on par with what you would pay for a decent two-bike roof rack set-up, but still a pretty significant chunk of cash. Don't forget to factor in the cost of a trailer hitch receiver.

Lasting Impressions
If you're going to buy this rack, you really need to think about it. If you are planning on taking it on and off your car a lot, and if you have a long way to haul it when you do so, you should consult a psychiatrist and try to figure out why you would subject yourself to so much physical and mental trauma. Do you like to put out cigarettes on your arm and hide pieces of glass in your food?



I really want to like this rack, but after living with it for a while, I'm finding that it is causing me serious amounts of strife in my already complicated life. I'm finding that this rack actually causes me to not want to ride my bike because I can't bear the thought of lugging it out of my storage locker and attaching it to my car. If you have an easy way to store it when you're not using it or don't mind having it permanently attached to the back of your car, it could be perfect for you. If not, I'd think about some other options.

Pros: Cons:
- Easy to use (once it's on your car)
- Holds a bike really solidly
- All the joy of a rear mount bike rack

- You #$%&in' cumbersome piece of $*@!
- The price
- Did I mention that it was large and heavy?


For more information about Sportworks Rack Systems you can visit their website at: www.bicycleracks.com

Dave Tolnai

Author's Note: One of the reasons I wanted to get away from roof racks is that they're always with you. Eventually they're going to rust up the roof of your car (how often do you get to clean under those little feet?) and it looks a little too MEC-Army for my tastes. As well, I figure all that stuff on top of your car must really hurt your gas mileage. However, nobody seems to have any idea what effect this stuff really does have on your mileage. Here is my challenge to one of you jackasses out there that has made the mistake of pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I know your final year is full of useless, make work projects. You're probably trying to scope something out right now that will give you something interesting to talk about during a job interview so that you don't sound like the completely inexperienced idiot that you are. Well, do I have a project for you! Get a bunch of models of cars : cars, SUV's, pickup trucks, etc. Make some little bike models and a mock-up of a roof rack, trunk rack, etc. Book some wind tunnel time and do a study of what hauling your bike around does to your gas mileage. With bikes, without bikes. With fairing, without fairings. You might as well sign yourself up for an "A+" right now.