We had 1800km of travel planned involving a 1.8L Sedan, 2 DH bikes, 4 Adults and a bucket load of smelly helmets and body amour. Sure we could have attached a trailer for the weekend. Or even setup some roof racks, but with the price of fuel these days such options were going to hit the pocket hard on an already expensive weekend away. The best bet for us was the new Grip Sport Quick Grip tow bar carrier.

What’s this talk of Quickies and Grip you ask? Don’t worry- nothing suss. The quick grip is simply a revised version of the Classic grip rack that even my Grandma could work out how to use. It does away with the big mutha shifter in the boot that users of most Tow ball racks carry. Instead of having to undo the tow ball constantly a small- but mega beefy dual square hitch deal mounts on your tow ball tongue to which the rest of the rack slides into. The whole thing is secured with a tractor style pin and a nip up bolt to remove the play. Yeop, just like daddy’s 4wd kids. 

If you didn’t know already (where have you been?) the Grip rack mounts the bikes in channels and uses crank holders as used on Dh shuttle trailers to secure the bike. You simply find something to protect the bikes crank (an old tube does the job nicely), slide the crank in and secure the bike with a tie down or two. Now this is where my grandma stuffs things up and the only reason I wouldn’t trust her to load my bikes. Grips’ reasoning behind placing the job of protecting the crank on the user is sound, but I’d still like to see something that would mean anyone could load the bikes quickly. Grip does have a few things in the works, so we’ll see what happens. I know I’ve given you a hard time already about this Grip so I’ll leave it at that.

Another setup requirement is the moving of the number plate to a more visible location. Call me picky, but a pair of small wing nuts to mount the plate to the rack would be a nice touch and would speed up the process. I ended up just wiring the plate on- but again I doubt this is something my Grandma could have worked out. Another option is some stick on letters/numbers from bunnings and the like.

Quick and easy mounting with the detachable tow bar mount

Once loaded we set about our way on hours of boring countryside. The two downhill bikes bolted to the rear sat solid the whole trip down. They became one with the car. We forgot they were even there. And that’s exactly what you want in a bike rack- to be worry free. However- after a weekend of racing and gallivanting across the countryside we had had an issue. Don’t worry, nothing wrong with the rack, but it appeared we had slightly bent the tow ball tongue on the 2 week old Holden Astra. After much thought and discussion, we came to the conclusion that someone must have jumped up and down on the rack while we were at the race or parked somewhere. This is the only was we would have exceeded the down weight limit of the tow ball. Even with the slightly bent tongue the trip home was eventless for the bikes. They just sat there, hanging out- solid as you like.

All bolted on

The all Aussie made and engineered 2 bike Quick Grip Rack we tested is available from Grip Sport for the measly sum of $328 and other models start even less.

Bikes aboard (no, not my car as I forgot to take a photo!)

Contact..
Jon Weaving
GripSport Pty Ltd
1581 Main Road,
RESEARCH. Vic. 3095.
Ph (03) 9437 1954
http://www.gripsport.com.au/