Pendle Bike Racks W2 two bike rack

Pendle Bike Racks' W2 is a wheel-supporting, towbar-mounted bike rack, and with its big 70kg weight limit it's capable of carrying two heavy bikes. It's strong, made almost entirely from steel, and adjustable enough to fit a wide range of bike types. It isn't the simplest to fit, but once on it creates a very stable platform for transporting bikes.

The key part to the rack is the Universal Mounting Block, which attaches to the towball. It's identical across different models, including the Hang On rack I tested earlier in the year.

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For towbars with a twin-bolt flange fixing, the mounting block can be left in place behind the towball, which will speed up the fitting of the rack each time. If, however, your vehicle has a swan neck towball, as mine does, and you want access to it when not using the rack, the mounting block needs to be removed and refitted each time. This takes a few minutes, and you'll need an 8mm hex key and 17mm spanner.

The mounting block is available to buy separately, which would speed up fitting if you wanted to use the rack on multiple vehicles. If you need to carry more bikes, a four-bike W4 version is also available for £489.99.

The rack itself is a modular design and needs assembling before first installation. This took me about an hour, and is a bit fiddly in places.

Note: as with the Hang On rack, a couple of spanners are provided with the rack but they're for use on the security plate and aluminium fixing caps, not for assembling the rack; they aren't suitable for this, which isn't clear in the installation guide.

After fitting the mounting block, the rack slots into the upright holes, with a security plate to ensure it doesn't move; this is secured in place with one of the two spanners provided.

The rack also comes with a full lighting unit, with a seven-pin electrical connection. Unlike the Hang-On rack, this is bolted into place, and with a coiled cable makes for a very simple and neat connection.

In use

Once attached, the rack is very versatile in how and what bikes can be fitted. It's fully adjustable in terms of the position of each wheel support and the distance from the front and back of the rack, so even if you have a mountain bike with a very wide bar, the rack should be able to accommodate it.

The standard wheel support sections are also generous in size, accommodating up to 3in tyres. I tested it with up to 2.3in tyres and there was plenty of space remaining.

Should you need more options, Pendle also makes an add-on for smaller children's bikes and for up to 5in tyres, suitable for fat bikes (£19.99 per wheel support).

Straps hold the wheels in place perfectly; my only concern would be if you have a more modern wide and deep carbon wheel, as this might make contact with the metal part supporting the wheel. A simple solution would be to secure some foam pipe insulation cover around it.

I've needed to do some adapting and tinkering on every towbar rack I've owned, adding extra protection to certain areas of the bike and adjusting straps in places. While this was minimal for the W2, I would still add some foam protection around key tubes to reduce rubbing and potential knocks.

With the wheels in place, the bike frame is attached to the upright support. This is kinked to clear the chainset, and can be rotated from vertical to flat, allowing a little tweaking when fitting bikes and meaning it can be folded down when not needed. I found it particularly useful when securing a full-suspension bike because of the location of suspension linkages.

The rack itself has a weight capacity of 70kg, which is very generous, and higher than all other towbar racks I am aware of. The total weight you can carry will also depend on the nose weight (sometimes called maximum vertical load) of your vehicle/towbar, and this could be less than 70kg, so it is essential to check.

If your vehicle/towbar has a high enough nose weight, the maximum load of the W2 would allow you to carry almost any combination of bikes, including e-bikes which are often 25kg or more and potentially max out other brands of towbar rack.

Room for improvement?

A few areas where I think the rack is lacking include not having the ability to tilt it to allow access to the vehicle boot area, and no way of locking the mounting block to the towbar, although given the tools required it wouldn't be quick to remove. There's also no lock for securing bikes to the rack.

Value and conclusion

The W2 retails for £349.99, which is very competitive compared with other wheel-support racks. At the high end of the market, the Thule Easyfold XT2 can be folded up for easier storage, has a tilt function, and has locks to hold the bikes in place, but it's £675. And while the maximum load of 60kg is higher than many others, it's still below the W2.

Thule also produces the VeloCompact 2, which also has a tilt function and a much easier towbar close/locking system than the W2 but a much lower 46kg maximum weight, and is still more expensive at £431.

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The reassuring solid metal construction of the Pendle is a big plus, and it carries bikes securely, holding them in place perfectly with no movement noticeable through the rearview mirror. The high maximum weight and ability to adjust the rack to suit different types of bikes, plus the ability to buy extras such as fatbike wheel supports mean it will be able to carry virtually any bike.

The initial fit was frustrating, and unless you have the mounting block permanently secured to your towball, fitting and removing it can be fiddly, but for the price this offers a very secure base to mount and carry bikes.

Verdict

Strong and adjustable bike rack with a big weight capacity to suit a range of bikes, including e-bikes