We spotted a bare bones prototype of the new Seasucker Komodo rack at Interbike last year, and now it’s almost ready to ship.
It’s aimed at high end market for people that aren’t going to put a hitch or strap rack on their car and don’t want to rear tire sitting on the body of the car like with Seasuckers other models. And, let’s face it, if you’re driving a sports car, there’s not a lot of room inside, so it’s super small…folding down to half this size when not in use.
Yes, this is the expensive one…
Retail is $1,000. Seasucker’s Gregg Casagrande told us the price is high because they need to machine a lot of new parts for this model compared to their other racks. Depending on the type of car it’s going on, the small footprint means it, and your bike, may never touch the paint anywhere on the vehicle.
Before the comments blow up with “I’d never trust my bike to a couple of suction cups”, it’s fairly safe to assume this tech works since they’re still in business after quite a few years and the product is used in the professional peloton. Each suction cup holds about 210lbs, and there’s at least three of them per rack, sometimes more.
Oh, and this isn’t even the smallest one they make.
YAKIMA
Yakima showed off their Four Timer at Interbike, too, but it’s shipping now, so we took a closer look.
In the world of tray style, hitch-mount bike racks, $400 to $500 is the entry level point for most TWO bike carriers, with additional 2-bike extensions typically running $300 to $400 more. This one gets you four bike capacity for $499, and it easily converts down to two bikes (also sold as a Two Timer if you’ll only ever need two bikes or only have a 1-1/4″ hitch).
The tradeoff is this one does touch your frame, using a shared pole with dual sliding hooks to pull down on the top tube and trap the bike inside the rack. The hooks can be slid off the top and positions swapped (lower one on inside or outside) to help you nestle your bikes together.
The wheel trays also easily slide left to right to fit different size bikes and slide them side to side to help handlebars and saddles sharing the space. The included trays are sized to fit anything from road bike to fat bike tires.
The Yakima Four Timer becomes a Two Timer by removing a single bolt and sliding the two-bike extension off.
