Recreational & Family - Hitch Rack for Electra Townie Commuters

Hello,

I'm hoping someone can help me with the purchase of a hitch type bike rack for our two Townie Commuters. As you know Townies are a bit longer wheel base, Commuters have fenders on both wheels and the flat foot design results in sloping frames.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

For a hitch rack, a platform type is likely your best option for the Townies.

I saw a man loading his four bikes on to a Thule at LBS a few weeks ago and was impressed by the ease of the load and secure for his variety of bikes, including wife's Townie. http://www.thuleracks.com/product.asp?dept_id=8&sku=990

He added an extension for bikes three and four. If only two required, then the setup is comparable in price to other like designs.

I have a Thule 914, because of the design allowing the single unit to fit either a 2" or 1-1/4" receiver. And it is worth considering for this newer platform style rack.

I am certain there other makes available, all the best.

I'm not sure you need a special rack for the Townie. I just use my Allen 4 bike and Saris Bones as I would with any other bike and strap te bike in on the top bar. Sure it makes the rear sit higher but its stable.

Thanks to all - I'm still trying out various model (Thule, Xport, Yakima,etc) but haven't select one yet. Let you know what works for us.

You can buy custom racks for the townie's direct from Electra. My wife has one on her 700c Townie, but we haven't used it enough to give a real opinion. Seems solid enough.

I just purchased a sportrack hitch rack from etrailer for my two townies. I will let you know how it works. It should arrive on Monday.

I just used the Sportrack to transport my wife's Townie 21 and a men's Townie 21 up to Tahoe on Saturday. It worked flawlessly. The bikes do not touch each other and they are held securely in place. I highly recommend this rack to townie owners. This is my first bike rack ever, so I was a little nervous, but it worked like a charm.

I have delivered townies and other bikes with a long wheelbase. I use the Saris Cycle-On ( http://www.saris.com/p-303-cycleon.aspx ) and have no problems at all. It is a bit pricey but is also very secure & stout.

My wife and I both have Townie 21s -- I have the "normal" one, and she the female model. The female model has a slightly shorter wheelbase.

They have been something of a pain to transport due to the frame geometry, as I have a cheap old trunk rack.

However, I have been able to use the Saris Bike Beam (http://www.saris.com/p-170-bike-beam.aspx) to transport them sucessfully.

It requires using the beam in a slightly unorthodox way. I put it on normally, but when i load the bike, I put one of the rack arms under the Bike Beam, and the other under the bike's frames - which results in the bike being fairly level on the rack.